For every art movement in the past century, there has been one seminal exhibition; one show that that has opened the floodgates of interest from critics, collectors, and copycats. For Pop Art, it was the American Supermarket show; for contemporary installation art, it was the Young British Artists shows at Saatchi. For graffiti and street art, that exhibition was Barely Legal. It was 2006, it was Los Angeles, and it was an exhibition of works by Banksy in a warehouse that turned the art world on its ear almost instantaneously. The “Barely Legal Print Set,” as six particular Banksy street art prints are known, are the most coveted artworks by Banksy from the exhibition. They are also the most rare and valuable screen print sets in urban art.
Seen here is what would have been the seventh and final print in the Barely Legal print set. This pie-faced aristocrat was on view as a painting in the 2006 Barely Legal show and has since remained in a private collection. This print was ultimately dropped due to time constraints only days before the opening of the exhibition.
The iconic Barely Legal Print Set began production in July 2006 when Banksy approached respected Los Angeles printmaker Richard Duardo of Modern Multiples about creating new original works for his September exhibition. Duardo had been recommended to Banksy by fellow street artist Shepard Fairey. After securing the job, the late Duardo recounted that he did not hear again from Banksy until 10 days prior to the exhibition, when he flew into Los Angeles with his artwork ready for reproduction. The Modern Multiples team worked tirelessly for the next week producing six prints in editions of 100 each, with six Printer’s Proofs per image that were signed by Banksy and embossed with the insignia of Pictures On Walls, Banksy’s UK-based printer of record. There was originally supposed to be a seventh print depicting an aristocrat being hit in the face with a pie, but the print was dropped to due time constraints and the print’s complexity for color layers.
Pictured is the original transparency film for Banksy’s Trolley Hunters print for the Barely Legal set for the 2006 exhibition.
On the far left you can see a gestural sketch of a low standing african plains tree. This tree was removed from the prints, but was included in the original canvas painting.
Trolley Hunters is a darkly humorous print and Banksy’s most popular image from the Barely Legal Set. It was reprinted in higher edition and a blue-and-yellow colorway in 2007. Trolley Hunters shows caveman crouching in a field, staking out their target, which consists of a “herd” of trolleys (the British word for shopping carts). In Trolley Hunters, Banksy infers one of two things — either that humans have innately been drawn to the addiction of consumerism since they began walking upright, or that the stupidity of the human race is such that they hunt down receptacles for their possessions and spend their energy acquiring (both interpretations at once are entirely possible). In the original Modern Multiples and Pictures On Walls editions, the caveman on the right holds a hammer-like tool made from wood with a pointed piece of stone tied around it. In the later Pictures On Walls editions, he holds a drumstick-shaped club instead.
When Barely Legal opened to the public on September 16, 2006, it was enormously well-attended by arts aficionados, curious museum curators, and a list of celebrities from Angelina Jolie to Jude Law. Among the highlights of the exhibition were an Indian elephant painted to match brocade wallpaper, a graffiti-covered van, and numerous paintings and installations. Banksy sold the unsigned prints for $500 apiece. After the show ended, Pictures On Walls ordered Modern Multiples to destroy the plates for the Barely Legal Print Set. Pictures On Walls produced their own limited edition run of the set in late 2006 with 50 signed and 100 unsigned editions of each print. Many sets were broken up at that time and over the years as Banksy’s value rose, and to possess a matched set is a very rare and wonderful acquisition indeed. Barely Legal spurred the first major museum exhibitions of street art, including the Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles’ Art In The Streets, which is the institution’s highest attendance exhibition to date.
If you would like to sell your Banksy art, the Barely Legal Print Set is a moment in history and are extremely rare, desirable, and profitable limited edition urban art prints. If you would like to buy a Barely Legal Print Set, both the Modern Multiples editions and the Pictures On Walls editions are highly rare, especially in a set. To purchase a signed set or a signed matched set is to own a part of Banksy’s artistic legacy at a groundbreaking point in his development, as well as the point in time that graffiti and urban art became worthy of critical consideration. Hexagon Gallery is the leader for Banksy art sales in the United States. To sell or buy Banksy art, please contact info@hexagongallery.com.
