They don’t come bigger than Bansky. The infamous Bristolian’s work is to go on display at Rome’s Palazzo Cipolla museum, from 24 May – 4 September 2016.
Featuring original paintings, prints, sculptures, rare objects from international private collections and never-before-seen pieces, War, Capitalism & Liberty will be the biggest and most ambitious Banksy exhibition yet.
With no authorisation from artist himself, the show’s curators were free to explore Banksy’s cultural impact however they chose. Call it an unofficial retrospective, if you like.
War, Capitalism & Liberty examines how social and political events are viewed through Banksy’s irreverent wit and artistic skill – from his black and white stencilled sandwich board-wearing monkeys declaring ‘Laugh now but one day we’ll be in charge’ to the unsettling image of ‘Kids on Guns’. “The work critically examines contemporary issues of war, consumerism and politics,” explains co-curator Acoris Andipa.
Love him or loathe him, Banksy is one of the defining artists of our time. Commenting on the concepts that underpins the show, co-curator Stefano Antonelli says: “On the threshold of a world living in deep transformations, this exhibition analyses the progress of iconography and fundamental expressions of our civilisation, through the work of the most controversial and popular contemporary artist and activist: an anonymous British artist who calls himself Banksy.”
“Since the 1990s, the artist known as Banksy has used public space to express and exhibit his work, freeing the potential of graffiti and laying down a new blueprint for street art,” he continues. “Advances in internet technologies and image-sharing platforms have consecrated him as an idol for a new generation which has given him a worldwide fame. In the history of Western art, no other artist has managed to bring themes of this magnitude to the attention of a global audience.”
War, Capitalism and Liberty is at Rome’s Palazzo Cipolla museum, from 24 May – 4 September 2016.
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