Bonhams

Even though I have a very broad appreciation of the arts — enjoying everything from Titian to Tracey Emin I do have a soft spot for a certain type of creativitywell to be honest I have many but I’m just going to talk about one. I love graffiti.
And while this love has taken me to interesting places, such as a spraying class in Bristol’s inner city and hanging out of a car driving along Frankfurt’s Autobahnen trying to take pictures of the kinds of elaborate pieces you’d never find in England thanks to their highway laws; one place I never thought this passion would find me standing is in the grand, almost regal-​looking building that is home to Bonhams, the renowned art auction house in the middle of Bond Street. But here I was.
What struck me upon entering was how wide their selection of graffiti artists’ work was. Of course Banksy’s stencils had to be there but there were many other surprises, like custom-​painted surfboards by Pure Evil, pieces by Faile and of even better, the amazing Shepard Fairey, creator of those famously iconic Obama posters. I was nearly in heaven. I’d be in heaven if I had someone else’s blank cheque book, in which case I would have been like a (very spoilt) kid in a candy shop.
If you can beg borrow or steal an invite to one of the preview parties, be sure to attend. If the last one was anything to go by, many of the exhibiting artists were at the event, champagne flowed freely and DJs accompanied the smörgåsbord of fantastic art on show. You won’t be sorry.