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Leon Thompson from Crazy Fools Gallery in Bristol with Banksy’s ‘Portrait of an Artist’ at The Library in Upper Street |
Will he or won’t he? Waiting for Banksy
Crowds clamour on the off-chance of catching a glimpse of elusive artist at The Library
IS he here? Is he coming? Who knows what he looks like?
These were the hushed whispers among the crowds clamouring to catch a glimpse of a genuine Banksy original – or the elusive artist himself – at the two-day pop-up exhibition at The Library, Upper Street, at the weekend.
The makeshift gallery was full of Bristol’s bright stars, many of whom are well-acquainted with Banksy, but happy to collude in the secret.
One artist muttered: “He might come by later, but he doesn’t like it when we’re all here because we know him.”
As expected, rumours the promised Banksy self-portrait – worth £250,000 – was a hoax, were soon confirmed, as the much-hyped “Portrait of an Artist” turned out to be a painting of an artist painting an alien or dinosaur.
Even so, the one-off painting retained its high price tag, as did Banksy’s one-off watchtower, priced at £15,000.
Whether he was there or not, the show, put on by Bristol’s Crazy Fools Gallery, to showcase the best of Bristol, was an instant hit.
Two hours before it was due to open to the public, a queue began to snake down Upper Street.
By midday, when the private view began, more than 120 people were waiting outside.
Prints and paintings flew off the shelves, and the gallery’s owners were running between potential buyers from the off.
Leon Thompson, from Crazy Fools, said: “It’s been going really well. There’s been queues outside. The prints are doing really well, the originals are a bit more pricey. We’ve sold Banksy’s Silver Flag, Levi C’s Son of Man, some Mick Hockney and Sarah Warrens. More people seem to be getting here early than in Bristol.”
Elsewhere in the gallery, artists gathered in the garden where Beki, Dante, and David Walker were working on live pieces.
Reknowned Secret Wars artist Inkie was running late.
Levi C, whose Son of Man was featured on the Tribune’s front page two weeks ago, is not the typical urban artist, he comes from an advertising background.
He said: “My stuff’s all about the idea, the irony and the message. The execution is just an added extra but the art is in scratching my head. It’s about finding something really
easy to get that’s humorous and stacked with irony.
He added: “I’m from advertising and I understand the idea controls everything. Banksy is my main inspiration but he’s always been anti-advertising, anti-corporate and I’m not at all.
“I know it’s really hypocritical. All these graffiti artists put their names on the walls but they say they don’t believe in advertising.”
Beki, who was working on a piece about urban chaos with fellow Bristol artist Dante, said: “We’ve all come down from Bristol basically showing what Bristol can do. I’m one of only three women here. It’s also showing women can hold their own.”
Crazy Fools’ Paul Blower said: “It went really well. We’re doing another show at The Library on December 12, with more artists, new artists and it’ll be a bit different.” |
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Your comments:
I ALSO went to this exhibition and spoke to a lot of the people there - you can see this and some more pictures of the other exhibits on my blog here.
C. Crampton
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