Banksy Show’s Opening Draws Thousands

Published: June 16, 2009

Photo by Jason Blait, courtesy Flickr

"Ipod" by Banksy is one of 100 pieces on display at the Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery.

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BRISTOL, England—The Brits can’t seem to get enough of Banksy, judging by the thousands who descended on the anonymous artist’s home city to be the first to see his biggest-ever U.K. exhibition. During the show’s opening weekend, almost 8,500 people flooded the Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery, about eight times what the venue would normally expect.

The exhibition, "Bristol Museum Vs. Banksy," features 100 pieces, about 70 of which are new, and was installed over two days in an operation surrounded by secrecy, as befitting an artist who has never disclosed his real identity. The media, local politicians, and even museum staff didn’t know about it until last Friday. The free show continues until the end of August and is expected to draw more than 100,000. Said one fan who came on Sunday: “I was on the verge of tears when I saw the Tweetie Pie without any feathers, the panda head on the wall, and the leopard.”

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