Barcelona has surrendered to the Banksy phenomenon. Espacio Trafalgar has dedicated an immersive exhibition to him since last year, and the brand new Moco Museum also includes some of his works. As if that weren't enough, the Disseny Hub has just premiered Banksy. The art of protest, with more than 70 original works by the anonymous British artist, one of the most extensive ever made.
As the Disseny Hub exhibition, which can be visited until March 13, 2022, reveals, Banksy's relationship with Barcelona began a long time ago. Ciutat Vella was the setting the artist chose to leave a record of his passage through the city, with interventions such as Mask girl (2003), where a girl with a gas mask and flowers in her hand looked at passersby.
Banksy also passed through Ciutadella Park, where he wanted to leave his mark on the Barcelona Zoo. He intended to write "Laugh now, but one day I'll be in charge" on one of the cages, but he lost the Spanish translation paper and only ended up painting vertical lines, like those used to count days in prison. He also managed to draw his signature on the stones of the penguin and giraffe enclosures.
Banksy's relationship with Barcelona began a long time ago and he left his mark in Ciutat Vella and the ZooWith this local welcome, Banksy. The art of protest brings some of the artist's best-known pieces closer to the people of Barcelona. Among the seventy works that make up the exhibition, one can find that of the girl releasing a red balloon, that of the demonstrator throwing a bouquet of flowers, or the one starring Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta in an interpretation of Pulp Fictionthat exchanges guns for bananas.
Censorship of globalization, consumerism, wars, the power of politics and religion, violence or the climate crisis are some of his most recurring themes. With various formats, including photographs, engravings and large-scale pieces, his favorite protagonists appear, such as the Queen of England, Lady Di, Lenin, Kate Moss or Jesus Christ, accompanied by anonymous characters such as police officers, soldiers, children, monkeys and rats.
One of the most prominent spaces in the Disseny Hub exhibition is the one dedicated to the Walled Off Hotel, the establishment that Banksy inaugurated in 2017 with "the worst views in the world", since it is located on the wall that divides the border between Israel and Palestine. With the sound and lights of helicopters flying over the room, the history of this hotel and the message that the artist wanted to convey are explained.
Likewise, Banksy. The art of protest includes unpublished works, such as the urban interventions Pissing Busby and Out of Bed Rat, which show a police officer from Queen Elizabeth II's guard urinating and his iconic rat, in a morning version and with little desire to do anything. Both were in the hands of private collectors and will be presented to the public for the first time.
Banksy. The art of protest includes unpublished works, such as the urban interventions Pissing Busby and Out of Bed Rat"We have created the best Banksy exhibition," defends the curator of the show, Alexander Nachkebiya, despite not having been authorized by the artist himself. "We would be happy if he participated, but it's his choice," Nachkebiya remarks. Despite this,Banksy. The art of protest includes works authenticated by Pest Control, the only entity capable of doing so.
But, ironically, Pest Control advises against visiting any exhibition about the artist. "Banksy has nothing to do with any of the current or recent exhibitions and they are by no means an authentic Banksy show. They might be shit, so please don't come asking us for a refund," they warn.