Banksy: genius or vandal?
An exhibition of the famous and mysterious street artist Banksy has opened at 5, Grand Place, Brussels.
These works are on loan from private collectors and are housed in the former headquarters of the KBC, which has been completely refurbished to accommodate 80 of his authenticated works; these works have already been displayed in Moscow, Madrid, Hong Kong and Las Vegas. The event has been set up without the artist's consent, as is often the case when a retrospective looks at his work.
The exhibition focuses on the messages he delivers on walls all over the world, while highlighting many of the causes he wants to champion, such as the Palestinian cause, the fight against wars, police violence, the absurdity of the political world and, most importantly, the fight against consumerism, which he seems to consider the most important.
Apparently British, and active since the 1990s, he uses stencil painting to get his messages across, often mixing politics, humour and poetry. His works are also famous for their setting. A work by Banksy drawn on one of the doors of the Bataclan does not have the same emotional charge in situ as in a museum space.
The scenography, some of which is digital (part of the exhibition is virtual reality) will take an innovative journey into the controversial and often polemic world of Banksy through a number of his sculptures, videos, photos, original works and limited edition silkscreens.