Barcelona opens one of Banksy's most extensive exhibitions at the Disseny Hub

Barcelona has surrendered to the Banksy phenomenon. The Espacio Trafalgar has dedicated an immersive exhibition to him since last year and the brand new Moco Museum also includes some of his works. As if that wasn't enough, the Disseny Hub has just released Banksy. The art of protest, with more than 70 original works by the anonymous British artist, one of the largest ever made.

As revealed by the Disseny Hub exhibition, which can be visited until March 13, 2022, Banksy's relationship with Barcelona began a long time ago. Ciutat Vella was the setting chosen by the artist to record his time in the city, with interventions such as Mask girl (2003), where a girl with a gas mask and flowers in her hand looked at the pedestrian.

Banksy also passed through the Ciutadella Park, where he wanted to leave his mark on the Barcelona Zoo. He intended to write "Laugh now, but one day I'll be in charge" on one of the cages, but he lost the paper of the Spanish translation and only ended up painting vertical lines, like the ones used to count the days in prison. He also managed to draw his signature on the stones of the penguin and giraffe enclosures.

With this local welcome, Banksy. The art of protest brings the people of Barcelona closer to some of the artist's best-known pieces. Among the seventy works that make up the exhibition, you can find the one about the girl who releases a red balloon, the one about the protester who throws a bouquet of flowers or the one starring Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta in an interpretation of Pulp Fiction that trade guns for bananas.

Censorship of globalization, consumerism, wars, the power of politics and religion, violence or the climate crisis are some of his most recurrent themes. In various formats, including photographs, engravings and large-scale pieces, his favorite protagonists appear, such as the Queen of England, Lady Di, Lenin, Kate Moss or Jesus Christ, accompanied by anonymous characters such as policemen, soldiers, children, monkeys and rats

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One of the most outstanding spaces in the Disseny Hub exhibition is the one dedicated to the Walled Off Hotel, the establishment that Banksy opened in 2017 with "the worst views in the world", since it is located on the wall that divides the border between Israel and Palestine. With the sound and lights of the helicopters flying over the room, the history of this hotel and the message that the artist wanted to convey are explained.

Also Banksy. The art of protest includes unpublished works, such as the urban interventions Pissing Busby and Out of Bed Rat, which show a policeman from Queen Elizabeth II's guard peeing and his iconic rat, in a morning version and with little desire to do anything . Both were in the hands of private collectors and will be presented to the public for the first time.

"We have created the best exhibition of Banksy", defends the exhibition's curator, Alexander Nachkebiya, despite the fact that it has not been authorized by the artist himself. “We would be happy if he participated, but it is his choice,” remarks Nachkebiya. Despite this, Banksy. The art of protest includes works authenticated by Pest Control, the only entity with the capacity to do so.

But, ironically, from Pest Control, visiting any exhibition about the artist is discouraged. “Banksy has nothing to do with any of the current or recent exhibitions and they are not an authentic Banksy show for nothing. They can suck, so please don't come to us asking for a refund."