Banksy takes over Bristol museum for "secret" show (Feature)

By Anna Tomforde Jun 13, 2009, 2:08 GMT

   London - Internationally-known British graffiti artist Banksy has pulled off his boldest stunt yet with a major exhibition in his home city of Bristol - a project that naturally remained anonymous and top secret until its launch.    '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,' said the artist ahead of the opening of Banksy Versus Bristol Museum Saturday.

   Around 100 of the artist's works fill the entire space of the city's main museum, normally used for the more conventional display of artefacts and paintings celebrating Bristol's maritime history.

   Kate Brindley, director of Bristol's City Museum and Art Gallery, said the launch had come as a bit of a relief following months of secret preparations behind blackened windows.

   The exhibition and its location had been a closely-guarded secret since October, with just a handful of museum officials in the loop, Brindley revealed.

   'We ran a bit of a risk, but we knew it was just the right thing for the city. He's a megastar, our home-grown hero,' she said.

   Banksy was involved in setting up the exhibits and came to the museum to oversee the installations, but staff did not know who he was among the team setting up the show.

   Bristol has had a love-hate relationship with Banksy ever since he started spraying the city's walls and iconic buildings with graffiti paintings in the 1990s, Bridley conceded.

   But while she expected to be criticized for the decision to devote an entire exhibition to his work, there were also many people who 'just love Banksy.'

   Eye-catching works include a burned-out ice-cream van fronted by a masked anti-terrorism police officer flashing the word 'peace' across his uniform, and an installation of portable toilets stacked in the shape of the ancient monument of Stonehenge. 'This show is my vision of the future,' said Banksy.

   The artist, whose works have fetched record sums at auction, has exhibited in New York, Los Angeles and Bethlehem.

His work has become highly collectable, attracting celebrity buyers from Brad Pitt to Robbie Williams.    Banksy became famous after a series of 'guerrilla' stunts which saw him paint the West Bank barrier and put an inflatable figure of a Guantanamo Bay prisoner at Disney World.

   Exactly who Banksy is, meanwhile, remains shrouded in mystery. But it is known that he grew up in Bristol, and that the show is his way of saying 'thank you' to the city.

   The admission-free summer exhibition runs until August 31.