Category: 1998

1998, Bristol, Exhibitions, UK

Walls on Fire. Bristol, 22 August 1998

by R.A.

Walls on Fire was an open-air street art exhibition put together on August 22 and 23 by Inkie and Banksy with the town hall’s agreement.

The official flyer for Walls on Fire
Banksy at work

The event was carefully organised, as the invitations to participating artists show:

Photos of invitations: Screenshot from @banksy_dealer on Instagram

1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, Bristol, Street Art, UK

Early stencils in Bristol, 1995-1999

by R.A.

According to Steve Wright’s and Richard Jones’s excellent book Home Sweet Home, Banksy’s first stencil was an insect in a spotlight on a wall on Windmill Hill in South Bristol. The exact year is unclear, but 1996 is a good approximation.

1996 - SA - UK - Bristol - Windmill Hill - First stencil - ant - HSH p62
Photo: Home Sweet Home, Steve Wright and Richard Jones

Banksy’s early stencil work in Bristol:

1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, Street Art, UK

Early Bristol freehand. 1995 – 1999

by R.A.

The walls of Easton in Bristol were the canvases for Banksy’s early freehand work. Inkie and other prominent figures from the Bristol street-art scene collaborated regularly.

One can clearly see that, from the start, Banksy had a narrative in his art; there is always something happening. A lot of the early works had texts. One interesting example is the first photo in the series below: The artwork depicts a dog spraying a wall as two larger watchdogs approach. The text says, “There are crimes which become innocent and even glorious through their splendour, number and excess,” a quote by 17th-century philosopher François de La Rochefoucauld.

“There are crimes which become innocent and even glorious through their splendor, number and excess” – François de La Rochefoucauld.
Take the money and run – Banksy, Inkie and Mode2
Early Easton freehand
Do not inhale – Early Banksy
Early Banksy in Easton
Banksy’s first full colour piece – 1996
Dedicated to pure class – Abi rest in peace
There’s all this noise
There’s all this noise (detail)
There’s all this noise (detail)
Click, clack boom.

All photos above: Banksy forum on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/groups/banksy/pool/

FIRST APPEARANCE AT GLASTONBURY. JUNE, 1997

In 1997, Banksy with Inkie (Tom Bingle), Dicy (Justin MacCarthy), Ekoe, Feek (Damien Neary) and Paris (Graham Dews) painted “Devious Nature” on a plywood plank on the Glastonbury Festival. The artwork depicts Michael Eavis, the co-founder of the Glastonbury Festival, on his tractor while being chased by a herd of cows.

GLASTONBURY FESTIVAL, JUNE 1997

In 1998, Banksy and Inkie, Dicy, Ekoe, Feek, and Paris were invited back to Glastonbury, where they decorated a dance tent:

THE SILENT MAJORITY LORRY. 1998 (or 1999)

According to some sources, Banksy and Lokey painted the lorry at Glastonbury in 1998. Other sources claim it was painted in 1999. The text says, “It’s better not to rely too much on silent majorities … for silence is a fragile thing … one loud noise and it’s gone.” A reference to Richard Nixon’s speech from 1969, where the term “Silent Majority” was coined.

In 2015 the lorry was sold at Digard Auction for £ 445,792.

Photos: BBC and Digard Auction