On Saturday (9/14) I very reluctantly visited the Banksy Museum on Canal Street since I was already heading to a dentist appointment three blocks away and knew I wouldn’t make it back to Snug Harbor in time for the Art Lab Open House. I hated the idea of paying $26 ($30 without student discount) for a ticket to an exhibit of replicas of artwork from an artist who is strictly anti-capitalist. This seems to be the majority opinion as the museum was EMPTY except for a family of French tourists. The museum curators seem to be operating on this motto stenciled on the wall:

The museum layout oddly reminded me of an IKEA with blue tape arrows on the floor guiding visitors through a maze of plaster, stucco walls, and brick wallpaper. Of course, the employee at the ticket counter made sure to inform me to follow the blue arrows all the way to the end at which I would find the gift shop (yayy 😑). 

There was an attempt at making each room give off the vibe of the setting in which certain pieces were located, such as with the telephone booth and the vinyl sticker manhole covers in the UK section of the exhibit, but the look didn’t seem to be maintained very well over the past few months that the museum has been open. 

Additionally, the “immersive” experience that the museum advertises is hindered by the yellow-and-black tape on the floor in front of each piece. Street art is made to be exposed to the elements, but here it is protected by a piece of tape that tells the viewer ‘do not touch,’ and creates a facade of this art being expensive and/or exclusive when they are really just replicas printed or painted on wallpaper.

Of course the small French children in the room with me did not seem to care for the tape and went ahead and touched the walls anyways…

This piece to me stood out as cheaply replicated with its strange spackle texture that is not present in the original (or on any wall; fr whose idea was this??). I like the message conveyed by the artwork, but I think my enjoyment of it visually is affected by this odd texture.

There were also minor spelling/grammatical errors in some of the plaques, such as this misspelling of “Neptune Avenue.”

The entire visit I couldn’t help but feel ashamed that I actually spent $26 on this. For a museum that not only betrays the original intent of the artist, but also profits off of their work. And for a museum that features replicas of Banksy’s many anti-capitalist works, you’d think that they would try to mask the irony better. This piece in particular was comically ironic considering the price shown is the exact same as the standard ticket price for this museum.

Although I left with an overall feeling that I had wasted my time and money, I did enjoy some of the little details such as the small graffiti rats scattered around the museum’s hallways and staircases. I thought they were cute and demonstrated the museum curators taking inspiration from Banksy rather than simply putting replicas up on the wall with a plaque. 

I do have to commend the museum for dedicating a section to Banksy’s work in Palestine and maintaining a sympathetic view of the Palestinian plight. They even recreated a room from The Walled Off Hotel in Bethlehem, which was designed and financed by Banksy and other artists to promote peace in the West Bank. While the real hotel is currently closed due to the escalating conflict, this recreation carries on its original message. I say this about this piece in particular and not other parts of the museum because the hotel room was the most immersive experience out of all the replicas I saw. It was clear that whoever designed this particular part of the exhibit cared that it looked like a real hotel room and that viewers understood Banksy’s intention by having an informational video play in the background as visitors looked around the room.