“Copyright is for losers”, Banksy once said but now he seems to be having enough: The exhibition series “The Art of Banksy”, which will be shown in Sofiensäle this summer, is considered unauthorized and fake by the artist himself.

 

Whatever wears the label Banksy is destined to become a hype. The exhibition series “The Art of Banksy” is no exception to the rule. Now it is coming to Vienna, showing the famous street artist´s works for the very first time in Austria. The exhibition wears the label “Banksy” but is not original as the artist himself says about the recent spate of exhibitions across the globe: “The exhibitions have been organized entirely without the artist´s knowledge or involvement.”

 

(c) Steve Lazarides

 

Banksy, who has tolerated unauthorized exhibitions, seems to be having enough of others profiting off his work. His representatives have recently been able to crack down on knock-off merchandising. As a show in Italy went on without Banksy´s blessing, the merchandise infringed on the artist´s trademark rights. As a result, six items got removed from the gift shop.

 

(c) The Art of Banksy Exhibition

 

Kemal Gürkaynak, who first initiated “The Art of Banksy” as a touring exhibition in 2016 in Istanbul, sees it as an homage to the artist. The exhibition, which will be shown from July 23rd to October 4th at Sofiensäle, should make Banksy´s art available to the wide public as the Viennese organization team says: “It is impossible to be traveling around to see all his works.”

 

(c) Steve Lazarides

 

To be able to take a copyright action, it is necessary to disclose your identity. And as we all know, Banksy´s identity still remains unknown to this day. Even though lately the artist had to deal with quite a lot of media attention: The whole “The Art of Banksy” case is attracting a lot of courtesy, same as the stolen door of the Parisian club “Bataclan” found in Italy. Another Banksy-hype: His latest Instagram post shows the artist himself wearing a white overall, a face-mask, and an orange reflective vest while spraying his latest artwork in London Underground. It got removed by cleaners shortly after.

 

 

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. . If you don’t mask – you don’t get.

Ein Beitrag geteilt von Banksy (@banksy) am

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