On the 4th August I took a trip to Bristol to visit the Banksy vs Bristol Museum exhibition. This was Banksy’s first show since 2000.
“Throughout the summer, visitors will find some unusual specimens amongst the museum's permanent collection - a stonehenge made from portable toilets greets visitors on arrival, a burnt out ice cream van now replaces the enquiries desk and the life size historic biplane suspended from the ceiling now provides refuge for a Guantanamo bay escapee. Banksy has filled the museum with his own wry take on classical art. ” (Bristol City Council 5.8.2009: Online)
The exhibition was funded entirely by Banksy himself and entry was free. This however had its downfall, it meant that still a month into the exhibition we were queuing for two and half hours. I believe the thought process for making the exhibition free was a very intelligent one, it meant that people came from far and wide, of all ages and diversity and experienced the work of the great artist Banksy. His political views and irony have now been seen by many and will be seen by more to come. People who would not normally go to an art gallery do.
Most of the work shown at the exhibition has never been seen before and Banksy added bits to museums own collections, adding over 100 things to them, such as humoured paintings among the museum’s collections.
Throughout the exhibition Banksy remains true to his roots as a street artist. Much of the work is very silly, playful and childlike, however it has a humour that many can relate to, and conveys a message too.
A part of the exhibiton showed a recreation of Banksy’s workshop, with many sketches, stencils and paintings displayed inside, giving an insight into the artists surroundings and inspiration.
Banksy is a master at juxta postioning. In the second room where Banksy displays his live animations there is what looks like a living cheetah from behind, lying on a tree with his tail in full motion, however when you see it from the front, you notice that it has actually been made into a fur coat.
Banksy shows his intelligence and imagination at the exhibiton, he sends messages, sometimes harsh about the world today and makes you stop for a moment and think. A key piece of work is an image of a child in poverty with a T-shirt on that reads ‘I hate Mondays’.
The exhibition’s only rule is no flash photography, therefore I tried to get an image of most of the pieces of work from the exhibition as Banksy doesn’t believe in copyright.
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