How much for the latest work of art from the father of the YBAs, Michael Craig-Martin? Yours for only 50p.
Nip down to your local Sainsbury's and you can pick up a copy of Craig-Martin's take on a bunch of bananas. It may come in handy if you're getting an actual bunch of bananas too, because this pop-art inspired work in a characteristically bright palette of turquoise and orange is printed on the side of a sturdy fabric bag. Those of a slightly less literal bent may choose to go for Paul Morrison's offering, a black-and-white woodland scene picked out in bold brush strokes.
Or if 50p seems a little steep for a work of modern art, you could go for Anya Gallaccio's striking photographic image of vegetables in a string bag. This vibrant work on "strong plastic", a bravura play on the viewer's expectations of the bag's actual contents, can be yours for only 10p. What you do with it when you get it home is, of course, another question.
All this thanks to Arts Council England. "As part of our 60th anniversary celebrations we have teamed up with Sainsbury's to produce original art that people can buy for just 50p," explains the Arts Council chief executive Peter Hewitt. "I hope this gets more people thinking about art, artists and also the environment."
It's a project that puts a big, fat tick in a couple of feel-good boxes - access and the environment - and meshes perfectly with the Arts Council's stated aim of developing and promoting the arts, ringingly summed up by Hewitt as getting "more art to more people in more places."
Even so, there's something about it that gives me the creeps. Obviously I'm in favour of art. Obviously I'm in favour of widening access to art. Obviously I'm in favour of the environment as well. Hell, I'm in favour of apple pie and motherhood, too.
But maybe it's something about the way the project is literally cheapening art. Maybe it's the prospect of self-satisfied shoppers loading up their Chelsea tractors with a bunch of original Craig-Martin's, consciences duly salved. Or maybe it's something about the corporate safeness of all three contributions - Craig Martin has even managed to choose a shade of orange that's not a million miles away from Sainsbury's favourite hue.
How about a Warhol-esque portrait of French anti-globalisation protester José Bové instead? Or deserted high streets in the manner of Dorothea Lange? Or a Goya-style watercolour of workers at a Kenyan bean-trimming plant? Maybe even just a massive ad for Tesco.
