Banksy under fire for promotion stunt at HMV

Booked in: one of the two Banksy artworks on show in the Oxford Street store
12 April 2012

He was the maverick guerrilla artist who suddenly became part of the art establishment, with his work fetching tens of thousands of pounds at auction.

But elusive graffiti artist Banksy was today accused of selling out after two of his artworks appeared in a central London branch of HMV to promote his new DVD.

Bosses at the store in Oxford Street have now installed a security guard to protect the two pieces, which were discovered in the store this week.

Staff were supposedly unaware the artist was leaving his distinctive creations in the shop.

Instead, they had thought a window display of posters were to be placed in the branch to plug a DVD release of Banksy's film Exit Through The Gift Shop.

The 8ft by 4ft canvas features a baseball-capped child praying in front of a paint-daubed stained glass window and a piece inside the building features a spray painted oil drum. The works were found by staff on Monday morning after they allowed Banksy's team into the store overnight to prepare the display themselves.

HMV's head of display Mark Robertson said: "We knew a representative was meant to be coming in overnight to install a large poster display for the DVD in readiness for its release on Monday, but we certainly did not expect to find a full-blown Banksy waiting for us when the shutter went up in the morning."

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