Why Bristol? A vibrant city Bristol is, and also the hometown to BANKSY, where the story of his socio-political rebellion is sprayed on its walls. A pseudo-anonymous graffiti artist best known for his stenciling skills, BANKSY made it into Bristol’s underground art scene during the aerosol boom of the late 1980’s. A decade later, each and every one of us has come across his works—be they original, materially or electronically replicated. BANKSY, in short, becomes the household name, the heart and soul of Bristol, the icon of the world’s wall artists. Add to this, in 2006, the phrase “The Banksy Effect” is coined to suggest BANKSY’s influences on later generations of graffiti artists, whilst his works, though essentially anti-commercial in the artist’s intent, are displayed sans permission at Vanina Holasek Gallery in New York and are being auctioned off at prestigious venues. In other words, is BANKSY himself being vandalized by the autocracy of the capitalist world he has been up against?

Of course, SUPERSWEET does not head for Bristol just to find out who BANKSY is. We go there undercover for BANKSY’s first and official large-scale exhibition BANKSY VS BRISTOL MUSEUM at the Bristol Museum because we want to know what the locals really think of this Bristol’s iconic artist. The long queue at the Museum’s entrance not only shocked us—or made us regret we should have attended the press preview—but also confirms how ‘popular’ BANKSY is. After a 50-minute-or-so wait, we were finally ushered in. The exhibition is spread across the three storeys of the Museum. There are rooms dedicated to BANKSY’s artworks ranging from sculptures, paintings, animatronics and installations, while a handful of his other works are scattered around and camouflaged alongside the Museum’s permanent exhibitions.

We admit we are much entertained by BANKSY’s subversive world where the innocent might not be so innocent, the authorities might not be so authoritative. Kids can hijack and burn down an ice cream van, while the ‘metropolitan police’ is busy riding a child’s rocking pony. A Buddha statue is beaten up and heavily bandaged. The punch, the humour is all there. Sharply and wittily, BANKSY questions, criticizes and ridicules the way we think and live our life as well as the way we presuppose art. He exposes the irony of our society where a hen is organically reared only to hatch industrially processed chicken nuggets, where there is no more excitement in popular culture represented by a frail, aged and caged Twittie resting on a swing and not doing much. In this capitalistic world, we use and abuse our society, and in turn, we are used and abused by our society. Nothing is new, fresh. Imagination becomes a myth.

BANKSY’s attitudes toward artistic production are clearly felt in his works. An artist is like an old monkey. In a dimly-lit, barbwired cage, he is chained to a tree he cannot claim, commissioned to paint wonderful pictures of nature and the outdoor that he is deprived of, while slowly breathing his very last hours of life. Sadly, that sort of painting is the art most people love. Commerciality and capitalism cripples our life. To BANKSY, this circle of banal and meaningless reproduction will never end. Will it? There is the time one should think outside the box, break loose from the rigid frame of art and life. Let’s say, a harvesting lady detaching herself from the painting and resting on the frame with tobacco in hand. OR. We need to put something unusual, something unconventional and relaxing into the rigid framework of the society. Perhaps, the Virgin Mary can listen to an iPod, while cradling the baby Jesus?

Does everyone at BANKSY VS BRISTOL MUSEUM get the message? We can't answer that. The artist, for sure, has scattered the clues around and leaves his audience to reassemble them. The exhibition speaks volumes. And, yes, sometimes, we cannot pick up all of BANKSY’s clues, cannot understand all his philosophy, and very likely we end up taking some photos with BANKSY’s works rather than taking BANKSY seriously. Yet, it is obvious that BANKSY is not being vandalized. Everybody at the Museum and we are taking in his statements of dissidence—albeit slowly—while feeling relaxed and enjoying every moment of it.

Catch Banksy Versus Bristol Museum from now till end of August 2009 from 10 am - 5 pm daily for free. For more info, visit bristol.gov.uk/museums.

Words and photography: Poonperm Paitayawat