October 12th, 2005

Filed under:
The Arts
15 Comments »

Banksy, Crude Oils and Rats

Banksy, the controversial graffiti (and guerilla) artist, has a new exhibition in a secret Notting Hill location:

Monet’s lilly pond littered with shopping trolleys, a dead museum guard and some rats. It doesn’t sound very appealing - and it’s certainly not for the squeamish - but in fact it’s what the grafitti artist Banksy hopes will attract people to his new exhibition.

Check out this 3 minute video preview (WMV, sorry), in which a very brave (and kinda hot) Channel 4 correspondent gives us a taste of the exhibition.

Comments: 15 Responses so far

Karen Mehl
October 14th, 2005
2:40 pm

I hear that you are keeping live animals in inhumane conditions. Why add to the misery in the world?

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Tusia
October 15th, 2005
7:09 am

Can anyone divulge the secret? I am just trying to find out where is it!

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Stella German
October 15th, 2005
7:35 am

Cruelty to rats - whatever next

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kearnie
October 17th, 2005
7:13 am

how is it cruel? their in a nice warm building! go to banksy site to see location. http://www.banksy.co.uk

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Peter Harris
October 18th, 2005
10:06 am

I went to the exhibition last night, its a great experience, clever peices of art and you spend half the time making sure you dont step on a rat or get one up your trouser leg, you sign a disclaimer on the way in about what might happen to you by way of rat.

They were only letting in about 4 people at a time so not to endanger the rats and so you sort of became exhibits yourself with all the other people watching you avoid being consumed.

I would also recommend walking the south bank from the houses of parliment down to vinopolis where you will see many peices of banksy work along the way.

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addicted
October 18th, 2005
1:38 pm

Its an awesome exhibtion - reminds you art can actually be exciting. Walk down Westbourne Grove (nr Notting Hill Gate) and you cant miss it. just posted a review on my blog if you want to read more: http://addictedtothe21stcentury.blogspot.com/ (okay, so its a subtle plug, but hey, im not typing it all out again :P)

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catherine
October 20th, 2005
10:31 am

Thanks for the video clip and info on the show. Fascinating (though I like the stencils better). Just one quibble: “very brave (and kinda hot)” — how is she very brave? The rats are clean and safe (and most were sleeping). Maybe a bit brave but I bet she’s been in many more dangerous spots.

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MEL
October 20th, 2005
11:09 am

Please can someone enlighten me of the whereabouts of the exhibition. Is it just open to press or something? I am an art student and a rat lover please can someone help.

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philomena
October 23rd, 2005
2:32 pm

Bollocks that this is cruelty to rats, they have friends twelve feet away in sewers who wish they had it this good. Plus they have a big audience - there are actors playing sewers who wish they had it that good. I live round the corner and am devastated to hear the exhibit ends soon. Wish it would stay forever - local crowds at the window at night staring with a genuine excitement - which is more than they do outside Nicole Farhi’s shop.

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the unknown
October 24th, 2005
3:17 pm

here is someting on woosters showing that someone had indeed ssmuggled a painting into banksys own show.
Or was this just a stunt? or by another egg related artist ?
here is the link
http://www.woostercollective.com/2005/10/photos-from-banksys-crude-oils-show.html

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Anonymous
October 25th, 2005
3:06 am

Yesterday I visited Tate Modern, Tate Britain (Turner Prize) and Crude Oils. Banksy’s work was clearly the most exciting, but I think each individual work doesnt really have much merit, but as a whole it is a great experience - the sights and smells, rats crawling up your leg, and when I was there the cleaner dude turned up in a see-through boiler suit with only his pants on underneath!

It’s a must see.

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Rakeybob
October 25th, 2005
2:05 pm

I am disgusted at the blatent animal welfare issues this has caused.
if they are wild rats it is illegal to catch them, so they are obviously domestic rats to which the comment about rats being only metres away in sewers are irrelevent. Wild and domestic rats are totally different.
There are injured rats at this exhibition, ones lying dead and a lot of pregnant ones! more to the point what is going to happen to all these rats now the exhibition is over, plus all the babies that will come as a result of males and females being placed together? i sincerly hope the RSPCA has something to say about this!

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mark mcneil
October 31st, 2005
1:14 am

banksy rocks his art is better than some shit thay put in museams

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mark mcneil
October 31st, 2005
1:15 am

banksy rocks his art is better than some shit thay put in museams

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Crude Oils: Neues von Banksy » Streetart Berlin Blog
December 7th, 2008
1:03 am

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