Whats in a name? Death, Banksy and The Drummer
Oct 21, 2011 | Comments 0
Albeit this is not a new story, but an interesting one that I have not heard before that comes from the Guardian.
Whats in a name? For Simon Duncans band, a £200,000 Banksy…The group formerly known as Exit Through the Gift Shop receives an unexpected reward for acceding to graffiti artists request reddit thisVanessa Thorpe, arts and media correspondentThe Observer, Saturday 24 April 2010Article history A detail from Bankys backdrop for Brace Yourself, the band formerly known – like his film – as Exit Through the Gift Shop.
The painting arrived outside Simon Duncans west London home inside a battered old van. Overnight it has put him at the heart of street culture and made him £200,000 wealthier. The new work by Banksy was sent unexpectedly last week to Duncan, a 41-year-old web developer, as compensation for the world-renowned graffiti artist having coincidentally chosen the name of Duncans band as the title for his film, Exit Through the Gift Shop.
“I am a drummer in a band that was called Exit Through the Gift Shop that I started with friends 18 months before I turned 40. It was a kind of midlife crisis, but we are still going, with a different line-up, and it has become a bit more serious,” said Duncan, who agreed to change his bands name to Brace Yourself in an arrangement with Banksy.
“We had these hilarious emails from someone saying he was Banksy, but we didnt know if they were genuine,” said Duncan. “Then a scruffy white van arrived. The driver had no idea what he was carrying.
“The band plan to unveil their new name and backdrop, which shows the grim reaper riding a dodgem car, at a London gig this week.
“When we saw the painting we could not believe it,” said Duncan. “It is the size of a double bed, for a start. We had to insure it, so a man from Sothebys came over to see it in my loft. He said to me, This is surreal. I have just been valuing an 18th-century portrait in a stately home, but it is not as valuable as this.
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