Banksy unveils Glasgow show spanning 25 years of iconic works

Spanning from 1998 to the present day, Banksy calls the exhibition, which includes authentic artefacts, ephemera and the artist’s actual toilet, ‘25 years card labour’.

“I’ve kept these stencils hidden away for years, mindful they could be used as evidence in a charge of criminal damage. But that moment seems to have passed, so now I’m exhibiting them in a gallery as works of art. I’m not sure which is the greater crime”, the artist told The Herald.

The new exhibition is being staged at the Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA) in Glasgow city centre, the main gallery of contemporary art in Scotland’s largest city.

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Opening this Sunday, it will run for three months and open all night at weekends.

The Herald understands that if the exhibition proves popular, the show may then tour.

About the exhibition, Gareth James, Museum Manager at GoMA, told The Herald: “This has been a once in a lifetime opportunity to work with an artist who has been exciting and challenging people around the world with their work over the past 25 years. 

“GoMA has been welcoming artists who champion social justice, take risks and utilise innovative practice for almost three decades - hosting this exhibition is a perfect fit for GoMA and the city. This is an exhibition that people will talk about for years to come and will reward repeat visits to appreciate its scope, insights and subversion.”

Councillor Susan Aitken, Leader of Glasgow City Council, added: “I’m really excited to welcome this exhibition by Banksy, which might be the perfect partnership of artist, gallery and host city. Street art has become one of Glasgow’s signatures and there’s no one who’s done more to put street art at the heart of culture, politics and society than Banksy. We’re delighted Banksy has chosen Glasgow to host their work.

Today's world exclusive souvenir front page of The Herald (Image: The Herald)

“This exhibition is going to generate huge excitement and demand, so we’re looking forward to welcoming even more visitors to Glasgow and Scotland this summer. If you’re planning a visit to enjoy this unique exhibition, grab the opportunity while you’re here to take in some of Glasgow’s wonderful murals across the city and our other world-class cultural offerings.”

In recent years, Banksy has been plagued by a number of unsanctioned global exhibitions in cities such as Las Vegas, Paris, Sydney, Berlin, Athens and Riyadh, none of which are consensual in being organised entirely without the artist’s knowledge or involvement.

“While the unauthorised Banksy shows might look like sweepings from my studio floor, CUT & RUN really is the actual sweepings from my studio floor,” Bansky told The Herald.

In a gallery label for the show, seen for the first time by The Herald, the artist makes the reason for choosing Glasgow’s GoMA to host it clear.

The label reads: ‘Welcome. If nothing else, you’re going to see one masterpiece today - you just walked by it.

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“For anyone who isn’t aware - the statue out the front has had a cone on its head continuously for the past 40 odd years. Despite the best efforts of the council and police, every time one is removed another takes its place.

“This might sound absurd and pretentious (just wait until you see the rest of the exhibition) but it’s my favourite work of art in the UK and the reason I’ve brought the show here.”

Banksy is of course referring to the unofficial Glasgow tradition of placing a traffic cone on one of the city’s most iconic landmarks, the Duke of Wellington statue, located just outside the GoMA.

A photograph of the statue appeared in Banksy’s hugely popular autobiographic art-exhibit book ‘Wall and Piece’ from 2005 which tells the story of how the artist became the world-renowned artist they are today, and the many detours and speed bumps they overcame along the way.

Artwork for ‘CUT & RUN’ (Image: Banksy)

Featuring alongside the photo of the statue is another statue by Banksy called The Drinker, a subversive nod to The Thinker by Auguste Rodin - complete with traffic cone on its head - that was placed in a small square in central London in 2004.

Despite intense speculation, Banksy’s identity remains unknown. What is known is that the artist began their career as a freehand graffiti artist in the early 1990s - as part Bristol’s graffiti gang DryBreadZ Crew - before rising to prominence thanks to their provocative stenciled pieces a few years later.

Since then, Banksy’s street art has conquered city streets, buildings and gallery walls around the world from Paris, London, Venice and New York to Palestine, Timbuktu and, most recently, Ukraine, where a series of murals were discovered in places such as Kyiv and Borodyanka.

Banksy's first known large mural was The Mild Mild West that they painted in 1998, depicting a teddy bear throwing a Molotov cocktail at three riot police officers. It was drawn in response to increased attention from the police towards unlicensed parties and raves that were held in abandoned warehouses around Bristol in the 1990s.

Four years later, the elusive street artist created what is regarded as their most iconic image in the form of Girl with Balloon - a series of stencil murals that appeared around London depicting a young girl reaching for a heart-shaped balloon, just out of her grasp.

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Other well-known Banksy murals include ‘Create Escape’; which appeared on the wall of Reading Prison in March 2021, their ‘Les Miserables’ mural, which appeared on a building opposite the French Embassy in London in January 2016, and Flower Thrower; which was painted on a wall in the Palestinian town of Beit Sahour in 2003.

In 2010, Banksy directed a documentary film called Exit Through the Gift Shop: A Banksy Film. Nominated for a 2010 Oscar for Best Documentary Feature, it tells the story of Thierry Guetta, a French immigrant in Los Angeles, and his obsession with street art.

2015 also saw Banksy stage their largest exhibition to-date, Dismaland, inside an abandoned seaside swimming resort in Weston-super-Mare. Prepared in secret, the temporary exhibition, which ran for 36 days, was described by Banksy as a “family theme park unsuitable for children”.

As one of the most sought-after artists in the world, Banksy's works have sold for millions at auction. In 2021, Banksy’s “Love is in the Bin” - regarded by Sotheby’s as “the first artwork in history to have been created live during an auction” - sold for £18.58 million, a record for the artist.

That same year, Banksy’s Painting for Saints or Game Changer, which the artist donated it to Southampton General Hospital, sold at auction for sold for £14.4 million.

Tickets for CUT & RUN at Glasgow’s GoMA will be on sale from today, with first public admission on Sunday, June 18.

For all ticket information and to book online visit cutandrun.co.uk

There will also be limited availability at GoMA box office

To order your souvenir world exclusive front page of The Herald, featuring artwork shared by the artist from the exhibition, click HERE.