[bullet]

Ive been watching this Micallef GIWTBB creeping down and down slowly, gotta feel for the guy.

Its at £299 which is below cost for god sake. If someone does not buy it i will just out of pity!

cgi.ebay.co.uk/MICALLEF-GIWTBB-banksy-dface-neate-spqr-walker_W0QQitemZ110266665134QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item110266665134&_trkparms=72%3A12|39%3A1|65%3A12&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

[funyoung]

It is going down in price for a reason ...

[bullet]

I just cant believe it has not sold, the arse has not dropped out of the market that much... think its just being missed

[Guest]

if you want it buy it

[dogant]

Seller won't do cash on collection as he needs money in his paypal account!

IMO sounds a bit odd - although a great print for £300

[bullet]

that not odd, its safer with paypal.

ive been in the same situation before, maybe he has to pay for something direct from paypal...

[Guest]

paypal is safer than cash on collection? I dont think so


EDITED.

[bullet]

it has been for me....settled many a dispute over not receiving stuff and never had a problem.

they have always worked it out

[foreman]

Jul 1, 2008 23:36:35 GMT 1 bullet said:

Its at £299 which is below cost for god sake.

arnt half the micallef prints out there selling below cost??....

[bullet]

i dont regularly look at these, but i have never seen one of these sell below cost before

[graeme501]

i have one and its a great image, a micallef that everyone can have and is always readly available, £300 is a great price

[RBK]

Jul 1, 2008 23:59:50 GMT 1 bullet said:

i dont regularly look at these, but i have never seen one of these sell below cost before

Only one has sold for under 300 thus far. I think people are just broke or tapped out on art purchases. GIWTBB is an incredible print though.

[RBK]

People will all be singning Micallef's praises again after his new work is exhibited also.

[wave]

Jul 2, 2008 0:42:03 GMT 1 RBK said:

People will all be singning Micallef's praises again after his new work is exhibited also.

Crazy because when he does, people are going to be fighting over these as the value shoots back up. Just over a year ago, Most Micallef prices were up there with Neate. Madness.

Sad thing is, only then will people suddenly remember what a great print this is.

[bullet]

and its still available, incredible

[burnz]

im a big micallef fan but not one of his best prints and ed ov 1000 cashing in i think

[Richard]

Jul 2, 2008 19:00:05 GMT 1 burnz said:

im a big micallef fan but not one of his best prints and ed ov 1000 cashing in i think

Many would disagree that this is not one of his best prints.

[Richard]

Jul 1, 2008 23:39:03 GMT 1 bullet said:

I just cant believe it has not sold, the arse has not dropped out of the market that much... think its just being missed

When I search for Micallef GIWTBB on eBay this one isn't coming up

I imagine this is the reason it has not gone yet at this great price!

[Heavyconsumer]

Jul 2, 2008 8:17:32 GMT 1 wave said:

Jul 2, 2008 0:42:03 GMT 1 RBK said:

People will all be singning Micallef's praises again after his new work is exhibited also.

Crazy because when he does, people are going to be fighting over these as the value shoots back up. Just over a year ago, Most Micallef prices were up there with Neate. Madness.

Sad thing is, only then will people suddenly remember what a great print this is.

Where's the madness? People are raving about Neate, but often his prints sell for around cost too in some cases! It was a cheap edition of 1000, to make his prints accessible to people. The image is excellent, it's massive, there is only one problem with it, which is the nature of most of it's buyers!!! Most of the 1000 bought it with no intention of keeping it and only praise his work, because they feel they can profit from it. Just like Banksy, Dface and all of the most popular creators of images for prints. I think Micallef's a genius, but if I were him, I'd be steering well clear of this market in the future, he really doesn't need it and it's full of ass-holes, who judge his art, based on ebay's print prices!

[Photoxtc]

Jul 2, 2008 19:46:12 GMT 1 Heavyconsumer said:

Jul 2, 2008 8:17:32 GMT 1 wave said:

Crazy because when he does, people are going to be fighting over these as the value shoots back up. Just over a year ago, Most Micallef prices were up there with Neate. Madness.

Sad thing is, only then will people suddenly remember what a great print this is.

Where's the madness? People are raving about Neate, but often his prints sell for around cost too in some cases! It was a cheap edition of 1000, to make his prints accessible to people. The image is excellent, it's massive, there is only one problem with it, which is the nature of most of it's buyers!!! Most of the 1000 bought it with no intention of keeping it and only praise his work, because they feel they can profit from it. Just like Banksy, Dface and all of the most popular creators of images for prints. I think Micallef's a genius, but if I were him, I'd be steering well clear of this market in the future, he really doesn't need it and it's full of ass-holes, who judge his art, based on ebay's print prices!

Well said, I couldn't agree more!!!

[bullet]

sold...phew

[wave]

Jul 2, 2008 19:46:12 GMT 1 Heavyconsumer said:

Jul 2, 2008 8:17:32 GMT 1 wave said:

Crazy because when he does, people are going to be fighting over these as the value shoots back up. Just over a year ago, Most Micallef prices were up there with Neate. Madness.

Sad thing is, only then will people suddenly remember what a great print this is.

Where's the madness? People are raving about Neate, but often his prints sell for around cost too in some cases! It was a cheap edition of 1000, to make his prints accessible to people. The image is excellent, it's massive, there is only one problem with it, which is the nature of most of it's buyers!!! Most of the 1000 bought it with no intention of keeping it and only praise his work, because they feel they can profit from it. Just like Banksy, Dface and all of the most popular creators of images for prints. I think Micallef's a genius, but if I were him, I'd be steering well clear of this market in the future, he really doesn't need it and it's full of ass-holes, who judge his art, based on ebay's print prices!

Madness because as soon as the prices dropped, so called genuine fans were offloading this print as fast as they could.

I agree that a lot bought this for the wrong reasons but i'd like to think many didn't. As an artist/designer myself, i certainly don't judge whether a piece of art is good or bad by its price tag. I do know however with regards to AM that i can suddenly afford a JD when a year ago i couldn't, this is a good thing.

Can you elaborate on what you mean by "steering well clear of this market"?
Do you not think its great that a release of 750 colour trolleys for example got people their first signed Banksy? Why should art remain so Elitist? Surely this is what drives the obsession with value = good art in the first place.

[spraycanfan]

i dont really see micallef as urban art. He is not a graf artist and if he wasnt represented by steve laz i doubt that people would put him in that catagory. I really do rate micallef, i have several of his eyestorm prints, i kept them when the prices got silly last year and i will keep them now the prices are dipping. I hope his new stuff is good, i liked the portrait at the recent laz mixed show (the one that was mostly black) but the other stuff wasnt great

[Heavyconsumer]

Wave, good point and I was in fact one of the many to pick up their first signed Banksy print at that time. It's certainly an interesting comparable!

I find Micallef's inclusion in "Urban Art" a little strange, as even he himself admits never having painted in the street! However it is certainly testament to the good taste of many who have followed street art for years and I would say the same (imo) of Denning, Francis and various other artists. However, whereas artists who might in some ways have been considered to have had certain rebellious or anti-establishment principals may have some conflicts of interest in crossing over to the fine art world, this is certainly not true of Mic'. He is without doubt a "fine artist" and has been very firmly accepted as such, perfectly illustrated by his inclusion in the British Museum's tour, starting later this year. I honestly feel that he's got what he needed, which was recognition and exposure, not to mention working capital to provide himself with freedom and options.

I believe some of what I've read regarding his disappointment in what he felt was a clear case of people using his art instead of appreciating it. If there was ever any truth to these rumors, I would expect him to begin to move away from print-making. His original works are now being sold for tens of thousands of pounds. These works do not seem to pop up at auction, suggesting he has admirers who are serious collectors and not just fly-by-night art dealer wannabes. IF he has attained the confidences of the fine art world and DOES indeed feel disenfranchised with the print-buying public, then it would seem a logical progression.

Please don't get me wrong, I would love him to release an edition I love as much as I do "Dirty Deluxe" which I can't afford to buy! But the fact is, he really doesn't need to! He must have made a fortune from prints over the last couple of years, as he's released thousands of them! If I were in his shoes I don't know if I'd bother! He's not really a "pop-artist" or a street artist, so he shouldn't (IMO) be overly worried about what we (commoners) think or buy, as his originals are beyond our reach, like Hirst in a way I suppose. Comparisons with Banksy don't seem very appropriate to me. Loyalty? I'm not so sure it does or even that it should exist for someone in his field, unless one means loyalty to himself in his art - Producing what matters to him!

EDIT - none of this is based on fact any more than it is speculation of course. I've never met AM, so it's all just pure conjecture, based on 2nd hand information.

[Bram]

Nicely put HC