Two Banksy originals purchased for just $60 each in Central Park during graffiti artist’s NYC residency set to fetch $160,000 at auction

• An art fan who got lucky when they unwittingly purchased two original Banksys for $60 each is auctioning them and is expected to raise $160,000
• One Saturday last October, Banksy set up a stand selling authentic stencils near New York’s Central Park
  
• Three shoppers bought just eight canvases over seven hours – a total haul of $420
  

By David Mccormack

Published: 22:49 EDT, 12 June 2014 | Updated: 06:31 EDT, 13 June 2014

An art fan who unwittingly bought two paintings by street artist Banksy in Central Park for just $60 each is expected to receive a $160,000 windfall when the prints go up for auction.

As part of his month-long New York City residency last October, the elusive graffiti artist foxed even his most ardent fans by secretly selling authentic artworks one Saturday afternoon.

The art fan, who hasn’t been named, purchased two of the signed spray-painted prints entitled Pooh Bear and Kids With Guns.

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An art fan who unwittingly bought two paintings by street artist Banksy in Central Park for just $60 each last October is expected to receive a $160,000 windfall when the prints go up for auction

Kids With Guns, left, was purchased for just $60 but is expected to fetch $95,000 at auction, while Pooh Bear is set to go for $65,000

The buyer recently approached auction house Bonham’s in London with the intention of selling the prints to the highest bidder.

A representative for the auction house told The Guardian that they are expected to fetch roughly $65,000 and $95,000, respectively.

During his month-long residency in New York City last October, Banksy vowed to produce one piece of street art each day.

On the 13th day of his residency, the UK-based artist displayed dozens of original, signed canvases at a pop-up stall attended by an unknown man.

Surprising: For his 13th day in New York, Banksy pulled a fantastic prank by setting up an unannounced art stall with dozens of 100% original signed canvases for $60 each

The stand wasn’t a huge success and after seven hours just three people had bought eight canvases – a total haul of $420.

The first sale was at 3.30pm to a woman who bought two canvases for her children – and she managed to wrangle a 50 per cent discount.

Half an hour later, a New Zealand woman purchased some art. Video shows the vendor embracing her warmly and kissing her cheek.

At 5.30pm, a Chicago man rocked up seeking art for his new house: ‘I just need something for the walls.’ He left with four original Banksys.

The day after the sale, Banksy revealed what has happened via his website.

Bemused: The stand was manned by an unknown man who seemed completely uninterested in what he was doing

First customer: The store made its first sale at 3.30pm on Saturday. A woman bought two canvases for her children but negotiated a 50 per cent discount

Sale no. 2: At 4pm, a woman from New Zealand bought two artworks, to the delight of the merchant

‘Yesterday I set up a stall in the park selling 100 percent authentic original signed Banksy canvases. For $60 each,’ he wrote.

The paintings have since been ‘authenticated’ by Bansky, a rep from the auction house said.

The art was first thought to be worth $250,000 but that estimate was too high, the rep said.

One of the paintings features an image of Winnie the Pooh sitting under a tree next to a tossed-out honey pot. The other depicts two kids standing on a hillock of guns and bombs.

The art house has not yet set a date for the auction.

Final sale: The last sale of the day was at 6.30pm when a Chicago man rocked up looking for art to decorate his new house. Judging by the big man hug, it must have been an emotional sale

Dismal: The merchant shut up shop at 6.30pm, taking in just $420 after more than six hours on the job

Crumbs! Is that a Banksy? Artist trades her palette for a plate to create captivating culinary pop art

• Tisha Cherry has recreated art works by artists from Banksy to Andy Warhol, and portraits of Marilyn Monroe to Beyonce and Jay Z

By Annabel Fenwick Elliott

Published: 17:50 EDT, 13 June 2014 | Updated: 17:51 EDT, 13 June 2014

A food-fanatic turned artist is gaining Instagram fame for her pop culture inspired – and edible – works of art.

Tisha Cherry, a New Jersey-born registered nurse, takes inspiration from films, music, and celebrities, and recreates iconic images using everyday food.

‘Pop culture is essentially my muse and the food on my plate is my medium,’ Ms Cherry tells Frank151.com of her unusual hobby.

Crumbs! Ms Cherry has replaced the bouquet of flowers from Banksy’s original Flower Thrower work, with a bunch of her own namesake candy fruit, crafted using only the remnants of an Oreo

From Oreo cookies and ketchup, to watermelons and Caviar, any food can make for a good art medium, according to the resourceful Ms Cherry.

‘It’s about finding the right ingredient to mimic color and the right utensil to manipulate that ingredient,’ she explains.

‘I use whatever I have in the kitchen: chopsticks, toothpicks, kitchen shears, fruit carving knife, etc. And if I make a mistake, I just eat it!’

Heart balloon: A minimalist interpretation of street artist Banksy’s simple but iconic ‘There is always hope’ graffiti work, using soy sauce and sriracha

The real deal: Two of Graffiti artist Banksy’s most iconic works were re-created by Ms Cherry, Flower Thrower (left) and There is always hope (right)

Beas-tea boys: An impressive tea-stained portrait of Adam ‘MCA’ Yauch, former frontman of iconic Hip Hop band, The Beastie Boys

Marilyn Mon-roe: Hollywood star of the Golden Era, Marilyn Monroe, is captured here using caviar, otherwise known as fish roe

Subjects: Adam ‘MC’ Yaunch from The Beastie Boys (left) was sketched out using tea stains, and Marilyn Monroe (right) was created using caviar

Ms Cherry has over 7,000 followers on Instagram, and counting. She says her hobby was born out of her enthusiastic ‘affinity’ for food, and her ‘boredom’ of the ordinary.

‘About two years ago, I first saw Bart Simpson’s silhouette in a pile of crumbled Butterfingers while prepping for brownies,’ Ms Cherry says.

‘Since then, every time I look at food I’ve been looking for a resemblance of some sort.’

Amusingly, she admits she often finds herself in chow-down situations where she is struck with a good idea, but fails on some occasions to turn her food into mini masterpieces because she is ‘really hungry’, or doesn’t want to be ‘rude’ in restaurants.

I believe I can fry: Food junkie Tisha Cherry has claimed the unusual hobby of turning mealtimes into art, to create quippy snaps like this one (pictured) – an ode to R Kelly’s best known song, replacing ‘fly’ with ‘fry’

2 Pac-o: This is a portrait of the late rapper Tupac Shakur, surrounded with nibbles commonly found in tacos

The real deal: R Kelly (left) was the subject of Ms Cherry’s fry and ketchup creation, and Tupac’s portrait (right) was fashioned from taco ingredients

When faced with her future as a more varied artist, Ms Cherry appears reluctant to move away from her lunch plate, at least for the time being.

‘I find cooking and baking a form of art and very therapeutic in itself,’ she remarks.

‘I hope to develop my skills and take a more artistic approach, but for now I’m satisfied with my plate being my canvas and my chopsticks my paintbrush.’

Romance: The love between Beyonce and her Hip Hop mogul boyfriend Jay Z, immortalized (until mealtime’s over) as a peanut butter and jelly sandwich

What a rice bird: This pigeon was created using caviar and rice, the former being a very expensive luxury food item, and the latter a cheap, ‘staple’ food in many parts of the world

Sandwich-worthy: The reigning king and queen of R&B, Jay Z (left) and his wife Beyonce (right), who were created by Ms Cherry out of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich

Tasty: The artist (pictured) enjoys a watermelon, but can’t resist first carving the iconic Rolling Stones logo into its juicy flesh

The Roots in a fruit: Questlove (pictured) is the drummer and joint front man of The Roots, currently the in-house band for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

Star War-termelon: Ms Cherry used this fruit to create an edible Death Star from George Lucas’ Star Wars franchise

Groovy: Ms Cherry clearly has something of a fascination with watermelons, choosing the fruit as her canvas for a number of artworks, including a portrait of Questlove (left) and the Star Wars Death Star (right)

Tricky: A soup dumpling perched atop the faint outline of rapper Snoop Dogg, rendered using only a set of masterfully applied chopsticks

Kookie: An ode to Goldie, a British electronic music star and graffiti artist, his outline expertly piped onto a Golden Oreo using its creamy filling

Gray Matter: Ms Cherry captioned this intricate creation with ‘This is your brain on eggs’, and displays just a peek of the egg’s inner yolk

Crafty: Rapper Snoop Dogg (left) was re-imagined using soy sauce and chopsticks, and Goldie’s (right) portrait found its way onto a Golden Oreo cookie

Munchies: Cheech and Chong are the Grammy Award-winning comedy duo who found fame in the 1970s and 1980s for their routines based on the hippie culture and their love for cannabis

Cartoon-tastic: This time, Ms Cherry chooses a skillet as her canvas, and fashions The Simpsons out of plantains

Chuckles: Cheech and Chong (left) were fashioned using rice, beans and salsa, and The Simpsons (right) came to life in the form of cleverly cut plantains

Meme cat: Here Ms Cherry has fashioned an impressively realistic portrait of the Internet-famous Grumpy Cat, using the delicious looking frosting from an Oreo cookie

Breaking cookies: Another Oreo-built tribute, this time to AMC’s hit TV show Breaking Bad

These guys mean business: Both Grumpy Cat (left) and Breaking Bad’s main character Walter White (right) are immortalized on Oreo cookies

Sweet: This is a re-creation – using candy – of Andy Warhol’s bright yellow banana artwork, which he created for the cover of a Velvet Underground album in 1967

Messy: This is a portrait of the American rapper French Montana – thus the French fries – who has a record label called Coke Boys, created using careful smears of Jufran Banana Sauce

Food for thought: Andy Warhol’s album cover (left) was not fashioned, as you might expect, from a banana, but from multicolored candy, while French Montana (right) is contrived from ketchup

The artist: Tisha Cherry is a registered nurse who originates from New Jersey and is gathering rapid Instagram fame for her quirky food art