Banksy to auction Southampton hospital artwork for NHS

Street artist Banksy hopes to raise more than £3m for the NHS with the auction of a painting offering a “universal tribute” to staff.

Game Changer appeared at Southampton General Hospital during the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

The anonymous graffiti artist is now auctioning the original canvas to raise funds for the NHS, with a reproduction of the work to remain in the hospital.

The painting has a pre-sale estimate of between £2.5 to £3.5m.

It shows a young boy kneeling and playing with superhero dolls.

While Batman and Spiderman are discarded in a bin, the child clutches a figure of a masked nurse wearing a cape.

The image, which measures 1m (3ft) x 1m, was hung in collaboration with the hospital’s managers in a foyer near the emergency department.

Auction company Christie’s said the painting “offers an image of hope” and represents a “personal tribute to those who continue to turn the tide of the pandemic”.

Main Photo:A facsimile of the artwork ‘Game Changer’ (2020) by the anonymous British street artist Banksy is on display in the exhibition ‘Building Castles in the Sky’ in Basel, Switzerland. EPA-EFE/GEORGIOS KEFALAS

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