Explore Banksy’s work in fascinating new 360 exhibit

Article content

Banksy360: The World’s Most Elusive Street Artist

Article content

To Oct. 7, Aberdeen Pavilion, Lansdowne Park

Timed entry tickets required, available at banksy360.com

When Marc Leverton moved to Bristol in the 1990s, he couldn’t help but notice the clever graffiti that regularly appeared in the ancient British port city.

It turned out to be the work of Banksy, the secretive street tagger who went on to become one of Britain’s most famous contemporary artists and whose work is now the basis of a fascinating new immersive experience that’s having its world premiere in Ottawa this summer. It opened this week.

Leverton, who’s 50, is the author of a collection of myths and legends about Bansky, and the consultant who helped advise creators of the Banksy 360 exhibition. His professional awareness of the artist dates back to his early years as a journalist in Bristol. At one point, he was working at a magazine that received pitches from Banksy to cover his shows. Most of them were ignored.

Article content

“He was just a local guy trying to push his shows on us, along with many other people doing things,” Leverton recalled in an interview. “And even before he had any shows, his work was appearing around town, so when he did a show, it was ‘Oh, it’s that guy doing the rats on the streets.’ He’s doing a show now.”

His attitude changed as Banksy progressed. Leverton saw him not only refine his craft, but also become bolder and take more risks in creating and placing pieces that carried hard-hitting social commentary, along with a wry humour.

One of what Leverton describes as the first turning points in the artist’s career was Well Hung Lover, also known as Naked Man Hanging From Window. To create it in 2006, Banksy set up scaffolding and covered it with a tarp to hide his identity as he painted on the wall of a sexual health clinic. The high-profile spot is directly in front of the local council office, Leverton said.

Article content

When it was revealed, councillors were irate, describing the artwork as offensive and calling for immediate removal. But residents thought otherwise, with 97% of them voting to keep it.

“The piece is still there,” says Leverton. “It became the first legal piece of street art in the U.K., and it’s a landmark moment for Banksy because he was this outlaw, graffiti-tagging type of person and then he became sanctioned by the council. It changed the dynamic.”

An image of Naked Man and its story is included in the exhibition, which offers a retrospective of the artist’s work in a non-linear fashion, arranging it by subject matter instead of a chronological timeline. The first room picks out recurring themes, such as consumerism, war, children, refugees and climate change, while a second room is devoted to large-scale animations of the work, with a soundtrack consisting of audio clips from Banksy and news coverage of his artistic antics.

Article content

What the exhibit does not do is identify the mysterious artist. Although plenty of investigations have attempted to determine who’s behind the work, Leverton says they’re inconclusive. He’s working on the third edition of a book that collects the stories that people tell about the artist, and the speculation that surrounds these urban myths.

“I think that’s part of the Banksy phenomenon. If you create a void around your identity, people feel the need to fill in the gaps,” Leverton says, listing some of the theories: “Banksy is a woman, he’s a team, he never studied art, he’s a public-school boy with a brilliant business mind, he’s 3D (Robert Del Naja) from Massive Attack. People make stuff up. The stories keep coming.”

Article content

Leverton has also reached the conclusion that he doesn’t need or even want to know the artist’s true identity. “I think we need characters like Banksy in the world,” he said. “There’s a need for somebody railing against the system, somebody who’s a little anonymous, slightly elusive and a little above those boring everyday things.”

Of course, being the anti-consumerism DIY radical that he is, Banksy would never approve nor authorize any exhibition of his work, especially a retrospective. That knowledge gives Leverton pause, but he says, “At the end of the day, this is introducing more people to his work, and that’s a positive thing. A lot of people see his work on a flat image on a phone and this brings it to life.”

Banksy360: The World’s Most Elusive Street Artist will be presented in Ottawa and Niagara Falls this summer, thanks to a new initiative piloted by the Bluesfest team at their Festival House headquarters. The concept originated during the pandemic, when festival staff looking for virus-busting entertainment options saw the success of a Van Gogh immersive experience in other cities. They brought it to Ottawa last summer and it was a hit, with more than 100,000 tickets sold.

The team will present a new Van Gogh 360 experience, starting Saturday, alongside the Banksy show. Both take place at Aberdeen Pavilion, with Banksy running four days a week (Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday) and Van Gogh twice weekly (Thursday and Saturday).

For tickets and information, go to banksy360.com or vangogh360.com.

[email protected]