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A comprehensive collection of Urban Art, including several important works by Banksy, are to go on display at a London Department store on Friday (May 23) before being sold by British auction house Dreweatts. Selfridges Department store, located on London's famous retail avenue - Oxford Street, hosted a preview of the auction on Thursday (May 22) including art by Banksy, the reclusive artist who refuses to give up his identity. Banksy started out as teenage graffiti artist in his hometown of Bristol in western England, using a spray can on walls, curbs and railway bridges. Eager to stay one step ahead of the police, he grew speedier and more adept when switching to stencils to shape his trademark images that are anti-war, anti-capitalist and anti-state. Some critics scorn Banksy as a fad for lightweight art fashionistas but his instantly memorable images can fetch hundreds of thousands of dollars with collectors ranging from Christina Aguilera to Angelina Jolie. The prices achieved by the leading urban artists, the extensive media interest they have generated and the very nature of the art itself have contributed to making the movement part of the national consciousness. "As I always say to anyone, you buy what you want on the wall. So, at the moment obviously street art or urban art - as it's been coined in the last six months - is obviously relating to our culture a lot more than more traditional pieces will. Hence why there is such a take up in this market," said Mary McCarthy, curator of the exhibit. Banksy's work has inspired others both in Britain and abroad, although the urban art movement started in the 1980s and has taken its own shape in countries around the globe, developing into a major sector of the art industry in spite of its sometimes controversial subject matter. "The Brazilians, for instance, their work is really colourful and really reflective of their culture. Blek le Rat from France, extremely politically motivated. Obviously the Britons we have represented here - Banksy, Nick Walker, Inkie, Dr. D - political, subversive, cheeky, fun. Moving on to the Americans, Seen really shows us the pioneer of the graffiti letterform style," McCarthy said, of the collection that reflects various nationalities. Banksy's hometown of Bristol houses several urban artists. Several got together to create a limited edition print to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the local printing workshop Screen One. The workshop was used, initially exclusively, by a number of the Bristol based artists who have been central to the development of the Street Art scene, including Banksy, Nick Walker, Eco, Mau Mau, China Mike and Dicy. "This print is basically a document to enclose the history of Bristol street art. So there's several names involved, some of them at different levels and it's basically just a head's up to all those artists," said Justin MacCarthy, director of the local artist group. Hand-finished copies of the "First Great Weston" print are only available for sale through Selfridges, where the urban art exhibit will be on display until June 1. The Dreweatts auction will take place on June 17.