Stik That In Yer Auction

Loathe though we are to see street art pieces being removed from the streets and entering in the commercial market on this occasion, a piece of Stik street art to be auctioned has Stik’s blessing so I guess we can be ok with it.

Photo via Stik

From a message issued by Stik:

Street Artist Stik has agreed to authenticate and approve the sale of a street art piece he once painted on the front of the Magpie Social Centre in Bristol. This piece appeared in 2009 on the front wall of the not-for-profit social centre which was evicted earlier this year and is currently looking for a new premises.

Stik states: “The Magpie Social Centre was one of the free spaces that actively encouraged street art and helped me to become the artist I am today. I don’t generally approve of the sale of street pieces but here I will make an exception. It gives me great pleasure to authenticate this piece so that Magpie can continue to support the next generation of artists.”

Stik only authenticates street artworks when all proceeds benefit the community they were painted for. The artist was approached by the community centre earlier this year and helped set up the sale with London auction house Phillips. The piece titled ‘Magpie’ has been preserved, framed and logged and comes with a certificate of authenticity.

End message quote

The Stik piece being auctioned tomorrow is more clearly visible in a photo I took back then:

Photo: Dave Stuart

More details about the auction were released in a later message which came in from Stik today:

Stik met with the director of Magpie Project Space this week to authenticate the fundraiser sale on Thursday 8th December at Phillips Auction. Seen here at the private view the sale is expected to raise enough funds to rehouse the community centre.

Stik with Natty Lee from Magpie Social Centre at Phillips Auction Private view. Photo via Stik

Details of the piece are:
STIK – Magpie
Lot 90, Phillips
New Now
London Auction
8 December 2016

Signed, dated and authenticated ‘STIK 2009 2016’ on the reverse. Spray paint on wood, in artist’s frame.
139 x 29.8 cm (54 3/4 x 11 3/4 in.)
Executed in 2009. This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity issued by the artist’s studio.
Estimate
£8,000 – 12,000

To participate in this rare opportunity to acquire an authenticated street piece:
Contact Specialist
Simon Tovey
Head of Sale
+44 20 7318 4084

https://www.phillips.com/detail/STIK/UK010816/90

End Stik’s second message quote

Interestingly there is no real disclosure regarding the ownership of the actual property that the Stik piece was painted on though the catalogue confirms, as indeed Stik also does, that it is a genuine Stik authenticated by the artist and the catalogue baldly states “Provenance: Magpie Social Centre”. Doubtless Phillips will have done their homework to establish who owned the piece of property that the Stik is painted on and the proof is likely to be buried in legal property or lease agreements. They will have done that won’t they? At least the photo I took is pretty conclusive that the Stik piece was indeed a fixture within the property occupied by the Magpie Social Centre.

On the surface it feels like this has a lot of similarities with the famous case in Bristol where Banksy’s Mobile Lovers was removed by the proprietor of the Riverside Boys Club and which ultimately led to Banksy authenticating the street piece and using language very similar to Stik’s to confirm that he was ok with it being sold as a fund raiser for the Boy’s Club. The clear difference is that while Banksy’s Mobile Lover was almost certainly done without permission, Stik is likely to have had the blessing of the Magpie Social Centre to create his work.

All photos via Stik except Dave Stuart where stated.