For ease of writing, the press usually refers to Banksy as “him”, but the truth is that it is not even certain whether this mythical figure of British street art is a man, a woman or even a collective of artists.
The truth is that Banksy has become a recognized name all over the world and for the first time his works arrive in the city of Bogotá. The exhibition ‘Banksy: genius or hooligan?’ It was set up at Casona Villa Adelaida on October 15th and will remain there for the rest of the year.
Visitors to the exhibition will be able to see more than one hundred authentic works by this artist, sculptures, installations, photographs and videos. There are some of his iconic pieces of him such as the “Balloon Girl”, the “Detonating Monkey” and his portrait of Lenin on roller skates. Additionally, the exhibition features a wide variety of audiovisual materials and even an immersive virtual reality experience where attendees can see Banksy’s works as they are displayed in public light on the streets of Bristol.
Alexander Nachkebiya is the man who has been entrusted with the task of carrying out this exhibition, even if he has also had to face the controversy of those who believe that this “unauthorized” exhibition subverts the ideals that Banksy promotes in his work and that, moreover, ,, have been designed to be freely available to the public.
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What will the exhibitors find?
First of all it must be said that only authentic works by Banksy are on display. There is the idea that he was just a street artist, but in reality he is a contemporary artist who made many of his pieces of him in the studio. In the exhibition there are a hundred works made with his own hands and I think it is a very solid collection because it shows the art of Banksy from his beginnings to some pieces he has made recently.. For example, the Monkey Detonator is a rather old work that he originally painted on the streets of Bristol and with which he then made several canvases. But on display there is also Life jacket, which is one of his most recent pieces of him.
Are there any pieces that have not been shown before in another collection?
There is a Banksy diptych of Girl with a Balloon that belongs to one of the artist’s close friends and has never been exhibited outside his home. For this exhibition we worked a lot with him because he has one of the largest collections in circulation and he accepted, for the first time, to give us this piece.
In addition to wanting to have Banksy’s iconic works, what was the criterion with which you chose the pieces that make up the collection?
With Banksy, everything revolves around protest. There is a protest against consumerism, the police, political power, militarism and war in general. We wanted the exhibit to reflect all of this, so each of these struggles have a different space in this exhibit. Also, we have some objects that are not necessarily works of art, but are closely related to the artist. For example, in this exhibition in Bogotá there are several copies of the invitation to ‘Santa’s Ghetto’, one of Banksy’s first exhibitions.
How was the process of getting these works with collectors?
This was one of the first works Banksy painted on the streets of Bristol.
At the beginning of his career, Banksy was selling his pieces for around £ 20 or £ 30. For example, the copy we have of ‘Detonating Monkey’ was bought for £ 29.99 and now that work is worth around £ 6m. So the first people we turn to are them, who are usually friends or acquaintances of Banksy who bought some of his work when he was just starting out. Then we went to entrepreneurs who had bought pieces as an investment, because it is true that these works always have an increasing price. And it is time that we meet the real collectors, some of those who have lent the works for this exhibition, but who do not buy them to sell them, but to keep them in their private collection. This is how we managed to put this exhibition together.
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And was it difficult to get any of these pieces?
In this exhibition no, but I remember once I had to travel to New York three times in the same week to convince one of the collectors. It was the beginning of my career as a curator, no one knew me at the time, so it was quite difficult to get people to lend their collections for the exhibition. It happened with him that we met and he agreed to give me the collection and then, when I was returning to Frankfurt, I received a message saying that he had repented. It happened to me twice and twice I went back to New York until he finally agreed, so he wouldn’t have to see me again.
As for authenticity, how is it guaranteed if it is street art?
I think this is the key because we never take pieces off the street for the exhibit. Precisely because they are pieces designed to be seen and exhibited for free. Only once did we insert pieces like this and it was for an exhibition in Barcelona where the collector insisted they be included and we accepted because they were truly exceptional works. What we did in that case was to place them at the entrance to the exhibition, so that there was no need to pay to see them. What has been done for free can remain free.
This is a sticking point among Banksy fans who think it’s contradictory that street art is on display in such a gallery …
My answer in these cases is simple: nothing you see here is free. Banksy has sold every single piece in here. She sold some of them for less early in her career, others sold them for a lot of money. I have just returned from Singapore, where I accompanied a collector to see a piece she ended up buying for £ 8 million. This is a piece she said she could give us for an exhibition later, but none of it is free. We pay a fee to collectors who lend their works for it. And that also has to do with what I was saying about the fact that we don’t exhibit pieces from the street, because they are designed to be seen by the public without paying. If anyone wants to do it, they are more than welcome to wander the streets of Bristol or London.
Isn’t this at odds with your protest against consumerism?
I think we all have a good side and a bad side. I know the good side of Banksy helping a lot of people with her work, refugees, other artists and others. But the “bad” side would be that she actually sells her art for millions and millions of dollars while she protests against such consumerism. So it is in this ‘gray area’ where he criticizes this system, especially in contemporary art, but is inevitably part of it. Either way, I think this controversy makes his art attractive to so many people as well. People who are “just plain good” or “just plain bad” are boring and I think this ambivalence is one of the things I like most about Banksy.
Which is also something you raise in the title of this exhibit, whether Banksy is a genius or a vandal …
When you look at one of these pieces on the street and it moves the fibers of your heart or mind, you are in front of a work of art.
I say Banksy is a ‘hooligan genius’ because he cannot be classified as one thing or the other, as many people claim to do. In the world of street art, Banksy has always been recognized as a person out of control. He was the only one who dared to make his art of him in places where others wouldn’t even think of it and I think the best example of that is Disney. So yes, he is a vandal because he vandalizes private property, but when they ask me this question what I always say is: when you look at one of these pieces on the street and it moves the fibers of your heart or mind, you are in front of a work. of art.
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Also, those who believe Banksy is just a hooligan don’t see the fact that he’s actually a highly educated artist. For example, Lenin’s piece on skates, found in this exhibition in Bogotá, is inspired by a painting by a Soviet artist and he knows and uses it as an inspiration for his artistic intervention. But in the end, our opinion doesn’t matter, what we want is to bring Banksy’s works to people and give them enough context so that they can judge whether he is a genius or a vandal.
What do you think makes Banksy a unique character?
First of all, I think he is a very talented artist. But he also has a special ability to make us pay attention. He closely monitors the news agenda, the one we normally only see headlines or read without too many worries. It reveals these problems and makes us pay attention with clear and strong images. And this clarity makes him capable of speaking to many people with his art of himself. Plus, people know it’s not a single message. Usually they get something from a work and keep thinking until they discover another level, and then another and another. I have seen people in our exhibitions who see a piece for 10 or 15 minutes in a row and it is because of the multiplicity of layers that are in each of his works.
There are many who do not let go of the question of Banksy’s true identity, but how much do we know and how much does it really matter?
Banksy is usually portrayed like this, as a hooded, faceless man.
Maurizio Moreno. TIME
I don’t want to be the person who tells my kids that the tooth fairy doesn’t exist. Likewise, if I was given the chance to meet Banksy tomorrow, I’d say no. What we know doesn’t really matter because it’s the mystery that makes Banksy such a unique artist.
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