In line with his works suddenly appearing in public spaces, British street artist Banksy announced just after midnight that his first official exhibition in 14 years will open this weekend in Glasgow, Scotland. The exhibition at the Modern Art Gallery (Goma) is called Cut & Run: 25 years of manpower (June 18-August 28) and will cover the artist’s career, starting with his first works made in the late 1980s to recent pieces made this year.
cut and run will focus on the stencils the artist uses to create his works, which are often spray painted on walls around the world, including damaged buildings in Ukrainea car park at Los Angelesthe exterior of a former prison While readingthe dividing wall Bethlehem and inside a London Underground. The exhibition will also feature the Union Flag body armor that Banksy made for pop star Stormzy and paintings such as Basquiat arrested and searched (2017), a version of which was painted on the walls in front of an exhibition by Jean-Michel Basquiat at the Barbican Gallery in London in 2017.
Banksy said in a statement: “I kept these stencils hidden for years, aware that they could be used as evidence in a charge of criminal damage. But that moment seems to have passed, so now I display them in a gallery as works of art. I don’t know what the most serious crime is.
One of the highlights of the show will be a model showing how Banksy incorporated a chipper into one of his works which, infamously, self-destruct at an auction at Sotheby’s London in 2018. In addition, the “real toilets of the artist” will be displayed, according to the press release.
The elusive artist, whose identity is still largely unknown, announced the news of the exhibition on his Instagram page.
A specially designed website was also launched with more details about the exhibition. Tickets will cost between £15 for an adult (with £10 concessions for “student/OAP/low pay/clenched fist”) and the show will be open all night at weekends, closing at 5am before reopening at 9 o’clock.
However, visitors hoping to visit after a night out who “show up drunk […] may be refused entry,” according to the website. Photography will be strictly prohibited, with visitors required to store their phones in a “lockable pouch for the duration” of the visit. But staff will be on hand to take free Polaroid photos for those who want a memento of the occasion.
Although there have been several exhibitions of Banksy over the past decade, this will be the first officially sanctioned since his solo exhibition Banksy versus Bristol Museum in 2009. He says of the other shows: “While Banksy’s unauthorized shows might look like sweeps from my studio, cut and run really are the actual sweeps of my studio.
