That huge new Banksy exhibition? It doesn't have the artist's consent at all
It's the largest exhibition of Banksy works ever to visit Australia, but there's a good chance the world famous street artist might not be cool with it.
The Art of Banksy is a retrospective curated by the artist's former agent, Steve Lazarides, who had a mysterious falling out with the elusive graffiti legend sometime ago.
The pair "maintained a healthy distance" at a Massive Attack concert in March, according to The Independent and Lazarides thinks that the exhibition will tick Banksy off. "Hell yeah. I hope so. We've been at loggerheads for years," he told Broadsheet.
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The exhibition is taking place in the city of Melbourne, with more than 80 works on display in a car park located next to Federation Square from Oct. 7 till Jan. 22 next year.
It's a "major coup" for Melbourne, declared Lord Mayor Robert Doyle, despite the destruction of the artist's stencils by the same city's construction workers in July.
DJs will play on certain nights, while the exhibition's bar will be slinging craft beer and "summer favourite cocktails." The exhibition is seemingly at odds with the artist's impressively dour Dismaland, which took place along the English seaside last year.
Nevertheless, for fans of Banksy it's a chance to see many of his works that are at the behest of private collectors or are part of Lazarides' collection. The organisers have promised that the iconic "Girl with Balloon," "Flag Wall" and "Laugh Now" pieces will make an appearance.
"This exhibition is a one off – never will you be able to see this amount of work in one place again. Once the show is over, the artwork will dissipate back to the other 40 collectors around the world, and the likelihood of them being brought together again in the future is very slim," Lazarides said in a statement.
Similar unauthorised exhibitions have appeared in Istanbul and Amsterdam in the past year.
