Banksy Terrorises Museums and Galleries
Banksy is the master of pulling off a stunt, call it publicity or just plain genius tongue in cheek pranking, but every time he does it he puts a lot of thought behind what the piece is and where it is going to be situated and viewed.
What is clear is that he is saying why can’t art be for all and who says that you have to be curated by a so-called panel of experts to earn the right to be hung in a place of worship for art or historian lovers.
Banksy has pulled so many stunts over the years but let’s take a look at the Gallery & Museum hits.
Tate Britain London 2003
He disguises himself as an old man and brazens hangs (sticks) up a masterpiece of his called ‘Crime watch UK has ruined the countryside for all of us’ It stayed up for a few hours before crashing to the floor when it was discovered.
Natural History Museum London 2004
He dressed as an employee and smuggled in a stuffed Rat installation in a glass box and sprayed ‘our time will come’ behind it. ‘Titled Pest Control’ this was later to become the name of his authentication service for his prints.
The Louvre Paris 2004
Apparently dressed normally and not disguised a quick visit to The Louvre followed to hang his version of the Mona Lisa entitled ‘Mona Lisa’s Smile’ it is not known how long it lasted.
British Museum London 2005
This time he smuggled in hangs a cave painting depicting a prehistoric man pushing a modern-day shopping trolley on concrete or rock, it stays unnoticed for 3 days only coming to their attention by an employee noticing the challenge from Banksy on his website to discover the hoax. Entitled ‘Peckham Rock’ it was returned to Banksy but they requested it back in later years to be shown at an Exhibition curated by Ian Hislop and blow me they even allowed Banksy to make some replicas of it and sell in the gift shop LOL.
MOMA, Metropolitan Museum, Brooklyn Museum & America Museum March 2005
All 4 hit apparently in 1 day, MOMA with his now iconic ‘Discount Soup Can’ lasted 6 days, aping no doubt one of his influences Warhol who regularly has major exhibits here and has become such a collectable image of Banksy’s via the print releases and now highly sought-after Soup Cans poster. Metropolitan saw the ‘Canvas of woman with Prosthetic nose & beard’ only lasted 2 hours Brooklyn ‘Graffiti Lord’ lasted 8 days before being discovered and finally ‘Harlequin Beetle with Airfix weapons’ lasted an incredible 12 days.
If you look at the clever marketing moves behind these pieces of work they just build the story of who Is rapidly becoming Britain’s most important living artist and guess what he did not come from part of the establishment of the art scene in fact he is seen by said establishment as a vandal/criminal you couldn’t make this stuff up.