Banksy street art appear at the Barbican Centre, London
The early hours of Sunday morning, 17th September saw the walls of London graced with not one but two new street artworks from the elusive British street artist Banksy.
The street artist shared the two pieces on his official verified Banksy instagram account at 2pm this afternoon announcing the new works and hinting at their location near the Barbican Centre in central London.
Two new London Banksy artworks
Two new London Banksy artworks
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As we are based in East London, we grabbed our camera bag and jumped on a bus towards the Barbican Centre shortly after spotting the London Banksy artworks shared online, hoping to capture some images of the new London street artworks.
After a quick 15-minute bus trip we took a short walk around the Barbican Centre site on our arrival trying to track down the new London Banksy works. From the photos Banksy had shared on his official Banksy Instagram account we knew the works we located on the ground level of the Barbican site and it wasn't long before we located the two new London Banksy works spraypainted on opposite walls on Golden Lane right beneath the Barbican Centre.
Banksy Street Art in London at the Barbican Centre
The two works by Banksy have been inspired by pioneering New York artist Jean-Michel Basquiat and the show Boom For Real which opened at the Barbican Centre a week after Banksy created the street artworks.
After a quick 15-minute bus trip we took a short walk around the Barbican Centre site on our arrival trying to track down the new London Banksy works. From the photos Banksy had shared on his official Banksy Instagram account we knew the works we located on the ground level of the Barbican site and it wasn't long before we located the two new London Banksy works spraypainted on opposite walls on Golden Lane right beneath the Barbican Centre.
- Close up of the first of two new Banksy artworks in London inspired by the work of artist Jean-Michel Basquiat.
Banksy Street Art in London at the Barbican Centre
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The two works by Banksy have been inspired by pioneering New York artist Jean-Michel Basquiat and the show Boom For Real which opened at the Barbican Centre a week after Banksy created the street artworks. According to a series of posts shared on the official Banksy Instagram account this afternoon, Banksy has said: ‘Major new Basquiat show opens at the Barbican - a place that is normally very keen to clean any graffiti from its walls.”
The larger of the two works references Basquiat’s painting ‘Boy and Dog in a Johnnypump’ and sees a character representing Basquiat being searched by the police. In another of his Instagram posts featuring the above work Banksy, has said the piece is a ‘“Portrait of Basquiat being welcomed by the Metropolitan Police - an (unofficial) collaboration with the new Basquiat show.”
It wasn't long before crowds began to gather in front of the wall, all wanting to catch a glimpse of the new Banksy works.
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The paint on the larger of the two London Banksy artworks was still wet to touch in parts when we arrived this afternoon to shoot the artwork, suggesting that it was installed in the early hours of the morning.
The second Banksy work was spraypainted on a wall at the Barbican Centre opposite the larger piece.
Ferris Wheel London Banksy at the Barbican Centre
The larger of the two works references Basquiat’s painting ‘Boy and Dog in a Johnnypump’ and sees a character representing Basquiat being searched by the police. In another of his Instagram posts featuring the above work Banksy, has said the piece is a ‘“Portrait of Basquiat being welcomed by the Metropolitan Police - an (unofficial) collaboration with the new Basquiat show.”
It wasn't long before crowds began to gather in front of the wall, all wanting to catch a glimpse of the new Banksy works.
Follow our Hookedblog Pinterest Boards for even more Banksy Street Art.
The paint on the larger of the two London Banksy artworks was still wet to touch in parts when we arrived this afternoon to shoot the artwork, suggesting that it was installed in the early hours of the morning.
The second Banksy work was spraypainted on a wall at the Barbican Centre opposite the larger piece.
Ferris Wheel London Banksy at the Barbican Centre
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The second smaller artwork from Banksy is located opposite the larger work on the other side of the road and sees a white/ silver on black paint stencil of a queue of people waiting to buy tickets from a booth for the Ferris wheel.
The Ferris wheel carriages have been replaced with crowns rendered in chalk, a symbol which frequently featured in Basquiat's early works.
Boom For Real Basquiat Exhibition
The Boom For Real exhibition was the first large-scale exhibition in the UK of the work of American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960—1988), one of the most significant painters of the 20th century.
The show featured over 100 of Basquiat's works on loan from international museums and private collections and included rare film, photography, and archive material.
The Ferris wheel carriages have been replaced with crowns rendered in chalk, a symbol which frequently featured in Basquiat's early works.
- Close-up detail of the Banksy Ferris wheel booth and the chalk crowns.
- It wasn't long before word got out and large crowds began to gather in front of the wall to photograph the latest London Banksy street artwork at the Barbican Centre.
We streamed some live video footage of the two new London Banksy works on our Hookedblog twitter account on our arrival at the Barbican Centre this afternoon, if you missed the live stream you can rewatch the short clip with some of the details above.New Banksy in London #streetart https://t.co/W7NBhJCq0v— Hookedblog (@hookedblog) September 17, 2017
Boom For Real Basquiat Exhibition
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The Boom For Real exhibition was the first large-scale exhibition in the UK of the work of American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960—1988), one of the most significant painters of the 20th century. The show featured over 100 of Basquiat's works on loan from international museums and private collections and included rare film, photography, and archive material.
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Banksy in London Update
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Since first photographing the London Banksy stencil works at the Barbican Centre back in 2017 when the two stencil pieces appeared we had not been back to the Barbican Centre to revisit the artworks.
Our initial visit to the artwork in 2017 as featured above was before any of the additions made to the piece. Shortly after the Banksy works first appeared in 2017, and after our first visit US artist and actor Danny Minnick added some of his own work to the left of the Banksy artwork.
As if often the case with Banksy artworks in the UK, the Barbican Centre Board decided to keep the Banksy artworks and it was covered with a protective layer of perspex. The additional artwork added to the Banksy Barbican piece by Danny Minnick has also been included under the perspex layer covering the wall.
Our initial visit to the artwork in 2017 as featured above was before any of the additions made to the piece. Shortly after the Banksy works first appeared in 2017, and after our first visit US artist and actor Danny Minnick added some of his own work to the left of the Banksy artwork.
As if often the case with Banksy artworks in the UK, the Barbican Centre Board decided to keep the Banksy artworks and it was covered with a protective layer of perspex. The additional artwork added to the Banksy Barbican piece by Danny Minnick has also been included under the perspex layer covering the wall.
The Barbican Centre Exhibition Halls signage which was featured in our first visit photos is no longer present. You can see the area to the top right of the standing figure where the signage has been removed from the wall. As some of the artwork overlapped on the sign, we can only assume this street sign was stolen.
Where to Find Banksy Artworks in London
Should you want to visit the two London Banksy artworks in person, both of the artworks can be found at the Barbican Centre on Golden Lane, E2.
Where to Find Banksy Artworks in London
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Should you want to visit the two London Banksy artworks in person, both of the artworks can be found at the Barbican Centre on Golden Lane, E2.
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Banksy on Instagram — @banksy
Related Street Art Stories
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Banksy's London artwork highlights teargas use in Calais refugee campBanksy & The Queen's Diamond Jubilee.
New Banksy Street Art - 'TOX' in Camden
Find Hookedblog on — Facebook — Twitter — Instagram — Bloglovin' — Pinterest
