The Short Guide to 'Banksy vs Bristol Museum'

By less than popular demand, shell shock (a train spotter and admin monkey at the Banksy group on flickr, and author of ’Banksy Location & Tours’) trawled 2,000+ photos, poured over a hotch potch of info, asked people stupid questions, and drove many miles to the Museum, just to bring you this short guide to the greatest exhibition of all time (well, maybe....the art jury is drunk and is utterly incapable of anything, including a verdict)


What is in the Exhibition?

The exhibition is officially ginormous. Easily Banksy’s biggest exhibition ever.

Apparently it contains 100 artefacts, of which 78 of them are new.

Although there are several whole rooms dedicated just to Banksy‘s work, there are also bits of his work dotted all around the various rooms of the Museum / Gallery. The guide below tries to round them all up.

People have already noticed that some exhibits seem to have moved over time (or possibly even turned up late for the bash...?), so please don't think we are totally mad if something isn't there, has moved, is wrong, makes you looks stupid, causes an argument with your partner, etc

NOTE - the names I've given them aren't necessarily 'official', correct or sensible. Some may be funny, but it can't be guaranteed. I’m not paid [in peanuts] to make you laugh you know......

There is a free small flyer/guide to exhibition available at the venue (see below). For ease of wandering, this guide references some of the (usually unofficial) room names given on there.



Many thanks to unusualimage for scanning this in (click to enlarge)




GROUND FLOOR


Entrance

Part of the ‘Boghenge‘ installation that was done at The Glastonbury Festival in 2007 (note entrance sign, and the gross Crow with Tampon on top of the portaloos!)

Reception Area (Labelled ‘Information’ on the flyer for the show)

• Ice Cream Van
• ‘Metropolitan Peace’ Riot Copper on a children’s ride
• 7 statues (clockwise from front left side)

- David as Suicide Bomber
- Angel of the North
- Angel with Paint Pot on Head
- Lion Tamer (eaten)
- Bashed Up Buddha
- Homeless Venus de Milo (& melted bicycle)
- Renaissance Paris Hilton goes Shopping

British & South West Wildlife Room

• Riverbank Ratty (with spray can) - In the 'River Bank' cabinet - This looks the same as the ‘Banksus Militus Vandalus’ rat sneaked into the Natural History Museum in 2004.

Assyrian Reliefs Room

Carved model of Jerusalem (by Tawfiq Salsaa) - with 284 toy soldiers and 1 terrorist added by Banksy

Egypt Room

‘Reduced’ Terracotta style Soldier



Left hand Passage between Reception and Unnatural History - by the Ladies toilets

Michael Jackson modified oil, and shrine (This was added after Jacko's death - On 6th July the Bristol Evening Post reported that another Banksy painting was being added to the exhibition - ".....placed above a black shelf on which stand several lit candles.")

Animatronics Room (Labelled ‘Unnatural History’ on the flyer)

(clockwise from front left side)

• Food Store (Sausages)
• Swimming Fish Finger(s) [originally there were 2 fishes, but they broke down and were later replaced by one larger one]
• Chicken Nuggets
• Stone Slab (“The Bad Artists Imitate, The Great Artists Steal”)
• CCTV Mothers and Babies
• Leopard Skin Coat
• Tweety Pie
• The Monkey as an Artist
• Vanity Rabbit

Costume Jewellery Area

Suitcase of Cash (Di-faced Tenners)

Café (Labelled ‘Another Cafe’ on the flyer)

Wooden Crate with Balloons

The Art of Banksy Room

(Clockwise from Entrance - approx)

Rodeo Girl on Spraycan
You have got to be Kidding me (a.k.a. £10,000)
The Artists Studio (including a paint splodged fire extinguisher shown on the exhibition leaflet)

Collection of Seven Images & Sketches (clockwise from top left)
- Degas X Factor
- Guns Magazine
- Isambard Kingdom Brunel (Rail Replacement)
- Portrait of the Prophet Muhammad
- Rhino Hunters
-’The Exact Same Bowls’
- Bomb Disposal Unit
Who Are All These People?

This Is Not A Photo Opportunity
The Key to Making Great Art is all in the Compositio
Go Flock Yourself

Dorothy - Not on Canvas Anymore
Hardhat Tortoise

The Lone Roller
‘Banksy’ tag in Cage
Heavy Weaponry

CCTV Britannia & Union Flag
Old St Cherub
Workers of the World Unite!
Punk with Mum
Luxury Loft Complex
Nob Artiste
Thomas the Tag Engine
Masked Writer / Bandit (& Step Ladder)
* Subject to Availability for a Limited Period Only
Rembrandt with Wobbly Eyes
Toff with Toy Arrow on Head
Idyllic Klan Hanging
Monkey Parliament
Flies on Still Life
Panda Trophy Head
Woman with Groucho Marx additions
Exit Through Gift Shop
The Power of a Big Gold Frame

Renaissance Couple (Seaside Style)
Riot Police Meadow
Plant Holder with Head

Donut Cavalcade
Fat Tourist Rickshaw
I Hate Mondays

Graffiti Related Activity Recorded by the Police
No Ball Games
This Is Where I Draw the Line (in dustbin)
Warped Wall


FIRST FLOOR

Landing (Labelled ‘Maps’ on the flyer)

• 'Escape from Guantanamo’ - A Guantanamo prisoner in the Bristol Boxkite
• Leathered Priest (statue)



Geology / Minerals Section

• Dildo in the Stalagmites and Stalactites area
• Shopping Trolley Hunter on Rock

Wildlife in Glass Boxes Section

• Lamb with Muzzle

Gypsy Caravan

• Eviction Notice and Wheel Clamp on the Caravan

British Wildlife Section

• Fox and Countryside Alliance Fox Hunting Placard


TOP FLOOR

All modified oils, except those marked #

Most of the modified oils have a small label next to them, saying ‘Local Artist’, and giving a name and date for the painting.

On the Stairs

• UFO Invasion - 2006

French Art Gallery

• Agency Job (Gleaners) - 2009
• Girl At The Windows - 2006
• Water Spillage (No label on this one)

European Art Gallery

• Silent Night - 2005
• Venus (After Surgery) - 2006
• Landscape Near Hartcliffe - 2005

British Art Gallery

• Flight To Egypt (Budget Version) - 2009
• How Do You Like Your Eggs? - 2009
• Dogging - 2006

Modern British Art Gallery

• Improved Spot Painting - 2009 (Banksy, over a Damien Hirst painting)

Victorian Art Gallery

• Home On The Hill - 2006

Glass Cabinet on the staircase between the Victorian Art Gallery & the Artists from Bristol Gallery

Ice Cream Turd (this was originally on a plinth in the 'Art Of Banksy' room, but was moved at the start of the exhibition - I imagine it was considered a hinderance to the large crowds!)



Artists from Bristol Gallery

• Home Sweet Home (No label on this one)

Boring Old Plates

• Hash Pipe #
• Ballet Girl (with Gasmask) #



All the boring (I'm a practical man...) bits.....

Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery
Queen's Road
Bristol
BS8 1RL

13 June - 31 August

FREE EXHIBITION
Open Daily 10am- 5pm
Tel: 0117 922 3571

“Situated in between the very tall H H Wills memorial building (University of Bristol) and Browns restaurant, at the top of Park Street.

By Bus: Numbers 1, 8, 8a, 9, 40, 40a, 41, 54”

Website - http://www.bristol.gov.uk/ccm/navigation/leisure-and-culture/museums-and-galleries



How Do I Get There?


From Bristol Temple Meads Train Station (BS1 6QF)

Bus - The numbers 8, 8A and 9 all leave from just outside the main station entrance and stop opposite the museum. Follow the link below for an online timetable (this one is for Monday to Friday but there are links on that page for weekend tables):

http://www.firstgroup.com/ukbus/southwest/bristol/timetables/timetable.php?day=1&source_id=2&service=8/8A/9/9A&routeid=593741&operator=3&source=sp

Or you can get a number 54 or a number 1 (both heading for ‘Cribbs Causeway’) from the main road (A4) that runs past the entrance road to the station. Just walk down the incline from the station, and cross over the road, and you’ll see the bus stop outside the Reckless Engineer pub.

If you can’t spot where the museum is, ask someone. It should be pretty easy to spot though. It’s on the right hand side, at the top of the steep ‘Park St’, next to the very tall Wills Building (it looks like a Cathedral, but it isn’t…that will teach you to nudge your friend, pretending to be clever, saying "That's the Cathedral..." )

Walk - It’s about a 30 minute walk from the train station, and once you get off the busy roads by the station it is a pleasant walk. Past St Mary Redcliffe (famous Church with enormous spire). Over the floating harbour, through Queens Square (which is pedestrianised to a degree), or a detour to see Bansky’s boating reaper on the side of the Thekla (floating club). Then up Park St (past the Bristol Cathedral if you want, especially convenient if you’ve come through the harbour area) and have a photo op at Banksy’s Window Lovers (bottom of Park St - opposite the end of the crescent shaped Council building). Continue up Park St and you can hardly miss the Museum at the top of the street, on your right. If you are around late enough, or on a Sunday, the shutter at the Rollermania shop (62 Park Row, BS1 5LE) is usually down in the evenings and on Sunday. It’s a very early Banksy and Kato freehand collaboration, although it’s nothing like what you’d now expect from Banksy!

Ferry Boat (we kid you not….) - If you want a slightly different experience, you can also get the Ferry from Temple Meads. The landing stage is a 3 minute walk from the railway station's main foyer (follow the white 'ferry' signs). This is West Country so bring yer own life jackets :-)

Take the ferry to the landing stage by The SS Great Britain. Then walk through the Harbourside Village towards the new City of Bristol College, over Deanery Road, up York Place onto Brandon Hill. Then past Cabot Tower on your left and into Berkeley Square right opposite the museum.

If you prefer to use other landing stages, there are others that might be of use (e.g. ‘Prince St‘, ‘Millennium Square‘, and ‘City Centre’).

For full information, use their website - www.bristolferry.com



From Bristol Coach / Bus Station (Marlborough Street, BS1 3NU)

The coach / bus station is easier to walk from than the train station, and is no longer the skanky tramp hangout that it used to be :-) It’s also close to the main shopping area so if your other half / friends need retail therapy, they can do that whilst you look at Banksy’s anti-consumerist messages...

From the front of the coach station you just walk up and up the main road basically, bearing right when needed (Marlborough St / Upper Maudlin St etc - the road changes name 4 times before you get to the museum!). Around the half way mark you also come across Banksy’s sniper (look backwards down the hill to see it - it‘s just after the hospital, on the side wall of the office for the ‘Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Appeal’)

It’s hardly worth taking a bus, unless you really want to, but several will go up that way I imagine. Frankly I got bored of writing this guide at this point.....

If you have time, it’s a 15 minute round detour from the coach station to see Banksy’s ‘Mild Mild West’ mural (walk along Jamaica St, and it’s at the junction with the main rd - Stokes Croft).


By Car

Central Bristol is relatively easy to get from any direction. Many people use the M32 route. You can keep to the signposted main roads, or if you feel brave enough to navigate the smaller streets, you can come off at J3 of the M32 and go up through St Pauls or Cotham / Kingsdown.

There are plenty of car parks (e.g. NCP car parks at West End and Trenchard Street) and on-street parking in the area. If money is tight there's some free on street parking you can fight over, about a 5/10 minute walk away. It’s around the back of the main roads, near the various University and hospital buildings in the area (e.g. Tyndall’s Park Rd, Belgrave Rd, and part of Elmdale Rd)


A big thank you to the Banksy group members on flickr whose information helped this guide