Banksy exhibition for Wellington: Pre-sale ticket holders in draw to win authentic art piece

More than 150 art pieces by secretive artist Banksy will go on display in Wellington next month, and pre-sale ticket holders are automatically in the draw to take one of the street artist’s works home.

The Art of Banksy exhibition will run for seven weeks from November 28 at the Wellington Convention & Exhibition Centre Tākina.

Banksy, the enigmatic England-based street artist whose identity remains shrouded in mystery, is globally celebrated for his distinctive stencil works and satirical art, often imbued with potent political and social commentary.

The exhibit brings the world’s largest collection of the artist’s work to New Zealand and includes prints, canvases, unique works and related ephemera.

Flame Thrower, by Banksy.

One of Banksy’s most iconic pieces will be featured, the Flower Thrower. It first appeared as a stencil mural on a wall in Beit Sahour in Palestine’s West Bank in 2003.

A video interview with one of Banksy’s ex-girlfriends will accompany the work, explaining the origins of the highly recognisable piece.

The exhibition will offer insights into the anonymous artist’s Walled Off Hotel, a hotel created by Banksy in Bethlehem only metres from Israel’s West Bank Wall. Also in focus will be Banksy’s Dismaland and other recent works on the ongoing war in Ukraine.

A chance to own an authenticated piece

Banksy’s piece Di Faced Tenner will also be on display, and ticket holders who purchase admission before the exhibition opens will enter the draw to win their own authenticated copy.

Banksy's Di Faced Tenner will be on display as part of The Art of Banksy exhibition at the Wellington Convention & Exhibition Centre from November to January. Photo / Supplied

The Di Faced Tenners are counterfeit £10 notes purporting to be issued by the ‘Banksy of England’.

The notes feature Princess Diana and were given away to crowds at the Notting Hill and Reading Festivals and at a tube station in London in 2004.

Exhibition promoter Stewart Macpherson said it was a rare chance to win a piece of art history.

The Art of Banksy show has been curated by Michel Boersma and includes authenticated works sold or gifted by Banksy, rather than any replicas or art removed from the streets.

Girl with balloon, by Banksy.

Three limited edition Banksy prints sold for $138,000 in Auckland in 2020, going under the hammer at the International Art Centre in Parnell.

Soup Can sold for $52,000, while Weston Super Mare was sold for $41,000 and Golf Sale went for $45,000.

Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022.

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