A raft of never-before-seen works by street art icon Banksy have landed in Salford. The Art of Banksy exhibition is the biggest collection of pieces by the mysterious artist in the world, and features 145 art works in a purpose built exhibition space now set up at the main plaza of MediaCity.
The exhibition is unauthorised by Banksy, who has never agreed to any kind of exhibition of his work, so is made up of pieces loaned by more than 40 collectors. Among them are sculptures and prints that are unique to the show, and have never been exhibited before anywhere in the world.
Curator Michel Boersma told the Manchester Evening News: “This is the 15th city we’ve visited since 2016, and this is the biggest version of it we’ve ever brought together. Some iconic, some unknown.
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“All of the art has been created by Banksy and sold by Banksy to collectors, so instead of hanging it on their own walls, or even worse, in a warehouse, they wanted to give the opportunity for a wider audience to appreciate them.”
Alongside his famous works, such as Girl With Balloon, Flower Thrower, Pulp Fiction and Rude Copper, there are six Banksys that have never been shown to the public. The items came from a former girlfriend of the artist, who knew him from his time in Bristol as part of the music and street art scene.
“These pieces just joined the collection yesterday,” Boersma went on. “They [were made] between 1994 and 1998, when he was very young. He made birthday cards by hand for her, and there are flyers they created for a music event.
“There is also an A-board for her corsetry shop. She thought that it was time for a wider audience to see them.” The flyer art, printed on fabric, was found in the underwear drawer of the grandmother of Banksy’s former girlfriend.
The collection on display is worth ‘many millions’, according to Boersma. “Banksys go up in value, and this is the reason why touring with it is a challenge. There’s a lot of security involved, a lot of insurance involved, hidden security and visual security, and we are very careful. These are people’s possessions.”
As for who owns them ‘there are some famous names’. “We don’t mention the collectors in the descriptions, but yes of course, there are famous people among them,” he added.
The exhibition costs £19.50 for adults, and opens to the public from today and will run until January 8.
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