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Banksy Work to Star in Extravagant Gallery Raffle

By ARTINFO

Published: September 3, 2008
LONDON— London's Lazarides gallery will hold an art raffle, the Lazarides Extravaganza, during Frieze Art Fair, the Times of London reports. Tickets for the October 16 event cost £5,000 ($8,870) a piece, which gets the buyer entry into the party, a minor original work by one of the gallery's artists — Jonathan Yeo, Antony Micallef, Paul Insect, JR, or Faile — and a one-in-10 chance of winning the grand prize: works by each of these artists plus four other pieces, including two done by Banksy.

"It's a risk for us and it's a bit of a gamble for the ticket buyers, but that's part of the fun," said Ralph Taylor, a director of the gallery. "This kind of one-off is the way that we do business."

The two Banksy works included in the pot are System Error, a defaced 19th-century oil painting valued at £300,000, and Sketch for Essex Road, which was included in a charity auction for the Labour party last March.

The extravaganza will take place in a disused factory in central London and will be replete with drinks and strippers. Lazarides put 250 tickets up for sale yesterday.

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