Hot art: laughing all the way to the Banksy?

By Jennifer Hill, Personal Finance Correspondent

LONDON (Reuters) - Nestled on Walton Street in London's stylish Knightsbridge, the Andipa Gallery is taking delivery of life-size prints, newsprint sculptures and mammoth murals from New York, Los Angeles and Paris.

Maria Andipa, 80, founded the gallery on this very site 40 years ago after a career as an actress that saw her play the gypsy queen in the James Bond film "From Russia with Love" and appear alongside Katharine Hepburn and Bob Hope.

Her son Acoris, 40, became director and owner 18 years ago, continuing the Greek family's long-running tradition in art dealing that started in Venice as far back as 1593.

Much has changed in that time, and the gallery is preparing to stage the first collective exhibition of the work of urban artists from around the globe.

"Trespass Alliance: Inside Urban Art" will feature works from a string of renowned artists including: D*Face, a London-based multimedia street artist famed for putting defaced 10 pound notes into circulation and creating a 9ft tall ice sculpture of a spray-can in the Arctic Circle.

Also there is Swoon, a New York-based artist known for her life-size wheatpaste prints and cut-out paper portrayals of people going about their everyday life; and WK Interact, a French artist based in New York, known for his black and white painted murals of skaters, kung-fu masters, boxers and mountain climbers.

"Street" art, whose high priest is Bristol-based graffiti artist Banksy, is growing in popularity across the world: in a typical week, the Andipa Gallery will sell works to collectors in Mexico, Kuwait, Paris, Los Angeles and London.

A growing band of people -- particularly the wealthy and those looking to spend City bonuses -- are turning their attention to such alternative investments as the credit crunch continues and investors take a "flight to safety".