The people of Bristol may not be able to escape the paint-stained spectre that is Banksy, but sadly the renowned artist hasn’t fully left his mark on Manchester…yet. This autumn things are about to change as a big art exhibition dedicated to the artist is now open. The Art of Banksy, is the largest touring exhibition of Banksy’s artworks, and is located at a new purpose-built gallery in the heart of MediaCity.
In an actually very Banksy-esque move, this exhibition is completely unauthorised, with absolutely no blessing from the artist. As a result, the producers have collected the world’s largest collection of privately-owned Banksy art, with ‘Girl and Balloon’, ‘Flower Thrower’, ‘Rude Copper’ and ‘Brace Yourself’ being perhaps the most famous masterpieces assembled.
Surprisingly, despite Manchester being blessed with an array of street art we’re one of the later cities to get the exhibition, which has already visited the likes of London, Toronto, Miami, Sydney, Melbourne, Tel Aviv, Gothenburg, and Auckland. (We’ll try not to take that personally.) Organisers claim that over one million people have already seen the travelling show, and from this October, you can find it in a new gallery within a purpose-built 1,200 square metre temporary structure in MediaCity, presented in association with HOME.
The Art of Banksy will display 145 prints, canvasses, screenprints, unique works, limited-edition pieces and more, covering a period from 2002 to 2017, and also features some of the artists’ lesser-known works for a bit of variety. Plus, The Art of Banksy has announced that it will be showing the extremely rare early Banksy streetwork; Leopard and Barcode, which has been unseen for more than a decade.
The exhibition set to run from Friday 21 October 2022 until Sunday 8 January 2023 will be open from 10am – 8pm on Fridays and Saturdays, 10am – 7pm Monday to Thursday and 10am-6pm on Sunday, so there’ll be plenty of opportunity for you to visit at a time that works for you. And it’s an exhibition you don’t want to miss out on though – the exhibit will be stripped down and returned to the different collectors who’ve loaned their artwork once the run is over.
Tickets are priced from £19.50 (concessions available). To find out more about The Art of Banksy exhibit in Manchester and to book tickets head to the website here.
The Art of Banksy, The Piazza, MediaCity, Salford Quays, M50 2HF