The British anti-capitalist street artist has repeatedly expressed his disgust for the depletion of art for money, and has separated himself entirely from the exhibition. All the art works on display come from collectors. A representative for the artist stated that Banksy believes that is an “unauthorized traveling show organized by unscrupulous profiteers”.
Although the exhibition goes against everything that Banksy stands for, one can argue that the artworks themselves express important messages about the government, culture and ethics that would do a lot more good if they were shown at the art week, rather than hidden away.The exhibition is extremely commercial, encouraging the use of props for the visitors to take comedic photos with. This is extremely ironic when one considers the heavy subject matter of every single one of Banksy’s artworks. Banksy famously once said that;
The people who run our cities don't understand graffiti because they think nothing has the right to exist unless it makes a profit.The people who truly deface our neighborhoods are the companies that scrawl giant slogans across buildings and buses trying to make us feel inadequate unless we buy their stuff.
This exhibition seems to create a lot more controversy than others due to the prank that Banksy pulled in October where the artist shredded his Girl with a Balloon as soon as the final bid was made for 1.4 million using a shredder that was built into the frame. This however backfired as the shredding caused it to almost double in value.
Banksy once famously said that we would only charge people to see his art if there was a Ferris wheel involved. Ironically enough there is one right outside the exhibition.
These are some links to websites that were references; and will help with context:
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