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The Art of Banksy hosts some 130 artworks by the elusive creator, and you can see them yourself at this exhibition.
Alice Lorenzato-Lloyd - Staff Writer
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. Next year things are about to change as a big art exhibition dedicated to the artist is coming to the North West. The Art of Banksy, is the largest touring exhibition of Banksy’s artworks, and will be located at a new purpose-built gallery on First Street.
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’ and ‘Rude Copper’ being perhaps the most famous masterpieces assembled. The Art of Banksy displays prints, canvasses, screenprints, unique works, limited-edition pieces and more, covering a period from 1997 to 2008, and also features some of the artists’ lesser-known works for a bit of variety.
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 next year, you can find it in a new gallery due to be constructed on the estate’s River Street pop-up space, which has formerly hosted HOME’s Homeground festival and several Pride events.
The exhibition set to run from Thursday 22 September until Sunday 8 January 2023 will be open from 10am – 8pm on Fridays and Saturdays and 10am – 7pm Sunday to Thursday, 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 40 different collectors who’ve loaned their artwork once the run is over.
To find out more about The Art of Banksy exhibit ahead of its arrival in Manchester, you can sign up for the show’s newsletter via its website here.