Elusive street artist Banksy a source of pride for one British town

Bristol. Summer 2009.

Just like New York right now, Banksy fever was in the air.

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‘Banksy Versus Bristol Museum’ took place in summer 2009.

The highly secretive guerrilla graffiti artist was back in his English home city to launch his most ambitious exhibition yet.

The mission? To conquer the gigantic Bristol Museum and Art Gallery with his own brand of street art.

And the funny thing was no one even knew.

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This image was painted on the side of a building, making it seem as though the man is about to plunge to the ground below. It was titled ‘Well-Hung Lover.’

That was, not until the very moment the doors were thrown open and thousands of fans from across the world lined up to pay homage to the sensei of spray-painting.

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In typical Banksy fashion, details of his show were barely publicized. The museum closed for what many, including staff, believed was a remodeling.

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Banksy’s show, featuring the above piece, lasted for three months in 2009. 

But on return to work, everyone (apart from just two senior execs who were in on the caper) was stunned to find his works in place of the traditional collections on dinosaurs, Egypt and Assyria.

An ice cream in dog mess appeared on his website, detailing when “Banksy Versus Bristol Museum” would begin.

The media took the message and did the rest. No need for expensive PR machines when Banksy’s around.

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Nearly 4,000 people a day came to scope out Banksy’s artwork, like the stencil seen above.

The reaction was incredible. Some 300,000 queued in pouring rain and blistering sunshine for up to six hours each day to see the free, three-month show.

With no advance tickets, the 4,000 daily guests just had to arrive early and pray enough people made it through the strict one-in, one-out policy so they could get their turn.

The buzz reverberated throughout the city’s 400,000 citizens. Trade was doubled; apocryphal rumors spread about cafes selling out of coffee and restaurants running low with food.

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‘Banksy Versus Bristol Museum’ was surprise show for everyone, except a few at the Bristol Museum, who were in on the act.

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Road blocks were set up so street-sellers could tout their wares to those waiting in line. The entire area became a surreal moving outdoors theater.

Councilors, who’d for years ordered “vandal” Banksy’s capture, were even pleased. It’s difficult to shun a $ 15million boost to the local economy, especially as Britain was mired in recession and firms were shutting up shop left, right and center.

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Banksy’s artwork took over the entire museum — even some of the more hidden areas within the edifice.

But the outlaw’s exhibition brought more than just financial gain to the area. It brought pride. Everyone was excited that the “little Bristol kiddie,” who grew up tagging their neighborhoods and made it big, wanted to give something back to where he was from.

It was proof the artist, who’s sold works to Brangelina and Christina Aguilera and is worth $ 20 million, wasn’t too big for his boots to come back to his old stomping ground.

Luckily I was in town, so I took my place for three hours in the baking heat to gain entry. A casual fan for years, I’d perused his “Wall and Piece” book and taken the odd snap whenever I stumbled across his work.

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Bristol residents felt a sense of pride when Banksy, who was becoming a legend in the street art scene, returned to his hometown to showcase his work.

But I hadn’t been prepared for the sheer scale of his imagination, which subsequently battered my senses.

A burnt out ice cream van sat discarded next to a riot cop striding a mechanical children’s rocking horse. Pictures with starving African children wearing “I Hate Mondays” T-shirts hung alongside animatronic chicken nuggets hatching and feeding on dipping sauce.

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In this piece, ‘vandals’ deface popular children’s staple Thomas the Tank Engine.

On a par with Spanish surrealist Salvador Dali? Perhaps. Dali scanned, processed through Photoshop, twisted all up and then spat out onto a canvas? Definitely.

Walking around, my eyes and ears assaulted by the cacophony of the exhibits and crowds, I spied a special queue.

It led to a canvas, installed several days into the run, depicting Michael Jackson as a woman, kneeling down with candy cane in front of a young boy and girl.

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Though graffiti and street art are illegal in Bristol, many have allowed the works of Banksy to remain around the city. Here, he lends his touch to some of the artwork already in the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery.

The King of Pop, who had died unexpectedly days before, was trying to entice the kids into his cottage. “Hansel and Gretel featuring Michael Jackson” was a “tribute” to the dead star.

Banksy even infiltrated the nether regions of the museum, in the upper floors where guards conspiratorially told me, “Not many people ever usually bother to go.”

Among ancient fossils was a shard of slate with a stick man pushing a shopping cart. Nearby lay a mouse with a backpack.

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Is Banky’s work on par with Spanish surrealist Salvador Dali? It’s more like Dali scanned, processed through Photoshop, twisted all up and then spat out onto a canvas.

None of it was obviously pointed out, their creator knowing that his fans were intelligent enough to work out what was going on.

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Downstairs again, I overheard a couple rumoring Banksy was in the building monitoring his fans’ reactions. It set my mind racing.

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Though Banksy’s work has appeared in museums and on the streets, he was also nominated for an Oscar for his film, ‘Exit Throuth the Gift Shop.’

Was he the portly middle-aged man who guided us inside? Or the guy whose scabby arm looked suspiciously like it’d been inflicted by a craft knife used to create stencils?

Who knew? I certainly didn’t. And with his identity never officially revealed, not many other people did either.

A cobbled-together profile of Banksy has built up over the years, with a British newspaper naming him in 2008 as former public schoolboy Robin Gunningham, born circa 1973.

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Banksy’s work blends elements of surrealism with his larger-than-life imagination.

But many said the “outing” was actually all part of a hoax on his behalf, and having never confirmed or denied the allegation, he remains as elusive as ever.

All that’s known for sure about the notoriously private artist — Oscar-nominated for his 2010 film “Exit Through the Gift Shop” — is he loves to paint, provoke, inspire and entertain.

Leaving the gallery after a head-scratching two hours, I walked down nearby Park Street. There, opposite the city council’s headquarters sat one of his most daring pieces ever.

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Clever? That’s one of many words used to describe Banksy’s art. The Bristol-born street artist is a legend in the world of street art, partially because his identify is not known.

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For “Well-Hung Lover,” he constructed scaffolding around a sexual health clinic so he could paint away in broad daylight. Days later, the structure was removed and workers were shocked to see the masterpiece underneath.

The scene of a husband coming back to find his wife in bed with another man, who’s jumped out of the window and is hiding hanging from the sill beneath, horrified councilors.

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The elusive street artist has taken a different approach with his New York ‘exhibition.’ Unlike the Bristol show, seen above, city sightings of Banksy’s work aren’t housed in one location.

They were forced to look at it from their office windows and it was a blatant flipping of the bird against their power. They soon succumbed to public pressure, however, after 96% of people in a pubic poll voted to keep it.

Most feel it’s this piece that sums up Banksy’s rise. A scourge of the streets for years, he’s evolved into somewhat of a respected establishment figure.

Despite graffiti being illegal, popular opinion has made his work acceptable, with everyone suddenly desperate that he spray-paints their property and sends its value sky high.

Lee Moran/New York Daily News

Another piece from Banksy’s Bristol Museum show. In New York, Banksy’s art has appeared on walls and even in a delivery truck.

Now he’s wowing New York with a monthlong show, we across the pond ask just one thing. Please look after him and make sure he comes back in one piece.

His lack of an official identity may mean he never gets knighted by the Queen, but to us, he’s still a formidable national treasure.

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One of Banksy’s artworks from his Bristol exhibition in 2009. For his New York City ‘residency,’ Banksy is spending the month of October plastering the city with art.

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Much of Banksy’s art makes a statement, be it political or all in the name of fun.

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With several days left, New Yorkers are eager to see what Banksy has to offer next.

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