2005, Exhibitions, Originals, UK

Santa’s Ghetto 05. London, December 2005

by R.A.

Team Banksy organised the 2005 edition of The Santa’s Ghetto at Berwick Street in Soho. The show featured, among others, Eine, 3D, Solo One, David Shrigley, Jamie Hewlett, Sickboy, Space Invader, Mode 2, Paul Insect, Dface, Polly Morgan, and Banksy.

The show had an impressive oil painting of the Segregation Wall in Palestine. Most likely influenced by the journey to Palestine a few months earlier and the big murals on the wall.

Photos: Prescripion Art. http://www.artofthestate.co.uk and others

The Kate Moss print saw the light

Santa’s Ghetto 05 also had several colourways of the Kate Moss screenprint for sale:

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Collaboration with Simon Munnery

The collaboration with comedian Simon Munnery resulted in a number of poems stencilled on plywood.

Short poems by Simon Munnery & Banksy:

Photos: Phillips, Sotheby’s and Bonhams

Participants, Santa’s Ghetto 2005:

Source: http://www.picturesonwalls.com

2005, Street Art, UK

Street Art UK. 2005

by R.A.

Apart from the works in Palestine in August 2005, Banksy concentrated on London this year. An interesting development in this period is the street installations in the London urban landscape.

Photos: Wall and piece – Banksy

2005, Exhibitions, Originals, UK

Crude Oils. London, 22 – 24 October 2005

by R.A.

Crude Oils opened on 22 October 2005 at 100 Westbourne Grove in London and was Banksy’s third major exhibition after Severnshed and Turf War in 2003. It featured 20 + versions of classical oil paintings by Van Gogh, Hopper, Warhol, Turner, and Monet. Also present were 200 live rats and some interesting sculptures.

Channel 4 did a feature on the exhibition:

2005, Palestine, Street Art

The segregation wall. Palestine, August 2005

by R.A.

In August 2005, Team Banksy visited Palestine, where they painted nine large murals on the segregation wall. Banksy commented that the wall “essentially turns Palestine into the world’s largest open prison.” Banksy’s website reminded readers that Israel’s 425-mile-long West Bank barrier, separating Israel from the Palestinian territories, is considered illegal by the United Nations.

During the visit to Ramallah and surrounding areas, Banksy reported some tense moments. His spokeswoman, Jo Brooks, said: “The Israeli security forces did shoot in the air threateningly, and there were quite a few guns pointed at him.”

Photos: Wall and piece – Banksy

2005, Pranks, USA

Pranks at four New York Museums. March 2005

by R.A.

On a Sunday, 13 March, Banksy hung his work in four world-famous New York museums: the MoMA, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum, and the American Museum of Natural History. The pranks were presented in the following way on http://www.banksy.co.uk:

The Metropolitan Museum
The Brooklyn Museum
MoMA
The Natural History Museum

The NPR Radio Interview about the New York pranks

On 24 March 2005, Banksy did a remarkable interview on the New York pranks on a National Public Radio show called All Thing Considered. You can listen to it here:

Source: https://www.npr.org/2005/03/24/4559961/hang-and-run-artist-strikes-nyc-museums

Here is same interview accompanied by some footage of the pranks:

Source: Banksy.blog

2004, Exhibitions, UK

Santa’s Ghetto 04. London, December 2004

by R.A.

The 2004 Santa’s Ghetto was located in a run-down former porn shop on 121 Charing Cross Road, next to Foyles bookshop in Central London. The pop-up art exhibition opened daily from 10am to 8pm until Christmas Eve.

It contained intriguing new works from all of the artists on Pictures of Walls. Banksy participated with a few modified oils and the first version of Napalm. The counterfeit ten-pound notes featuring Lady Di, also referred to as the Di-Faced tenners, saw the light.

The last of the small black books, Cut It Out, was launched at the exhibition.

Photos: http://www.artofthestate.co.uk, Andipa catalogue

Of particular interest were the modified oil paintings, some of which reappeared the following year at the Crude Oils exhibition. Here, three examples in clockwise order: Silent Night, Congestion Charging, and Countryside CCTV.

Photos: Bonhams and Christies

List of participants – Santa’s Ghetto 04:

THE THIRD BOOK “CUT IT OUT”. DECEMBER 2004

Cut it Out was launched during Santa’s Ghetto 2004 and was the last of the three little black books. It has some interesting street art, loads of rats, and a few lovely canvases. Among them is “Suicide bombers just need a hug” from the Turf War exhibition.

CUT IT OUT
The longest painting in Briitain
Big rat in Liverpool
Suicide bombers just need a hug
2004, Rest of the world, Street Art

Team Banksy goes to Jamaica and Cuba. January, 2004

by R.A.

In early 2004, a group from Team Banksy went to the Caribbean together with DJ Jon Carter and filmmaker Rick Elgood. One of their hosts during the visit was Jamaican dancehall star Mark Anthony Myrie, a.k.a. Buju Banton. There is very little documented from the trip to Jamaica and even less from Cuba. The following collage with pictures of some of the work in Jamaica surfaced years later, when Steven Lazarides put part of his personal collection up for sale at Juliens in LA:

Photo: From Lazarides / Julien’s

The Jamaican magazine/blog Afflicted Yard published a few photos in 2004 of Team Banksy at work in Jamaica:

Rob at work

Photo to the left: Rick Elgood, Rob G, unknown and Buju Banton holding the sticker. Photo to the right: Rob G sorting out the stencils

2004, Pranks, UK

Prank at the Natural History Museum. London, April 2004

by R.A.

On 7 April, Banksy entered the Natural History Museum disguised as an employee. He carried a taxidermied rat in a glass-fronted box. The rat wears sunglasses and a complete graffiti kit. Apparently, the rat has sprayed “Our time will come” on the wall behind him. The installation comes with a printed explanation titled Pest Control.