www.thisisbristol.co.uk/homepage/Charity-shop-cashes-Bristol-Banksy-mania/article-1255981-detail/article.html

A Clifton charity shop has made more than £20,000 from selling Banksy postcards, stickers and books.

The Oxfam store on Queens Street had an anonymous donation of artwork by the secretive graffiti artist, as the exhibition of his work drew crowds at Bristol Museum.

The boost comes at the same time as an original Banksy nearby has been scrubbed off.

The shop's stock has now run out with the funds made reaching a staggering £15,000.

Michael O'Grady, store manager, said: "Summer is traditionally a quiet time for us but this has been extraordinary. We've made about £15,000 in such a short space of time just on the stock that was donated. We think that its also brought in about £7,000 to £8,000 in general trade too.

"We've no idea who donated the pieces but we are very grateful. Just 10 minutes ago someone came in asking for some merchandise and we had to tell them we had run out. There is still demand. It is just great news for the shop and for Oxfam's development."

It was a requirement of the City Museum hosting the Banksy exhibition that no merchandise was sold there.

Shoppers at the Oxfam store could buy stickers showing Banksy's distinctive social commentary, most in the form of mock road signs. A tank is shown being towed away by a tow truck, children play with an AK47 and graffiti artists are requested to report to reception before starting work.

One of the most popular stickers, on sale for 99p, read: "Put a menu through this letterbox and I will never eat your food again."

But around the corner in Pro Cathedral Lane what was thought to be a Banksy stencil has been removed from the wall of a building.

The piece which reads "Playing it safe can cause a lot of damage in the long run" is estimated to have been on the wall for over 10 years but had been surrounded by other pieces of graffiti.

Vicky O'Loughlin, press officer for Bristol City Council, said: "This was on private property and removal was arranged privately."

Like the other street pieces in Bristol, it was never authenticated.

Ronnie Jotun, of Bristol Graffiti blog, said: "There's not actually much value in having a Banksy original on your building oddly enough, as for a Banksy work to sell nowadays it has to have authentication from Pest Control, the organisation he set up to authenticate his work. It is a shame it's gone though, it was a very old piece, probably from around 1998, and was one of the better preserved pieces still out there in Bristol. That said, graffiti is never meant to be a permanent thing, and it nearly always has a temporary life span, sometimes of only hours. Nothing ever lasts forever, and we can still enjoy this one through the photos of it out there."

Yup, didn't realise they had books and postcards?

Went yesterday (Friday). Arrived at 10.10am - In the queue for just under 4 hours!!!!!!!!! Bollocks!!

Epic journey for you to get to the show. Props.

Hanging Lovers (Park St, opposite College Green)
Sniper (Upper Mauldlin Street opp. Childrens Hospital)
Mild Mild West (Cheltenham Road/Stokes Croft)

Round trip of about an hour or so. Got to be done.

thanks to the 8am train being cancelled at paddington, we finally made it to the back of the queue at 11am, and didn't get in until a little after 3. ouch!

brilliant show though, but i'd have liked to have had a little longer and not have had to rush around the show before it closed...

What's the BEST/Cheapest/Most direct route from London? I'm flying in Wednesday, I think I'll go straight from the airport to the show.

Train from London Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads - direct service approx £46 return

That shi.ts cold Denzil

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts_and_culture/8205301.stm


Banksy visitors overwhelm gallery


Almost a quarter-of-a-million people have filed through Banksy's homecoming exhibition since it opened in June.

Bristol's council-owned gallery has been overwhelmed with visitors, with some people queuing for up to four hours to see Banksy vs Bristol Museum.

"We knew it was going to be big but I don't think we appreciated just how big," a council spokesperson said.

The graffiti artist's show, featuring animatronics and installations, was kept secret until the day it opened.

Demand to see the show has been so high that queues continue to snake almost a mile every day, and the museum has arranged for late-night opening on a Wednesday.

The museum is in talks with Banksy's team about further late night openings until the exhibition closes on 31 August.

"The exhibition has drawn in people from around the world," the spokesperson added.

"It's not just local people and visitors from the UK who want to see this. We have had people from all over, including Finland, Japan, New York and even Uzbekistan."

When the exhibition first opened in Bristol queues of up to an hour were the limit, but as it nears its end even more visitors have been flocking to see it.

The queue was closed at 1230 BST on Saturday as the waiting time peaked at four hours.

With a 650 capacity in the gallery, organisers are operating a two-in-two-out policy.

Nigel Meggitt, from London, was one of thousands of people who queued on Saturday.

He joined the queue at 1030 BST, and made it into the gallery at 1430 pm - four hours later.

"We went along expecting a long queue, so we were prepared," he said.

"We took a newspaper, and one of us was able to leave the queue to go to the shop and buy food.

"It was part of the day, part of the experience, and you have to be prepared to queue if you want to see the exhibition."

The council spokesperson added: "Managing the queue has been a challenge, but the best thing is that people have been very good natured.

"Even though people have had this huge wait, people have said the exhibition, with it's quirky and challenging pieces, is amazing."

I'm only guessing, but i'd imagine they've got a schedule of other displays planned so can't? If they haven't they've really no reason to close with the demand and all!

They really need to have late night opening every day.

Hope is here:- "The museum is in talks with Banksy's team about further late night openings until the exhibition closes on 31 August."

Its just a shame it's taken so long.

I was in the queue at 8:45 yesterday (Sunday) , finally got in about 12:15 and was chatting to one of the museum staff. She said no chance of an extension due to scheduling, Dellboyy you are correct!

Posters and postcards a plenty in the shop too.

gutted for you mate

too bad mate, damn what time you got there? I'm leaving from Brussels next sunday and will queue monday AM... I hope i get in