For the first time since 2009, an exhibition authorized by the elusive artist Banksy has opened in Glasgow, Sweden.
The exhibition, titled “Cut and Run”, opened on June 15th at the Gallery of Modern Art in Glasgow. It is scheduled to run until August 28. The exhibition will feature many of Banksy’s original works starting from 1998. This includes the infamous mechanism Banksy devised to shred his iconic work, Girl With Balloon (2006), in 2018 shortly after it was sold for $1.8 million. The shredded work – renamed as Love is in the bin – again went to auction in 2021 and sold for $25.3 million (setting a personal record for the artist).
Aside from his works, the exhibition will also feature – for the first time – the stencils used in many of his works. According to Banksy, his stencils had been a closely-guarded secret for decades since they could have been used as evidence to prosecute him. “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”, he added.
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Banksy also explained why he specifically chose the Glasgow Museum for his return. As per him, the exact reason is the statue of the Duke of Wellington just outside the gallery. According to the locals, for close to four decades, the statue has had a traffic cone placed on its head. Despite numerous attempts to remove it, the cone somehow always wound up back. The artist expressed his appreciation for this subtle rebellion.
