Here’s Banksy!
People have seen works by the famed elusive street artist Banksy on exterior walls, bridges, streets, being shredded (by the artist’s own devices) at a Sotheby’s auction, and even being painted over by Christopher Walken in an episode of the BBC thriller series “Outlaws.” But in a gallery?
It might seem frightfully ordinary, but, yes, you can now see works by the outrageous and mysterious artist in “The Art of Banksy,” a touring exhibit that has landed at a makeshift gallery at San Francisco’s Palace of Fine Arts. The more than 80images and objects in the collection include such well-known works as “Flower Thrower,” “Rude Copper” and the original “Girl with Balloon” (it was a 2006 copy of that work that Banksy infamously shredded after it was sold at a Sotheby’s auction, after which its value jumped from $1.4 million to more than $25 million).
The works included — most created between 1997and 2008— were sold by the artist to private collectors. While Banksy himself did not approve of or take part in curating the exhibit, each work has been authenticated by Banksy’s own Pest Control organization. The exhibit serves up a wide variety of the artist’s iconic graffiti-inspired stencil works, often delivered with humorous or political messaging.
The artist, whose identity remains unknown to the general public, is famously adverse to his art being viewed or exchanged in traditional formats, so the exhibit represents an extremely rare chance to see a large number of Banksy’s works in one setting. The exhibit has already been viewed by more than 750,000people during stops in Melbourne, Tel Aviv, Auckland, Toronto, London and Chicago.
Details: Through Jan. 3; Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco; timed-entry reservations required; $29-$70; buy tickets, see COVID requirements and get more information at banksyexhibit.com/sanfrancisco.