Blink-182's Mark Hoppus Auctioning Off Prized Banksy Painting

The painting by the street artist is valued at up to $6.3 million and some of the proceeds will go to victims of the Los Angeles wildfires.

LONDON (AP) — A painting by street artist Banksy with an environmental message and an estimate of up to 5 million pounds ($6.3 million) is going up for auction, with some of the proceeds helping victims of the Los Angeles wildfires.

Sotheby’s auction house said Tuesday that “Crude Oil (Vettriano)” is being sold in London next month from the collection of Mark Hoppus, bassist with California skate-punk band Blink-182, who sees Banksy as a kindred spirit.

Hoppus said he was drawn to the subversion, humor and intelligence of Banksy’s work and the similarities between “skateboarding, punk rock and art.”

“I feel like street art and punk rock have the same core,” Hoppus said. “The left-out and overlooked making their own reality. … Just go make art. It’s the same spirit. And I’ve loved art and especially street art ever since realizing that.”

“Crude Oil (Vettriano)” is part of a 2005 series of works in which Banksy put a satirical spin on famous paintings — withering Vincent van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” and smashing the diner window in Edward Hopper’s “Nighthawks.” The artist said his aim was to show that “the real damage done to our environment is not done by graffiti writers and drunken teenagers, but by big business.”