Santa’s Ghetto 2003 opened on 2 December in an abandoned store just off Carnaby Street in London. It contained work by Banksy, Jamie Hewlett, Mode 2, and 3D, among others. Described by Pictures on Walls as a “festive extravaganza of cheap art and related novelty goods from lowbrow artists and trained vandals”. The launch party attracted Damon Albarn of Blur, and star chef Jamie Oliver.
Photos: Wembley Pairs, Flickr
Multiple canvases
Santa’s Ghetto was a selling exhibition. Banksy sold a lot of canvases, mostly stencilled motifs in editions of 25, so-called ‘multiple canvases’, among them the iconic Girl with Balloon, also in an edition of 25. Some of the canvases that Banksy sold for £ 250 in 2003 now collect over a million pounds on the secondary market.
A few of the multiples sold at Santa’s Ghetto 2003:
Photos: Sotheby’s and Bonhams
Banksy unofficial 