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Showing posts from July 24, 2009

Bristol, Banksy and me

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All-around talented graffiti artist and rabble-rouser Banksy once wrote "When you go to an art gallery, you are simply a tourist looking at the trophy cabinet of a few millionaires." Fortunately for his legion of fans, at some point, this viewpoint seems to be have segued into more of an 'if you can't beat them, join 'em" approach, albeit, one with a decidedly Banksy-ian twist. In the past years, he has begun surreptitiously placing his works in such well-known museums as the Met, the Tate and NY's Museum of Natural History. He claims it is simply a short-cut to the time consuming process of having his work accepted by the museum. Now, in conjunction with some very publicity-savvy curators, he has temporarily taken over the Bristol City Museum and made it his own. From the museum's own account, a Banksy representative approached them with the offer of an exhibition funded entirely by the artist and presented as a gift to his hometown. In exchange, t