Banksy versus Bristol Museum
Till 31 August 2009
City Museum & Art Gallery
Bristol
UK

And so it happens like this. Banksy versus Bristol Museum, an exhibition the elusive graffiti artist called Banksy suddenly unveiled one day in early June in Bristol’s City Museum & Art Gallery. In what he called a "remix" of the museum's own collection by putting more than 100 of his own artworks among it.

This is by far the largest Banksy show to date, of work mostly never shown in the UK before. This is also a “home coming”, Banksy’s way of giving something back to the city he grew up in, according to the museum’s director, Kate Brindley. This world-renowned graffiti artist features in this exclusive show his famous stencil street art along with installations, animatronics, sculptures and an impressive sensory display.

The exhibition was planned in secret. Brindley was first approached last October, and sworn to secrecy. Just four of the museum’s staff knew of the plans. Ms Brindley said: “We gave the staff a couple of days off and said we were filming. We were taking a huge risk because no one has spoken to Banksy, it’s all been done through his agents.”

Banksy claims that he has to maintain his anonymity for “legal” reasons. In the press release accompanying the exhibition, he said: “Maybe one day graffiti art will hang in lots of museums and be viewed in the same way as other modern art, although personally I hope it never sinks that low.”

"Humor" is a governing word throughout the show. The PG of the show’s trailer warns: Contains scenes of childish nature, some adults may find disappointing”. Yes, his humor is childishly impudent, but also provocatively disrespectful and disturbingly dark. A stone Buddha sits on a plinth with a broken arm and a neck brace, Old Masters have been adapted to include flying saucers or characters bursting out of the frame. In one typically Banksian pun, Dorothy and Toto from The Wizard of Oz are painted on a sheet of rusting iron with a speech bubble saying: "I don’t think we’re on canvas any more." There is an original Damian Hirst spot painting defaced by a rat with a paint roller. A stencilled picture shows an African orphan with a bucket saying: "Peaches Geldof — please give generously."