Banksy vs Bristol Museum. June 2009.

It’s probably one of Banksy’s best shows ever and one of the most visited art exhibitions in the UK.

From Bristol Museum’s website:

“In the summer of 2009 Bristol Museum & Art Gallery was taken over by an extraordinary exhibition of works by the infamous Bristol artist Banksy.  Overnight the museum was transformed into a menagerie of Unnatural History – fishfingers swimming in a gold-fish bowl, hot-dogs and chicken nuggets. Paintings were placed in amongst the historic collections of Old Masters, sculptures and other pieces dotted around throughout the museum displays. The main entrance was transformed into a sculpture hall, accompanied by a burnt out ice-cream van that pumped out an eerie sound-track of warped tunes, whilst a giant ice-cream melted on its roof.

Before long, people queued around the block to get into the exhibition, some as long as seven hours just to be part of this unique phenomenon. Over 100 works by the artist – most of which had not been shown before – were displayed.

Banksy left one sculpture behind. Pictured above is the Angel Bust – or the paint-pot angel which is currently on display at the museum. He also gave another work to the museum of a sculpture of Jerusalem, which was made by another artist called Tawfiq Salsaa – you can see it in our online collection.”  Source: Bristol Museum

Street Art UK. 2009

At least seven pieces in the UK in 2009, and the King Robbo vs. Banksy feud.

King Robbo vs. Banksy

Of historical interest is the feud between Robbo and Banksy. The feud started in 2009 when Banksy painted over one of King Robbo’s tags in Camden. The initial tag was sprayed in 1985 underneath the British Transport Police quarters. The feud continued until King Robbo had a serious accident in 2011, leaving him in a vegetative state until he died in 2014. His real name was John Robertson. The following sequence is a tribute to Robbo, as it appeared on Banksy’s website in 2014: