ABC Wednesday 5: B is for...


...Banksy

Bristol's naughtiest boy has been let loose on the city's main museum for the Bristol Museum vs. Banksy exhibition. The building was closed for 3 months whilst he secretly curated his own exhibition and turned the entire place upside down in the process. It opened in June and so far around 200,000 visitors drawn from across the world have come to view, gawp and laugh. I don't think the museum staff quite expected such an explosion of interest.

I've seen quite a few Banksy originals on the streets of Bristol and was curious to see whether an exhibition in an 'establishment' venue would dent his political stance or sense of humour. I needn't have worried. Banksy has pretty much turned the museum into his own playground. As well as the rooms dedicated to his art, he's made 'additions' to pretty much every cabinet and wall elsewhere. I suspect the porcelain, maps, natural history and artwork have never been examined so closely by visitors. Even the exhibit to celebrate Darwin's bicentenary has had Banksy's own touch applied to it. In the art rooms, a sign which reads A Local Artist is a clue the picture next to it may not be one of the regular exhibits.

The queues are huge and NAH and I joined the one last Wednesday morning. We waited for nigh on 2 hours to get in - we were told later by one of the staff the record's nearly 3 hours so far. The time passed really quickly though as we got nattering to a charming family from Dublin behind us. Waiting really only served to heighten our anticipation and the exhibition itself is free.

The picture gives you a bird's eye view of the main hall. Don't be fooled by the statues down the sides. I didn't give them a glance at first. Then I noticed the one at the bottom right's called The Angel of The North and the items round her feet are sculpted ice cream cones and litter. Yes, all the sculptures are Banksy's as is the ice cream van, which doubles up as the museum's Information Point for the duration. Just in front of the queue on the right is a marvellous disclaimer saying the views of the artist might not coincide with that of the museum's, plus the wonderful sentence:

Please be aware that some of the historic relics now on display throughout the museum are fakes.

The museum's guide has also been 'adapted' for the show and ends with: PG Contains scenes of a childish nature some adults may find disappointing.


NAH and I weren't disappointed, nor were the dozens of visitors of all ages I saw going around the exhibition with huge grins on their faces. In one of the main rooms stuffed full of Banksy pictures, there's an insight into the methods he uses out on the streets. There's a workshop containing little sketches of ideas, full blown stencils, spray paint and spattered cans. In the middle of it all he's placed a pixellated 'self-portrait'. There's even some preliminary sketches of the exhibition's itself, including one of the room you're standing in at the time with the legend underneath which says:

Call and see if this is possible.

Well it was possible and it's totally marvellous. Whatever you may think about graffiti art - and we had a bit of a debate on it last year - I defy you not to come away from this exhibition without having had fun and your perceptions changed a little. In fact, I spent the next couple of hours going around Bristol expecting every sign and hoarding to have been changed into something else. And I did find a few examples to show you another time.

The exhibition is open 10-5 every day until 31st August, though the hours may be extended until 8pm on Wednesdays. I'm going again on August 8th with my friend H: it's that good. The link also has a tempting trailer to show you what you might be missing.

There's more Bouncing B's today over at the ABC Wednesday blog.

Comments

  1. I first heard of Banksy while in London in April. I love his art and would love to visit! Alas, it's not possible now! Good to hear you had a great time though!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I've heard of this guy - I would LOVE to see the exhibit! Good for him. I love a good nose-thumber. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I wonder if I can get down to see this during August ... sounds wonderful!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Not familiar; thanks for the enlightenment.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I had never heard of Banksy until I read about him on Maggie May's blog several weeks ago. This sounds like such a fun exhibit; I love good satire!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'm thinking of becoming inspired - of creeping out secretly in the night and painting delicate images of flowers and leaves and birdcages and . . . and . . . things . . . er somewhere in Dorset. Clearly Dorset has some catching up to do. Somerset already has a Valentine Lampost in Frome. (Though I don't think Banksi did that.) (It's not really his style.)

    Esther

    P.S. Did you come to understand the 'anonimity' side of this better? I mean, he painted on the Wall in Israel - hardly a place where one might not be noticed.

    ReplyDelete
  7. So jealous, I love Banksy and couldn't believe it when I heard about this event on the news, way back. You are so lucky, it would have cost us too much to get over to see it! Oh, I'm fuming!! x

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hi everyone - glad you like this post - at least those of you who can't make the exhibition have had the chance for a little look :)

    Esther - I'm not sure what the Valentine lampost is!? I like your idea of doing something in (for?) Dorset though.

    As for the anonymity, I guess it's about having the freedom to say exactly what he wants in the way he wants to do it. I also suspect there's excitement in doing it in such closely guarded places like the Wall and getting away with it. It's ironic though how something so anti-establishment is considered to be so mainstream though. I was talking to my friend who works for Bournemouth council (the person I met up with after you at Poundbury) last night. She told me that the cleaning department hate it when Banksy gets attention in the media as it means a big upswing in the amount of graffiti they have to deal with in the town.

    ReplyDelete

Your essential reads

Jack Go To Bed At Noon

Salad Days: Mastering Lettuce

Testing Times: Tomatoes

Things in unusual places #26: Rubber Ducks

Chelsea Fringe 2014: Shows of Hands - Episode I

Merry Christmas!

The Resilient Garden

#mygardenrightnow: heading into summer with the Chelsea Fringe

That blue flower: A spring spotter's guide

Introducing the #mygardenrightnow project