Featuring more than just his world-recognized graffiti art, mostly of figures spray-painted in black holding objects like red balloons and guns, the work of elusive artist Banksy has come to Miami in the traveling exhibition “Art of Banksy: Without Limits,” presented at Ice Palace Studios in the Overtown/Omni district.
At more than 25,000 square feet, the massive exhibition of more than 150 works will be in residence through April 24. Prepare to weave through freestanding artworks, familiar graffiti art on walls, themed rooms and plenty of videos – most flashing images at a frenetic pace.
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(Samantha Morell for Biscayne Times)
Banksy's "Devolved Parliament" replaces British politicians debating in the House of Commons with chimpanzees and orangutans.
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More than 15 pieces in Banksy’s show poke at Disney's family-themed resorts.
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A walkthrough replica of the London Tube's Piccadilly Station at the Ice Palace Banksy exhibit in Miami.
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Banksy's "Anti-immigration birds"
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Banksy's "Laugh Now"
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Banksy's "Armored Dove of Peace"
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One of Banksy's most recent works created while in quarantine during the pandemic in his bathroom at home.
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"Spraycation Rat" at entrance to Spraycation-themed area of the exhibit.
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(Samantha Morell for Biscayne Times)
Banksy is known for his politicallycontroversial art, such as this one, titled "Flower Thrower."
The 56-year-old Banksy, born in Bristol, England, has been an active artist since the 1990s and is known mainly for his political and controversial street art that adorns walls and structures throughout his native homeland and around the world. His stenciling technique is immediately recognizable and filled with social commentary. Shielding his identity with a black hoodie, he came up in the Bristol underground scene and has established himself as an author, filmmaker, philanthropist and activist through the years, donating his work to organizations whose causes he supports.
Guillermo Quintana, art director, curator and concept creator for the exhibition, is responsible for the Miami show from top to bottom – from wall placement and artwork selection to lights and “basically the entire exhibition from the entrance to the exit,” he said.
Banksy’s work has launched thousands of selfies worldwide, helping to create frenzied interest in what he’s done and what he will do next, but “every time I make an exhibit with [him], I don’t think about Instagram and what selfies people are taking, because I care more about affecting the viewer of the artwork,” said Quintana.
Dismaland & London
Banksy’s playfulness and unpredictability are evident from the moment you enter the exhibition. It’s merely white cardboard assembled to mimic a security entrance to the show. Black lines drawn, with what seems to be a Sharpie, create faux metal detectors, walkie talkies strewn on a table and even a metal-detecting wand.
(Samantha Morell for Biscayne Times)
Entrance to the Bansky exhibit features a "makeshift" security check-in.
Then, upon entering the actual exhibition space, attendees are hit with a jolt of dizzying images projected onto a giant mouse-eared entryway (Disney Mickey Mouse ears), part of Banksy’s recurring “Dismaland” theme throughout the show. Dismaland makes another appearance to the right of the entrance. Displayed there is a rendering of Banksy’s 2015 project Dismaland Bemusement Park, a poke at the “magic” of the family-themed resort. In all, there are more than 15 pieces throughout the show referencing Dismaland, including bank notes and spray-painted rats.
Quintana explains the 2015 project as “Banksy taking every opportunity he can to joke about Disney as a place that sells the American dream and the superpower that is the United States.”
When it debuted in England, it was meant to be “the antithesis of Disney, and during its six-week run they played all kinds of controversial and punk music to demonstrate the reality of the real world and not Disney’s fake reality,” he said.
The name “Dismaland” sets the tone for all of this.
Once through the mouse ears, take a walk through the replica of the London Tube’s Piccadilly Station. Created to resemble the real place, it is an immersive experience where people can relax on benches and watch a short film flash across three large side-by-side screens. It’s an almost jarring display of images of all things Banksy featuring political statements, the sale of his artwork on the street and a host of other frenetic scenes. It takes numerous viewings to capture all the messaging and even then, it’s hard to keep up.
The iconic red London phone booth is featured with the famous Banksy image “Kissing Coppers” as its interior backdrop. A number of authentic English bank notes, one titled “Di-faced Tenner” featuring Princess Diana instead of Queen Elizabeth, are also prominently displayed behind glass.
“The bank notes are actually original English bills, and these are actually considered an artwork by Banksy,” Quintana said.
Monkeys, Rats & Kate Moss
Banksy is known for his politically controversial images and this show is loaded with them, starting with a prominently displayed and massive piece entitled “Devolved Parliament.” The oil-on-canvas painting features England’s House of Commons, but instead of the expected British politicians, chimpanzees are debating law. Just as this piece implies that monkeys are ruling the world, so, too, does “Laugh Now,” which depicts a chimpanzee sporting a placard that reads “Laugh now but one day we’ll be in charge.” Monkeys of all kinds, holding guns and even one with a pregnant belly, are prominently featured throughout the show.
(Samantha Morell for Biscayne Times)
Bansky's "Kate Moss"
Other political images include “Anti-immigration Birds” featuring pigeons holding anti-immigration signs while another exotic bird looks on. Then there is “Armored Dove of Peace,” featuring the titular bird with wings spread wide and a branch in its beak, wearing a bulletproof vest with a bull’s-eye target at its center. The theme of peace also makes an appearance in “CCCP Flower Thrower,” one of Banksy’s oldest images, featuring a man wearing a kerchief over his mouth throwing flowers (in place of a bomb) at the establishment, with the letters CCCP emblazoned in red behind him.
Rats are everywhere; they even have a section with their own entrance in the show. Find one spray-painted lounging on a deck chair under an umbrella enjoying a martini known as “Spraycation – Rat.” In another area, rats take over a painted bathroom and toilet which Quintana explains “is a representation of COVID quarantine and Banksy expressing that his wife hates it when he works from home.”
The rats are Banksy’s homage to Blek le Rat, a French graffiti artist known as the “Father of stencil graffiti.”
“Rats are like street artists, and they can eat or create whatever they want,” said Quintana.
If You Go
Impossible to miss is the Andy Warhol-like screen print in repetition of his famous piece featuring Marilyn Monroe, but in Banksy’s case depicts the face of nineties supermodel Kate Moss. It is an homage to Warhol, who coined the unforgettable line “everyone will be famous for 15 minutes,” but with this piece, Banksy instead endeavors to show that so many people will be famous in the future that everyone will end up being anonymous for 15 minutes.
The backstory to the Moss piece, Quintana said, is “Banksy actually had a crush on Kate Moss and created the piece for her and had it delivered to her LA house. When it arrived and she took a look, she didn’t even recognize herself as the subject, which plays into the concept of even famous people sometimes not recognizing themselves.”
Ending in the gift shop
It is interesting that the exhibition’s exit winds through the show’s gift shop, where anything imaginable can be purchased – from a variety of T-shirts and keychains to prints and other memorabilia. But it’s certainly fitting, given the well-known Banksy-directed 2011 Academy Award-nominated documentary film “Exit Through the Gift Shop,” about the art escapades of Los Angeles-based Frenchman Thierry Guetta.
Plan to spend a few hours walking through this show to absorb its many sections, their purpose and meaning, as well as the several interactive areas that require close attention and perhaps repeat viewings.