City’s newest gallery has a limited-edition Banksy
We interviewed the owner of KUNST, the newest art gallery in Chichester. Their art ranges from a Banksy print for £1,800, to £60 poster prints for Christmas.
Bill Strohacker opened KUNST art gallery just a few months ago on 39 South Street, Chichester. Bill is an artist himself and has some of his abstract work included in the gallery.
The art gallery owner said: “We sell contemporary art, we sell graffiti, street art, and abstract, too.”
The gallery’s most prized artwork is a limited-edition Banksy print, on sale for £1,800.
Mr Strohacker said: “It's an original print that was created for Clown Skates, Banksy was tasked with designing the brand’s logo. We’re selling it for under £2,000, which is pretty unheard of to be honest.”
When asked about why he chose to set up shop in Chichester, he said: “I’ve lived in Chichester for the past 20 years.
"I ended up moving my family here whilst working in a different industry. I was doing some teaching and once
I moved on from there, I decided to set up my own thing.
"That’s how my design school started. I got people involved who I'd met in the industry like Jamie Hewlett, who is the creator of the Gorillaz artwork, and a few other known people.
"When I was setting up the gallery, I contacted Jamie to sell his work."
When asked about the reaction from locals to the opening, Bill said: “I was surprised at how many people are interested in art here and we had a lot of people coming in and taking pictures, we've sold quite a lot of artworks too.
"We’ve got well-known names here, but we’re also showcasing local artists’ work from Sussex.
“This place is for anyone who likes art of all kinds.
"If you find yourself down South Street come down and have a look around. We're really open to anyone coming in, we don't mind if you just want to have a look around and enjoy!”
The gallery also runs the Strohacker design school which has been running for about seven years now.
They take people with zero experience and get them fasttracked to a professional quality as a graphic designer.
They also promise to help them get a job afterwards.