Banksy Cut & Run review — I didn’t care before but now I am a full fan

I have a confession. Until a few hours ago I knew little about the street artist who goes under the moniker of Banksy. Worse than this, I cared even less. I came to this show, if not to mock, then at least to be sceptical. But now I’m a fan and I’d Iike to tell you why.

I see a lot of exhibitions. Perhaps too many but rarely, if ever, have I seen a viewing public so eager, so engaged and so thrilled to be in a venue.

There were people of all ages and backgrounds (from babies to grandmothers) queueing early on a Sunday to get into this ticketed show, which at £15 a pop is not cheap.

Inside, many were smiling and laughing and animatedly discussing the quirky, satirical, politically engaged objects, texts and films they saw. They were from all over the UK.

Banksy claims that Glasgow’s Gallery of Modern Art is his favourite venue, not least because of the persistently replaced traffic cone on the head of Carlo Marochetti’s statue of the Duke of Wellington that sits outside.

Indeed, the traffic cone motif has been adopted by numerous crew and security staff who sport miniature cones as earrings and other jewellery.

Introducing the aptly named show with characteristic wit (“25 years of card labour”) Banksy, the world’s best-known street artist, writes: “I’ve kept these stencils hidden away for years, mindful they could be used as evidence in a charge of criminal damage. But that moment seems to have passed, so now I’m exhibiting them in a gallery as works of art. I’m not sure which is the greater crime.”

This, though, is much more than a show of stencils. It lets you in on Banksy’s secrets, his ways of working, his influences and his working and living spaces. It shows the artist to be gifted not only intellectually and artistically but also as a compassionate, politically alive individual with a lot of balls.

He has made work in Palestine, Ukraine and in the tougher parts of New York and Los Angeles. His skill lies not only in his craft of making complex, multi-layered stencils but the military precision with which he “hammers” places with paint, often deliberately choosing the challenge of urban spaces under surveillance.

He worked out long ago that tags and other traditional graffiti were not for him. He didn’t need to paint a background but used existing ones such as gables, so that the space between his objects could be vastly extended by the urban backdrop itself.

Banksy is nearly always on the zeitgeist, commenting with rather gentle, biting humour on the outrages and injustices that confront us daily.

One of Banksy’s other fans, a cleaner I met in the lift, told me: “It’s the best show I’ve seen here.” I concur. It’s one of the best shows I’ve seen anywhere.

     Until August 28, 2024