An exhibition of works by the artist Banksy, which appears not to be authorized or endorsed by the famously reclusive artist, is headed for SF's Union Square this winter.
The exhibit, titled Banksy Limitless, is one of those "immersive experiences" along the lines of that Van Gogh thing that was here a few years back, and it has already had reportedly sold-out runs in London and Sydney. It's a ticketed, 75-minute experience that includes projections, a timeline of Banksy's career, and a total of 250 of his works, some reproductions, some in photographs, others privately owned — and some are murals that were painted on urban "canvases" that were then removed and sold as Banksy became world famous.
Banksy Limitless comes to the former H&M space at 150 Powell Street on December 4, as the Chronicle first noted today, and it doesn't appear to have a closing date — it's just supposed to close sometime in the spring, after it sells enough $35 tickets.
Banksy has tended to take a hands-off approach to the commercialization of his work, instead choosing to comment on it ironically — such as with that self-shredding canvas at the Sotheby's auction in 2018, which half-shredded itself moments after it had sold for $1.4 million. He also, five years earlier, had set up a pop-up street stall in New York selling authentic, signed canvases of his work for $60 apiece.
He has criticized the practice of "stealing" his ephemeral street art to put it in galleries for profit — like the Banksy rat with the Che Guevara-style beret that was ripped off the side of The Red Vic in the Haight over a decade ago and ended up in Los Angeles. And, ironically, attendees at Banksy Limitless do, in fact, exit through the gift shop for one last chance at generating profit.
If nothing else, the exhibit will fill a longstanding vacancy on beleaguered Powell Street, if only for a few months.
A previous, also unauthorized Banksy show came to the Palace of Fine Arts in 2021. Banksy himself was in SF last in 2010, as far as we know, painting at least seven murals around town. Six of them can be seen here, and a seventh, in North Beach, can be seen here, though these days it is looking very weathered and faded.
The Chronicle also notes that another artist who's based locally, Demit Omphroy, has done a mural that's also an interactive art piece with a scavenger hunt component which can now be seen in the windows of the shuttered former Saks Fifth Avenue at 384 Post Street.
