Haven’t gotten enough Banksy so far this fall? Well then, you are in luck: An unauthorized traveling exhibition of the elusive street artist’s work, organized by his former dealer Steve Lazarides, is coming to Miami in December to coincide with Art Basel Miami Beach. The show opens on December 1 at Miami’s 20,000-square-foot Magic City Innovation Studios.
According to South Florida, the show, which has already made stops in Toronto and Tel Aviv, presents more than 80 works loaned from private collectors, including Banksy’s best-known stenciled graffiti pieces, original paintings, sculptures, and prints.
Highlights include Flying Copper (2003), which shows a policeman in riot gear and angel wings, and the famous Flower Thrower (2003), which depicts a masked protester throwing a bouquet. The show will also present Lazarides’s own photos of the British artist painting in the street early on in his career.
If you want to explore this street-art extravaganza, it’s going to cost you. Lazarides plans to charge visitors a substantial fee to see “The Art of Banksy,” with tickets ranging from $35.99 to $49.99. (The lower fee gets you general admission; the higher fee gets you a timed ticket, audio tour, poster and “visual guidebook.”) For those doing the math at home, that’s at least $10 more than an out-of-state visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and $54 less than a ticket to the opening weekend of the Museum of Ice Cream in Miami Beach last year.
Banksy, who has always put public accessibility at the center of his work, hasn’t given his blessing for the show. Speaking to Time Out, Lazarides conceded that he hadn’t asked the artist for permission to stage the show and admitted that “he probably fucking hates it.” But, he added, “I think Banksy genuinely belongs to the general public. He made himself public property… and I haven’t taken anything off the street. I’ve just put a collection of works together for people to enjoy the art of Banksy.”
The timing of the show couldn’t be more ideal for the dealer. It comes shortly after the artist caused a furor by shredding his own artwork, Girl With Balloon, seconds after it was sold at Sotheby’s in London on October 5. The prank quickly went viral and made headlines the world. Buoyed by the publicity from the elaborate stunt, the show is likely to draw large crowds when it opens in Miami in December—and generate a pretty penny in ticket revenue.
Tickets for “The Art of Banksy” go on sale to the public at 10 a.m. on October 27 at BanksyExhibit.com. The show runs from December 1 at 6301 N.E. Fourth Ave. in Miami. No closing date is available, but advance passes can be purchased through February 28.