Robin Barton

Last updated

Robin Barton
Born (1958-11-05) 5 November 1958 (age 65)
NationalityBritish
Education Exeter College of Art and Design
Known forArt dealership, photographer, Banksy
Website www.bankrobberlondon.com

Robin Barton (born 5 November 1958) is a British art dealer dealing primarily with Banksy's. Barton studied photography and graphic design at the Exeter College of Art and Design and this was his first encounter with Russell Young. Moving to London in 1980 he began working as a freelance photographer for music and fashion publications Sounds , NME , Blitz , The Face moving on to working regularly for pioneering Independent Magazine photographing amongst others Alec Guinness, Oliver Reed, Johnny Depp, Lou Reed, Hugh Grant and Sir Peter Hall. Later he worked for other publications Sunday Times , Sunday Telegraph , Elle , Vogue , Tatler and Blueprint .

Contents

Four of his works have been placed with the National Portrait Gallery permanent collection: [1] Martin Clunes, Sir Paul Scofield, Jack Charlton and Sir Peter Hall.

Curator

In 2007 he curated and hosted the controversial first showing of Pete Doherty Blood Paintings [2] to coincide with the publication of his autobiography, Books of Albion .

Later in 2007 he curated his first Banksy exhibition in New York City at Vanina Holasek Gallery 502, West 27th Street.

Bankrobber London

In June 2007, he launched art dealership Bankrobber London, in London's Notting Hill, moving to its current location in Mayfair, Shepherds Market, London, in November 2013.

Banksy

Robin Barton purports to be a specialist in Banksy's work, featuring in Will Ellsworth-Jones' book The Man Behind the Wall. [3] [4]

Robin Barton and Bankrobber London were responsible for the sale of the Banksy mural Slave Labour . Earlier in 2014 Robin Barton and Bankrobber London were involved in the preservation of Banksy's Spy Booth in Cheltenham [5]

In late 2014, Barton was responsible for the removal and sale of Banksy's Art Buff , [6] and putting it up for auction in aid of a cancer charity set up in memory of Jimmy Godden. However, the work did not sell and was put into storage. It was later discovered that the work had been removed illegally as the building it was on did not belong to the Godden family, they only rented it. Art Buff was returned to the Creative Foundation in Folkestone and was resited outside the Kollective gallery on The Old High Street.

However, none of these works can actually be authenticated as being by Banksy due to non-compliance on the part of Pest Control, the artist's appointed handling and authentication service.

The removal of purported Banksy works from public locations is frequently protested by communities and local authorities in those locations, and thus attracts significant controversy.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Banksy</span> Pseudonymous England-based graffiti artist, political activist, and painter

Banksy is a pseudonymous England-based street artist, political activist, and film director whose real name and identity remain unconfirmed and the subject of speculation. Active since the 1990s, his satirical street art and subversive epigrams combine dark humour with graffiti executed in a distinctive stenciling technique. His works of political and social commentary have appeared on streets, walls, and bridges throughout the world. His work grew out of the Bristol underground scene, which involved collaborations between artists and musicians. Banksy says that he was inspired by 3D, a graffiti artist and founding member of the musical group Massive Attack.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Street art</span> Art that is public and temporary in public spaces

Street art is visual art created in public locations for public visibility. It has been associated with the terms "independent art", "post-graffiti", "neo-graffiti" and guerrilla art.

Charles Uzzell-Edwards is a Welsh graffiti artist known by the moniker "Pure Evil". He is the son of painter John Uzzell Edwards.

Benjamin Flynn, known professionally as Eine, is an English artist based in London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">5 Pointz</span> Graffitied building in Queens, New York

5 Pointz: The Institute of Higher Burnin' or 5Pointz Aerosol Art Center, Inc., mainly referred to as simply 5 Pointz or 5Pointz, was an American mural space at 45-46 Davis Street in Long Island City, Queens, New York City. When the building opened in 1892, it housed the Neptune Meter factory, which built water meters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blek le Rat</span> French graffiti artist (born 1952)

Blek le Rat is a French graffiti artist. He was one of the first graffiti artists in Paris, and has been described as the "Father of stencil graffiti".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vhils</span> Portuguese graffiti and street artist

Vhils is the tag name of Portuguese graffiti and street artist Alexandre Manuel Dias Farto.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mr. Brainwash</span> Los Angeles-based street artist born in France

Thierry Guetta, best known by his moniker Mr. Brainwash, is a French-born Los Angeles–based street artist. According to the 2010 Banksy-directed film Exit Through the Gift Shop, Guetta was a proprietor of a used clothing store, and amateur videographer who was first introduced to street art by his cousin, the street artist Invader, and who filmed street artists through the 2000s and became an artist in his own right in a matter of weeks after an off-hand suggestion from Banksy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inkie</span> English painter

Inkie is a London-based painter and street artist, originally from Clifton, Bristol. He is cited as being part of Bristol's graffiti heritage, along with Banksy, 3D and Nick Walker.

<i>Slave Labour</i> (mural) Painting by Banksy (street artist)

Slave Labour is a mural that was painted by a British graffiti artist, Banksy, on the side wall of a Poundland store in Wood Green, London in May 2012. The artwork is 48 inches (122 cm) high by 60 inches (152 cm) wide, and depicts an urchin child at a sewing machine assembling a bunting of Union Jack patches. The work was a protest against the use of sweatshops to manufacture Diamond Jubilee and London Olympics memorabilia in 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Lazarides</span>

Steve Lazarides is a British-Greek Cypriot publisher, photographer, collector and curator. He has helped popularise street art and underground art.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ben Moore (curator)</span> British art curator, entrepreneur and artist

Benjamin Neel Critchley Moore is a British art curator, entrepreneur and artist. He is the founder and curator of Art Below, a contemporary art organisation that places art in public places and has had shows in England, Germany, Japan and the United States. He is also the founder and curator of Art Wars, an exhibition of designs based on the Imperial Stormtrooper helmets from Star Wars. In 2021, Moore was part of the Art Wars NFT project which resulted in massive losses for the purchasers of the NFTs and claims of copyright theft from artists whose physical work was reproduced without their permission.

Spy Booth was a 2014 artwork by Banksy in Cheltenham, England. The piece has been seen as a critique of the global surveillance disclosures of 2013.

<i>Art Buff</i> Graffiti artwork by Banksy

Art Buff is a graffiti artwork by Banksy which was created in Folkestone in 2014, Banksy announcing it as "part of the Folkestone triennial. Kind of". The work depicts a woman wearing headphones and staring at a plinth, upon which rests a patch of painted-out graffiti. The name of the piece is a play on words, "buff" being a slang term for the painting over of graffiti.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ernest Zacharevic</span>

Ernest Zacharevic is a multidiscipline contemporary and public artist based in Penang, Malaysia.

"Turf War" was the first major exhibition by artist Banksy, staged in a warehouse on Kingsland Road in London's East End in 2003.

<i>Girl with Balloon</i> Series of murals in London by Banksy

Girl with Balloon is a series of stencil murals around London by the graffiti artist Banksy, started in 2002. They depict a young girl with her hand extended toward a red heart-shaped balloon carried away by the wind. The locations for this work include street murals in Shoreditch and the South bank in London on the Waterloo Bridge and other murals were around London, though none remain there.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Folkestone Triennial</span> Arts festival in Folkestone, England

The Creative Folkestone Triennial is an arts festival held every three years in Folkestone, Kent, England.

The year 2020 in art involved various significant events.

References

  1. "National Portrait Gallery – Person – Robin Barton". Npg.org.uk. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  2. "Pete Doherty's bleeding art". London Evening Standard. 11 April 2012. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  3. Chapter Twelve [Pages 226–227, 229–231] Psst ... Anyone Want to Buy a Wall
  4. "Will Ellsworth-Jones' book The Man Behind the Wall". [The Guardian Online]. 1 June 2012. Retrieved 1 June 2012.
  5. "Cheltenham Banksy: Deal to save it 'close to agreement'". BBC News . 29 June 2014. Retrieved 29 June 2014.
  6. "Banksy's Folkestone "Art Buff" Mural Has Been Removed Amid Protests". Artlyst London. Retrieved 6 November 2014.