Two years ago, I was lucky to stumble upon one of Banksy’s work in real life in an alley in Notting Hill, London. I would love to come across more of his work (before it gets scraped off!) and he is actually now displaying his work with a legitimate free exhibition at Bristol Museum. However, as most of us probably won’t visit Bristol, enjoy a sneak peek of Banksy’s Summer Show here. If you plan to see it in person however, be pre-warned as per the museum’s website that queuing times are currently up to an hour! In an interview with the BBC, Banksy said: “This is the first show I’ve ever done where taxpayers’ money is being used to hang my pictures up rather than scrape them off, this show is my vision of the future.”

Many of the over 100 exhibits are blended in with the museum’s existing pieces, mimicking a stunt pulled in 2003 when he smuggled a painting into the prestigious Tate Gallery – it actually hung there for a few hours before being discovered.

Also on display is a series of photos of a trip Banksy’s to Africa taken a few months ago, mainly from the suburbs of Bamako in Mali, West Africa. Banksy is taking his art global, targeting the areas that are at the heart of the messages he tries to shed light on.

Banksy is one of Bristol’s most infamous artists who gained notoriety by using stencils to paint images on a diverse array of outdoor locations. One may wonder if Banksy have gone commercial by taking his work into galleries? I simply think he realises his fame and using it cleverly for a good cause to communicate his messages to the public. I don’t support damage of public property but if the outcome is a creative use of space with an important message as Banksy’s work usually includes, it is worth all respect.

View Banksy’s Summer show video

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Yen Huynh, Creator of mecho | the style black book

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