Banksy Tour

I finally got a chance to go on a Banksy walking tour in Bristol today. It was actually a Street Art tour as it encompassed far more than just Banksy. The tour was led by someone who knows these artists and has a very strong connection to the Bristol street art scene right back to the 80s.

Street art is something you either love or hate! I love it, which surprises me a bit as some of it is quite revolutionary and I certainly wouldn’t describe myself in that way! The tour was helpful in describing the evolution of street art. Why councils have often moved from loathing to endorsing and even encouraging it. I highly recommend coming to Bristol and taking one of these tours. There’s also a self-guided walking tour on the tour company’s site.

On the tour you will learn:
The history of the art form
The different types of street art
Why there are rivalries between the artists who often deface a previous piece
Why it evolves so quickly (which makes the tours change over time)
Why some street art is now done in ‘sticky’ paint (or maybe coated in a sticky layer?)
How some of the pieces have been done by stealth in plain sight in the middle of the day!

An example of the last point is this main picture which is a Banksy, painted across a busy main road from the Bristol city council offices, done in the middle of the day. The story is quite amazing! It was our first stop on the two hour tour. See the two Extra photos for more from the tour. If you can, zoom in, because there’s some great detail. I wish I could feature a different one every day as there’s a story behind each one. There’s another Banksy in the first Extra, bottom middle, called The Mild Mild West.

Don’t take my word for it! DO THE TOUR!