The work here shown at the Peterborough museum was on loan from John Bandler’s gallery meaning that most of the works were for sale which gave an interesting perspective of where the art market is going in reference to art from the street. Banksy’s most expensive work is shown at 2,000,000. I notice how through this exhibition it wasn’t just the aesthetic quality of the work that people are buying but it was in fact a culture and a moment in time represented through these art pieces which is what drove the price of works up. For me, this exhibition really represented the way that street art is going and how it’s evolved from its origins of graffiti being painted on trains in the 1970s and New York.
I thought it was a very interesting location for the exhibition as from walking around Peterborough there seems to be very little graffiti and street art culture which this exhibition is derived from. This says to me that is about this exhibition was trying to sell work to the upper-middle-class and selling the idea to people who are outside the origins of this culture which is where a distaste within the culture evolves as it’s taking accessible art which is always been seen for the people and gatekeeping it so only a select few can afford to own this work and a minority can view at a cost.
This exhibition was saturated with Banksy’s work I feel this is solely to pull the crowds in around Peterborough as people who want to invest in the culture will only know abuzz named like Banksy inevitably done to pull people in and money into the museum at £8 per adult ticket. After speaking to the receptionist, I later understood the price would also be to cover the insurance which is something I wouldn’t have necessarily thought of without having the conversation this shows some of the hidden costs involved with putting on a high profile exhibition such as this.
It was good to see the quality of work especially the screenprints from Banksy I took a lot of mental notes as this is the process I’m experimenting with now I could see where I could take the process within my own imagery.
Overall I was impressed with the works on show such as Pure Evil, Invader, Ben Eine, Blek Le Rat, Kaws, and Banksy as these have all been key figures in the growth of street art as a global movement. But I can’t help having a slight distaste for the focus on capital and Commission over culture I feel this was lost within this show. Because of the location and who the show was targeted at and also because it feels like the show has been curated by people outside of street-art culture.