Try 7 hours today!!! Luckily I was only waiting 4.5 though. My heart goes out to those turned away.

www.thisisbristol.co.uk/homepage/20-things-knew-Banksy-Bristol/article-1295107-detail/article.html

1: In the first week of the exhibition, the museum received 60 school visits – compared to the usual three.

2: The animals that make up the Unnatural History part of the exhibition were originally displayed in a pet shop window in New York in 2008. It caused uproar among New Yorkers who thought wild animals were being kept in cages.

3: During the course of the show, the now famous queue has been entertained by buskers including, guitarists, singers, magicians, and jugglers.

4: Members of the public have filled 12 volumes of visitors' books through the summer. The most mysterious signature purports to be that of Michelle Obama. A City Council spokesman denied that any secret visit was arranged for the wife of the US president.

5: The queuing system was changed twice. At first staff thought the queue would simply fill the forecourt. In its second incarnation it stretched down Park Row, but then the zigzag method was installed on University Road. The hand stamping system used to prevent queue jumping had to be altered midway through, when it was realised that the stamp had been forged by some determined queue jumpers.


6: Only three people have fainted in the queue during the summer.

7: One woman is reported to have been nine months pregnant when she was attempting to queue. Benevolent museum staff allowed her to jump to the front – partly because they were concerned about the idea of having to deliver the baby.

8: Banksy's work is so eclectic, during the initial set-up of the show, Banksy's PR woman Jo Brookes mistakenly thought two dehumidifiers in an empty case were a piece of Banksy's artwork. She was eventually put right by a member of the museum's regular staff.

9: Enormous quantities of rubbish were amassed in the queue – an average of 13 large industrial bins were filled each day.

10: On one occasion the centre of the queue was attacked by angry wasps – staff administered first aid to a dozen wasp stings.

11: The Banksy exhibition has appeared in every version of Vogue in the world – from New York to Paris.

12: The number of visits to the exhibition has now broken the 300,000 mark, matching the museum's own, impressive annual number of visits.

13: During the course of the summer, the city council received angry letters – one from somebody who believed only true Bristolians should be allowed in, another from a woman who thought they should implement a permanent ink method to ensure people are only allowed in once, and one elderly lady wrote asking to be allowed into the museum to see everything in there other than Banksy (she promised not to look at the main attraction).

14: Of the 100 works in the exhibition – 78 had never before been seen in the UK – making this Banksy's biggest ever British exhibition.

15: One of the exhibits is a genuine Damien Hirst, which is in the process of being overpainted by one of Banksy's little rat characters. Hirst donated the painting – a series of colourful geometric dots – for Banksy to "complete".

16: One of the anterooms features Jerusalem by Tawfiq Salsaa. Carved from native olive trees, this intricate scale model of the city was completed entirely from memory by the Bethlehem craftsman – Israel's security blockade has left him unable to visit the holy city for the past 12 years. A monumental achievement in itself, the piece was purchased by Banksy and "improved", with the addition of 284 toy soldiers (and one terrorist).

17: Bristol City Council's former director of museums and galleries Kate Brindley led the organisation of the Banksy exhibition – a secret operation that took 10 months, during which just a select handful of fewer than half a dozen people knew about the plans.

18: Banksy made two additions to the exhibition during the summer – a portrait of Michael Jackson opening the door of a fairytale house to Hanzel and Gretel was added after the singer's death. A suicidal Ronald McDonald figure also appeared on the outside of the building one August night.

19: Weston-super-Mare artist Adam Mclevey sneaked his own piece of artwork into the exhibition. Staff failed to notice that Adam's monkey picture wasn't a real Banksy for four days.

20: A mysterious man threw 20 beach balls into the queue on one day in early August, and challenged them to keep the balls up as long as possible. They managed a couple of minutes over three hours.

Good read; love point 13 (!). I didn't know about 15, that would have been a good buy for someone. I wonder how much it cost (if it was for sale!).

I think the list should also have another fact, the crowds would have been better were it not for middle aged men, tourists and OAPs, God alone knows how people are supposed to queue with those sorts.

I agree but then again its 4 times more than they usually get for a whole year for the same number of visitors!

www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2009/aug/30/banksy-exhibition-risks-public-unmasking

Banksy runs risk of public unmasking at Bristol show

Reclusive artist Banksy believed to be sneaking into museum to alter exhibits at his own show



* Paul Gallagher
* The Observer, Sunday 30 August 2009


Banksy, the enigmatic artist who fiercely guards his anonymity, has risked being unmasked by sneaking into the museum housing his latest and biggest exhibition to make changes to his artworks.

Banksy vs Bristol Museum, the phenomenally popular new show in the artist's home town, has been evolving since it opened on 13 June, with additions to artworks appearing mysteriously overnight. It is believed that Banksy himself has been sneaking in to make the changes, risking being caught by security guards or cleaning staff.

Flowers suddenly appeared one morning on one of the largest works on display – a burnt-out, spray-painted ice-cream van that sits under a giant melted cone.

A suicidal and drunk Ronald McDonald, perched on a ledge near the exit contemplating leaping to his death, appeared outside in late July, while a bubblegum machine containing a toy spider, and a Michael Jackson painting, in which Jackson is kneeling down enticing Hansel and Gretel with a sugar cane, appeared just days after the singer's death.

"The exhibition has certainly evolved as changes have been made," said Rebecca Burton, deputy head of Bristol Museum and one of the show's organisers.

"I suspect Banksy himself made the changes. He may also have been here mingling with the public, or joining those in the queue, as I'm sure he would be curious how the public are reacting to his work. But I couldn't tell you for sure, as I have never met him."

When the exhibition closes tomorrow night, more than 300,000 people will have seen the 100 works of art, which include 78 new works, animatronics and installations, collected largely from private lenders around the world. Queues have been more than a mile long, with some people waiting up to eight hours in the rain to see the biggest collection of Banksy's artworks ever assembled.

It has been the artist's first solo exhibition in his home town since 2000 and the first public show of any kind since his much smaller Los Angeles warehouse show three years ago, which attracted many A-list celebrities.

While installing his works, Banksy ordered that all CCTV footage be destroyed so that no camera could capture him on film. The contract between artist and museum was released by public request with some names blacked out. An explanatory letter said: "Disclosure may lead to the identity of the artist being at risk."

Fans rushed to his latest show after the artist replaced his official website homepage with a typically unsavoury image of an ice-cream dropped in a pile of dog faeces, next to the words: "Banksy Summer Show Opens June 13".

The lack of pre-show publicity proved to be irrelevant, as 8,500 people arrived over the first weekend and it has been a "one in, one out" regime for nearly every hour of the 10-week run. A preview of the show is currently one of the most-watched clips on YouTube with nearly 700,000 views.

Bristol was selected because the artist wanted to "give something back" to the city closest to Yate, where he is believed to have been born. It is one of the few pieces of information that the public know about him with any certainty.

In a rare statement, he said: "The people in Bristol have always been very good to me – I decided the best way to show my appreciation was by putting a bunch of old toilets and some live chicken nuggets in their museum.

"I could have taken the show to a lot of places, but they do have a very nice cup of tea in the museum.

"This is the first show I've ever done where taxpayers' money is being used to hang my pictures up rather than scrape them off."

The museum wanted to extend the run beyond tomorrow, but, with many pieces donated by private lenders, it was not possible.

"It's been amazing and a privilege to be part of this," said Burton.

"Several pieces have come from around the world, and Banksy designed the exhibition specifically for Bristol Museum.

"He even used other permanent exhibitions, such as putting a Degas-style ballerina in a pottery case, to complement his work. I don't think we'll see its like again."

If only they'd extend the show by one week...

best advice I've had in ages on here! Went with a mate and his wife who is 7 months pregnant. We were ushered straight in. A MASSIVE thank you to the staff at the museum.... and to Lieberman for the tip!

Bristol Evening Post
Tuesday, September 01, 2009, 07:00


www.thisisbristol.co.uk/homepage/Banksy-exhibition-puts-163-10m-Bristol-s-economy/article-1300048-detail/article.html


The "Banksy Effect" has put £10 million into the city's economy and doubled the turnover of a number of local businesses at the height of the recession.
Over the 12 weeks more than 300,000 people, around 4,000 each day, visited the Banksy vs Bristol Museum exhibition matching the museum's own annual number of visits.
Visitors queued come rain or shine for between two and six hours to see more than 100 works by the elusive artist in the exhibition, which closed yesterday.
In a statement sent by text message to the media, Banksy said: "It's nice to see it's been so popular but it makes me a bit suspicious.
"Throughout history all the great artists have been overlooked in their own lifetime and only appreciated once they've gone. I'm starting to worry I'm not one of the good guys."

In a separate message to the Evening Post he added: "In some ways I'm sorry it has to end but I promised my mum she could have her leopard-skin coat back."
The leopard-skin coat is part of an animatronic exhibit arranged in a tree to look like a real animal when viewed from one side, with the belt moving like a wagging tail.
Voluntary donations to the museum were also generous, reaching in excess of £45,000 – nearly four times the annual amount. Bristol Museum itself employed an extra 30 temporary staff to work over the three-month period.
And there have been 600,000 visits to YouTube's Banksy vs Bristol Museum video.

Economic experts say the interest generated by Banksy's work has had an unprecedented and unexpected effect on local businesses and other tourist attractions.
Hotel rooms, guesthouses and B&B bookings are up, takings by local businesses, including cafes, bookshops and restaurants are up, car park usage has increased and tickets sold on the Bristol International Airport bus to the museum stop in Queens Road, Clifton, are also up.

Visitor numbers to other local attractions, such as Bristol Zoo Gardens and ss Great Britain have also soared. Kate Davenport, services director for economic and cultural development in the city, took her son Ollie Wright, 12, to see the exhibition on its last day yesterday.

She said: "Words fail me. We have just run out of superlatives to describe how great this has been for the cultural life of the city and in terms of economic impact. The stories just keep coming about what a difference it has made."
She said hotels, restaurants and shops had made about £10 million because of the extra people coming to Bristol for the exhibition.

She said: "There were a lot of day-trippers at the start but in the past few weeks that has changed. People have been much more determined and there have been more overnight stays."
Simon Cook, the city council's deputy leader and culture cabinet member, said: "It has been brilliant to see so many people wanting to come to the exhibition.
"I am really sorry we have had queuing problems. We didn't have any idea it would be so successful.

"We expected about 100,000 people through the doors in three months but the figure is 315,000. We brought in extra staff who have been fantastic and enthused by the exhibition just as much as the public."
Commercial consultants King Sturge, based across the road from the museum, are carrying out an economic analysis of what the urban artist has done for the city.
Partner Ned Cussen told the Post yesterday: "Not only has it been great for local restaurants and cafes, but it has been a recession-buster for all sorts of local businesses.
"Businesses around here have seen their turnover double during the Banksy exhibition. You expect this with bars and restaurants, but there have been reports of fashion retailers increasing their profits by 10 per cent. You don't expect that type of thing. There have been instances of local charity shops' turnover doubling with the sale of Banksy memorabilia."
He added: "This exhibition has been completely unique; it's a one-off. Every other city would love to have what Bristol has had. I think visitors didn't quite know what to expect, but everyone comes out with a smile on their face."

Paul Barnett, acting head of Bristol's museum service, said this exhibition has put Bristol on the international map.
He told the Post: "It has created a continuous flow of visitors never before seen by the museum. But it has also led to a rediscovery of other parts of the museum. People have left this museum feeling inspired with a different view of the world.
"It's been something fun, something brilliant, and something thought-provoking."

Bristol City Council's chief executive Jan Ormondroyd was equally glowing. She said: "It has probably been the most successful exhibition in the UK. It is more than any of us expected, certainly in terms of putting Bristol on the map. We have to say a big thank-you to Banksy.
"It has been a very good summer. With the Harbour Festival, the Balloon Fiesta and the exhibition, it has been amazing. I have had texts and emails just saying thank you. Some of these have been from people who had to queue for four hours and they said it was worth it."
She added: "The staff have been amazing as well. They all went the extra mile."

Yvonne Colgan, of the Bristol Hospitality Forum, said the whole city should join in in saying a big thank-you to the mysterious artist.
She said: "This exhibition has worked on a number of levels. It has captured the imaginations and the support of the city. As well as visitors to the exhibition itself, it has also generated a high level of local tourism, visiting other local attractions. People have been making a whole day of their trip, visiting attractions such as the ss Great Britain."
She added: "Bristol has now been presented on a global scale, as the home of great art. I would like to say a big thank-you to Banksy for doing something so amazing for his home city. I would love to get the chance to shake his hand. It has been great for the city, whatever his motives were.
"But now the exhibition has ended, people should remember that Bristol is a permanent Banksy exhibition. All you need to do is get an urban art guide and take a tour of his work."
Susannah Cole, the ss Great Britain Trust's director of development, said visitor numbers are clearly up. She said: "Brunel's ss Great Britain has also seen visitor numbers exceeding forecasts for August by over 22 per cent. We believe there are a number of factors influencing these increases. Certainly Banksy and the Banksy queue – where people have been put off by the wait and are looking for alternative entertainment – has also benefited Brunel's ss Great Britain."
Cafes and shops selling food and drink in Queens Road have done very well. Two extra staff were taken on at nearby Carwardine's Coffee House where manager Liz Dare said business was "phenomenal".
She said: "We've had record days, record weeks – we broke all records. I've been able to employ two full-time staff which is amazing in a recession."
The exhibits were removed last night but there will not be another chance to see them together in one place. Banksy staged the free exhibition just for his home town.

Maybe Banksy was the ice-cream man?

Wonder when this Banksy Show book is gonna get released? anyone heard anything?

Think they are just arranging the book signing appearances.

He'll be appearing at your local Waterstones soon.