You Dirty Rats
I visited Banksy's new exhibition "Crude Oils" at the weekend... if you've been visiting here a while you'll know i'm a bit of a fan, and i've got quite a collection of his screen prints.
This exhibition, however, was shit.
Or should I say covered in shit.
If you've read anything about the show, you will probably have heard about the rats. Nearly 200 of them are living on the gallery floor for the duration of the exhibition, and even outside there was quite a stench from the substantial quantity of rat shit covering every surface the rodents had managed to reach. The poor gallery attendant in particular was covered in the stuff.
They were mainly piled up in the corners when I visited, but a couple of the persistent beggars insisted on charging me every time I looked away. I wouldn't normally mind too much, but they were seriously filthy!
Banksy of course has an ongoing thing for rats with his street stencils, claiming that "If you feel small, insignificant and dirty they are the ultimate role model".
Unfortunately I think that the vermin became the focus of the exhibition, distracting attention from the work on the walls. You weren't allowed in for long anyway, and for the time you were in there it was hard to devote as much time looking at the paintings as you did checking your feet. Having one of them climbing up your trouser leg doesn't bear thinking about!
As for the work itself, well unfortunately I didn't bring my camera, so wasn't able to take any snaps. If I have time I may go back next week & get some pictures....
For the time being the two photos above and one below are lifted from the excellent Wooster Collective site. You can see most of the other pieces on this site
This Edward Hopper 'Diner' pastiche was the only piece still available to buy. A cool 40 grand to you. It is bloody huge though. Ah, an Englishman abroad in traditional dress offers up his customary greeting....
A couple of Warhol pisstakes also featured. The Kate Moss as Marilyn Monroe canvas was new (this is a scan of the postcard given out)
Looking at this made me realise that Kate Moss isn't nearly as iconic as she's made out to be. To be honest if I didn't know it was her I probably wouldn't have recognised her.
The Tesco Value Soup tin has been around a while as a screen print (you can still buy 'em from Pictures on Walls). This was also the canvas he sneaked into the New York Museum of Modern Art. It's simple, but I like this a lot.
"Crude Oils" was the title of the exhibition though, and most of the room was filled with corrupted oil canvases. One side were adapted from existing paintings bought cheaply at markets, and half - the Van Gogh, Monet and Jack Vettriano pastiches - done from scratch. The following are on Banksy's website, however they've been there for a while and from what I can remember the versions in the exhibition were new (but similar).
The best two were probably the Guantanamo Bay prisoner kneeling on a beach, and the guardsman sitting on a pantomime horse. Bear in mind if you're looking at the pictures on that site, that the rats were considerably filthier, and there was significantly more shit around when i visited!
So it was definitely worth a visit, but not the greatest showcase of Banksy's work i've seen. Having missed the 'Turf War' exhibition, it was good to see a good collection of his work at close quarters. Although there wasn't a lot of genuinely new material or ideas there. I have a sneaking suspicion the sole purpose of the event is to qualify for inclusion in next year's Turner Prize shortlist. Despite his ruthlessly anti-establishment ethos, I think he quite fancies winning the prize as a raised middle finger to the art world.
For me, Banksy still works best when placing his stencils in unexpected or subversive places. It's a joy to turn a corner and find a pissing guardsman, or snogging policement.... or to be greeted on the M4 into London by the huge 'Welcome to Hell' bunny. There's a huge archive of his graffiti here if you want to check it out...
The exhibition is only on for another week or so at 100 Westbourne Grove. If you're thinking of going, i'd practice holding your breath... I suspect that by next weekend it'll be really grim!
This exhibition, however, was shit.
Or should I say covered in shit.
If you've read anything about the show, you will probably have heard about the rats. Nearly 200 of them are living on the gallery floor for the duration of the exhibition, and even outside there was quite a stench from the substantial quantity of rat shit covering every surface the rodents had managed to reach. The poor gallery attendant in particular was covered in the stuff.
They were mainly piled up in the corners when I visited, but a couple of the persistent beggars insisted on charging me every time I looked away. I wouldn't normally mind too much, but they were seriously filthy!
Banksy of course has an ongoing thing for rats with his street stencils, claiming that "If you feel small, insignificant and dirty they are the ultimate role model".
Unfortunately I think that the vermin became the focus of the exhibition, distracting attention from the work on the walls. You weren't allowed in for long anyway, and for the time you were in there it was hard to devote as much time looking at the paintings as you did checking your feet. Having one of them climbing up your trouser leg doesn't bear thinking about!
As for the work itself, well unfortunately I didn't bring my camera, so wasn't able to take any snaps. If I have time I may go back next week & get some pictures....
For the time being the two photos above and one below are lifted from the excellent Wooster Collective site. You can see most of the other pieces on this site
This Edward Hopper 'Diner' pastiche was the only piece still available to buy. A cool 40 grand to you. It is bloody huge though. Ah, an Englishman abroad in traditional dress offers up his customary greeting....
A couple of Warhol pisstakes also featured. The Kate Moss as Marilyn Monroe canvas was new (this is a scan of the postcard given out)
Looking at this made me realise that Kate Moss isn't nearly as iconic as she's made out to be. To be honest if I didn't know it was her I probably wouldn't have recognised her.
The Tesco Value Soup tin has been around a while as a screen print (you can still buy 'em from Pictures on Walls). This was also the canvas he sneaked into the New York Museum of Modern Art. It's simple, but I like this a lot.
"Crude Oils" was the title of the exhibition though, and most of the room was filled with corrupted oil canvases. One side were adapted from existing paintings bought cheaply at markets, and half - the Van Gogh, Monet and Jack Vettriano pastiches - done from scratch. The following are on Banksy's website, however they've been there for a while and from what I can remember the versions in the exhibition were new (but similar).
The best two were probably the Guantanamo Bay prisoner kneeling on a beach, and the guardsman sitting on a pantomime horse. Bear in mind if you're looking at the pictures on that site, that the rats were considerably filthier, and there was significantly more shit around when i visited!
So it was definitely worth a visit, but not the greatest showcase of Banksy's work i've seen. Having missed the 'Turf War' exhibition, it was good to see a good collection of his work at close quarters. Although there wasn't a lot of genuinely new material or ideas there. I have a sneaking suspicion the sole purpose of the event is to qualify for inclusion in next year's Turner Prize shortlist. Despite his ruthlessly anti-establishment ethos, I think he quite fancies winning the prize as a raised middle finger to the art world.
For me, Banksy still works best when placing his stencils in unexpected or subversive places. It's a joy to turn a corner and find a pissing guardsman, or snogging policement.... or to be greeted on the M4 into London by the huge 'Welcome to Hell' bunny. There's a huge archive of his graffiti here if you want to check it out...
The exhibition is only on for another week or so at 100 Westbourne Grove. If you're thinking of going, i'd practice holding your breath... I suspect that by next weekend it'll be really grim!
posted by headphonesex @ 6:19 PM
