When does Graffiti become art?

Wandering around Covent Garden yesterday, I happened upon an exhibition of some of the work by Banksy, formerly the notorious scourge of Bristol, but now the enigmatic respectable graffiti artist.

In some ways the whole concept of a Banksy exhibition is rather flawed. I am not sure that a gallery - albeit one in a derelict building in the West End - is really in the true spirit of graffiti art that made Banksy's name. It seemed even odder to view framed works by the artist, whose work sells at auction for over £50k.

However, one picture perhaps gives us a clue that Banksy has not really sold out - perhaps he's just winding up a different audience!

The Unofficial Banksy exhibition is at The Flower Cellars, 4-6 Russell Street, London.

I'm not really convinced about graffiti as art, but given that we have decided to project ourselves as a nation to the international community with a graffiti-inspired Olympic logo, who am I to judge?