November 10, 2024 • 10 mins
More than 150 pieces from Banksy will soon be arriving in Wellington for a mammoth exhibition.
The art from the world's most prolific street artist will be on display at Wellington's Takina convention centre from November 28th.
Stewart MacPherson has brought the exhibition to the capital direct from London, and joined Nick Mills to discuss the magic of the elusive artist, and reveal the exorbitant cost of insuring all the art.
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Wellington Mornings podcast with Nick Mills
from News Talks at.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
B There's a very special exhibition coming to Wellington. The
Art of Banksy is coming ta Keina. The exhibition includes
more than one hundred and fifty pieces by the world's
most famous street artist, who, by the way, is elusive.
No one has any idea who he is. Well known
Wellington promoter Stuart Macpherson is bringing the exhibition to Wellington
(00:33):
and he joins us, now, good Morning's sure.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Good morning, how are you, Nick? I'm doing well. Thank you.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Tell us about the exhibition. Let's start by talking about
the exhibition, because a friend of mine that works here
saw it in Europe and said, if you've got any
chance at all to go to it, you have to
go to it, whether you like art or not.
Speaker 4 (00:49):
Yeah, well that's a fair comment. I think there's a
lot of mystique about what is Banksy, what is it
he's doing. And only recently, of course, for a week
he had to go all around London with various places
doing new art, the animals on different buildings and so forth.
So he's constantly on the lookout for doing things, and
(01:14):
that's what part of what all of this is. We've
got over one hundred and fifty works. Now this isn't
street art as such, because what he does on the
street like that is for public consumption. But what we've
got in the exhibition are a whole lot of pieces
that he's done for private individuals who have paid for
(01:35):
his work, and there's extraordinary material in there that isn't
normally seen, not just actually wall art, but also what
we call ephemera pieces. There's a Neon piece around Paris, Hilton,
There's a whole lot of individual pieces that are quite unique.
(02:00):
And it's coming to New Zealand for the first time
in the sense that you know, I did it in
twenty eighteen in Auckland, but now we've doubled the size
of it and there's a whole lot of new material.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
How does it work? Tell us how it works?
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Do I pay my fee and I go in and
there's a bit of music playing and you walk around
and look at art and you have a certain time
to indulge or tell us how it works.
Speaker 4 (02:22):
Oh, well, you've got all the time in the world.
What we've done is and we again we found this
worked really well in Auckland. Is that there is not
a set time, So anytime from the twenty eighth of
November till the twentieth of January, any time you can
come buy your ticket, and you can just come along
(02:42):
and enjoy it. See, you're not locked into a time period.
Once you're in there, you take as long as you like.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
So I just let me tell you. I can buy
a ticket tomorrow and go any time I want. So
it's not the twenty eighth I've got. I don't buy
a ticket for the twenty eighth. I buy a ticket
to the show anytime it's going.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
I can go along and see in that seven weeks.
Speaker 4 (02:59):
Yeah. Wow, yep, anytime, and that can go twice. Oh
if you buy another ticket. But if you've got kids
you want to bring who are under twelve, then they
come free with a paying adult.
Speaker 3 (03:13):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (03:14):
And we found again that that's really popular because some
people said, oh, well, we've had difficulty finding a babysitter
or getting some but now we can all come and
the kids enjoy it as much as the as the adults.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
We hear so much about Banksy tell us where he
sits in world, in the world of art.
Speaker 4 (03:35):
Well, I think that's a very good question, Nick, But
it's all a matter of opinion. The highbrow people don't
think much of them. But on the other hand, there
are a lot of people, ordinary human beings like you
and I, who say this is extraordinary, or this is unusual,
or that's funny. I recall a gentleman last time who
(03:58):
had flown up to Auckland from Invcago and he was
standing in front of this one particular piece and I
circulate around and I see something, and I came back
in half an hour later. He was still in the
same place, and I was fascinated, and I went up
to him alongside him. You know, I didn't want to impose,
(04:19):
but there were tears in his eyes, and he said,
he was the image. I need to guess preface this
by giving you the image. The image was of a
man somewhere in Africa. The flies were buzzing around him
and he was wearing a Burger king crown, and that
(04:43):
was the image. And I said, what is it? He said,
I've been there and the tears were just running down
his face. So you get that strong emotional god response
to all sorts of images, you know. I mean, there's
funny ones, there's ones that you know, really pull at
(05:05):
your heartstrings, ones that confront you with what he's saying,
and we all to interpret them different ways.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
Has this exhibition been anywhere else?
Speaker 4 (05:18):
Only in London? The latest version, which is the one
we're getting, the expanded version, is direct from London.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
How the insurance? Would you like to pay the bill? No?
Speaker 2 (05:29):
I just think a you're coming to Wellington where we
were earthquake prone, so you're going to pay double the
insurance just to come to Wellington as you will? And
I well know so, I mean it would be an
incredible part of the bill.
Speaker 4 (05:39):
Would well, would you like to pay start at two
and a half million pounds.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
To insure it? Holy hell? And you're giving away a
piece we are indeed tell us about that.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
I mean, I don't want to talk about the insurance
anymore than I've thinked about it.
Speaker 4 (05:57):
Right the piece that what banks he did back ten
twelve years or so ago now was.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
Fifteen years.
Speaker 4 (06:09):
I think it goes back to the period of the
death of Diana and all of the social things that
were happening at that time.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
So what he.
Speaker 4 (06:26):
Did he produced by way of fudging a banknote. So
the normal English banknote says bank of England and then
has a character of the Queen in it. He turned
that around and changed the typo the type face to
(06:47):
say Banksy of England and the face was Diana's. And
he produced ten thousand of those banknotes and freely distributed
them at a.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
At an event.
Speaker 4 (07:02):
So these were distributed and dropped around and everybody had them.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
But that was it.
Speaker 4 (07:08):
However, the original lot were Then he reproduced some more
for his own purposes. And we have one of those banknotes,
which is reckon there's one exhibition.
Speaker 3 (07:23):
Do you put the value of that?
Speaker 1 (07:24):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (07:25):
Whatever, anyone wants to pay?
Speaker 4 (07:27):
Absolutely, we have one of those in the exhibition, and
we have one that we've been granted the right by
Banksy's people to use.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
For this purpose. Have you met banks I haven't.
Speaker 4 (07:41):
No, I've met people who one person who knows him
and was very secretive about that.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
As you can well imagine, he might sneak out to Wellington.
You never know. We never know, will we know?
Speaker 4 (07:55):
I mean some people at the exhibition last time said,
you know, is he here or have you I just say, oh, look,
you've just missed him, because who knows except that I've
got to From the description I've been given I've got
a good idea.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
But how old you reckon? He is? Oh, in his fifties,
I would think. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
The Art of BANKSI is on it Tequina from November
twenty eighth to January the twentieth at Taquina Wellington. Tickets
are from the Art of Banksy dot in z. That's
the only way you can buy tickets.
Speaker 4 (08:32):
Or turn up on today at the day Now people
say where is Tequina. A lot of people say that,
so I've consistently had to say, well, it's opposite to
Papa and if you know where tip Papa is, which
most people do, then it's real easy.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
It's that new building and.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
It's almost worth the price of admission to go in
and be part of going and visit to Quina, you know.
I mean it is a beautiful building. You have obviously
spent some time in there. There isn't a better place
for you to have the exhibition than that.
Speaker 4 (09:01):
Now, and it's a bit of you're right and that
the exterior is glass and it looks terrific when you
get inside it's a little bit industrial. So we've taken
we're taking changes. So there's going to be a red
carpet for the whole time during the exhibition. We've got
this Ou have sponsored a vehicle and they're going to
(09:22):
have it in there. We've got other sponsors like JMA
decorators and people who are doing their bit for Wellington
in terms of making this really lively. There's a great
mobile with all of the balloons that you know, the
girl in the balloon is such an iconic image, so
all of that.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
Stuff's happening in the for showtime. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Absolutely, thank you for coming in, Stuart, and thank you
for telling us about the banks of the exhibition, and
thank you for all that you do for our city
and our country because you've done it for a number
of years, decades, and your show's making No, you're not old,
but you do amazing things and you keep doing them.
So as a well Antonian appreciate what you're doing. I'm
(10:05):
really looking forward to the be the exhibition coming and
I definitely will be buying a ticket and going along
and having a lot pleasure.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
For more from Wellington Mornings with Nick Mills, listen live
to news talks It'd be Wellington from nine am weekdays,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to the Wellington Mornings podcast with Nick Mills
from News Talks at.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
B There's a very special exhibition coming to Wellington. The
Art of Banksy is coming ta Keina. The exhibition includes
more than one hundred and fifty pieces by the world's
most famous street artist, who, by the way, is elusive.
No one has any idea who he is. Well known
Wellington promoter Stuart Macpherson is bringing the exhibition to Wellington
(00:33):
and he joins us, now, good Morning's sure.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Good morning, how are you, Nick? I'm doing well. Thank you.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Tell us about the exhibition. Let's start by talking about
the exhibition, because a friend of mine that works here
saw it in Europe and said, if you've got any
chance at all to go to it, you have to
go to it, whether you like art or not.
Speaker 4 (00:49):
Yeah, well that's a fair comment. I think there's a
lot of mystique about what is Banksy, what is it
he's doing. And only recently, of course, for a week
he had to go all around London with various places
doing new art, the animals on different buildings and so forth.
So he's constantly on the lookout for doing things, and
(01:14):
that's what part of what all of this is. We've
got over one hundred and fifty works. Now this isn't
street art as such, because what he does on the
street like that is for public consumption. But what we've
got in the exhibition are a whole lot of pieces
that he's done for private individuals who have paid for
(01:35):
his work, and there's extraordinary material in there that isn't
normally seen, not just actually wall art, but also what
we call ephemera pieces. There's a Neon piece around Paris, Hilton,
There's a whole lot of individual pieces that are quite unique.
(02:00):
And it's coming to New Zealand for the first time
in the sense that you know, I did it in
twenty eighteen in Auckland, but now we've doubled the size
of it and there's a whole lot of new material.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
How does it work? Tell us how it works?
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Do I pay my fee and I go in and
there's a bit of music playing and you walk around
and look at art and you have a certain time
to indulge or tell us how it works.
Speaker 4 (02:22):
Oh, well, you've got all the time in the world.
What we've done is and we again we found this
worked really well in Auckland. Is that there is not
a set time, So anytime from the twenty eighth of
November till the twentieth of January, any time you can
come buy your ticket, and you can just come along
(02:42):
and enjoy it. See, you're not locked into a time period.
Once you're in there, you take as long as you like.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
So I just let me tell you. I can buy
a ticket tomorrow and go any time I want. So
it's not the twenty eighth I've got. I don't buy
a ticket for the twenty eighth. I buy a ticket
to the show anytime it's going.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
I can go along and see in that seven weeks.
Speaker 4 (02:59):
Yeah. Wow, yep, anytime, and that can go twice. Oh
if you buy another ticket. But if you've got kids
you want to bring who are under twelve, then they
come free with a paying adult.
Speaker 3 (03:13):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (03:14):
And we found again that that's really popular because some
people said, oh, well, we've had difficulty finding a babysitter
or getting some but now we can all come and
the kids enjoy it as much as the as the adults.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
We hear so much about Banksy tell us where he
sits in world, in the world of art.
Speaker 4 (03:35):
Well, I think that's a very good question, Nick, But
it's all a matter of opinion. The highbrow people don't
think much of them. But on the other hand, there
are a lot of people, ordinary human beings like you
and I, who say this is extraordinary, or this is unusual,
or that's funny. I recall a gentleman last time who
(03:58):
had flown up to Auckland from Invcago and he was
standing in front of this one particular piece and I
circulate around and I see something, and I came back
in half an hour later. He was still in the
same place, and I was fascinated, and I went up
to him alongside him. You know, I didn't want to impose,
(04:19):
but there were tears in his eyes, and he said,
he was the image. I need to guess preface this
by giving you the image. The image was of a
man somewhere in Africa. The flies were buzzing around him
and he was wearing a Burger king crown, and that
(04:43):
was the image. And I said, what is it? He said,
I've been there and the tears were just running down
his face. So you get that strong emotional god response
to all sorts of images, you know. I mean, there's
funny ones, there's ones that you know, really pull at
(05:05):
your heartstrings, ones that confront you with what he's saying,
and we all to interpret them different ways.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
Has this exhibition been anywhere else?
Speaker 4 (05:18):
Only in London? The latest version, which is the one
we're getting, the expanded version, is direct from London.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
How the insurance? Would you like to pay the bill? No?
Speaker 2 (05:29):
I just think a you're coming to Wellington where we
were earthquake prone, so you're going to pay double the
insurance just to come to Wellington as you will? And
I well know so, I mean it would be an
incredible part of the bill.
Speaker 4 (05:39):
Would well, would you like to pay start at two
and a half million pounds.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
To insure it? Holy hell? And you're giving away a
piece we are indeed tell us about that.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
I mean, I don't want to talk about the insurance
anymore than I've thinked about it.
Speaker 4 (05:57):
Right the piece that what banks he did back ten
twelve years or so ago now was.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
Fifteen years.
Speaker 4 (06:09):
I think it goes back to the period of the
death of Diana and all of the social things that
were happening at that time.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
So what he.
Speaker 4 (06:26):
Did he produced by way of fudging a banknote. So
the normal English banknote says bank of England and then
has a character of the Queen in it. He turned
that around and changed the typo the type face to
(06:47):
say Banksy of England and the face was Diana's. And
he produced ten thousand of those banknotes and freely distributed
them at a.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
At an event.
Speaker 4 (07:02):
So these were distributed and dropped around and everybody had them.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
But that was it.
Speaker 4 (07:08):
However, the original lot were Then he reproduced some more
for his own purposes. And we have one of those banknotes,
which is reckon there's one exhibition.
Speaker 3 (07:23):
Do you put the value of that?
Speaker 1 (07:24):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (07:25):
Whatever, anyone wants to pay?
Speaker 4 (07:27):
Absolutely, we have one of those in the exhibition, and
we have one that we've been granted the right by
Banksy's people to use.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
For this purpose. Have you met banks I haven't.
Speaker 4 (07:41):
No, I've met people who one person who knows him
and was very secretive about that.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
As you can well imagine, he might sneak out to Wellington.
You never know. We never know, will we know?
Speaker 4 (07:55):
I mean some people at the exhibition last time said,
you know, is he here or have you I just say, oh, look,
you've just missed him, because who knows except that I've
got to From the description I've been given I've got
a good idea.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
But how old you reckon? He is? Oh, in his fifties,
I would think. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
The Art of BANKSI is on it Tequina from November
twenty eighth to January the twentieth at Taquina Wellington. Tickets
are from the Art of Banksy dot in z. That's
the only way you can buy tickets.
Speaker 4 (08:32):
Or turn up on today at the day Now people
say where is Tequina. A lot of people say that,
so I've consistently had to say, well, it's opposite to
Papa and if you know where tip Papa is, which
most people do, then it's real easy.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
It's that new building and.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
It's almost worth the price of admission to go in
and be part of going and visit to Quina, you know.
I mean it is a beautiful building. You have obviously
spent some time in there. There isn't a better place
for you to have the exhibition than that.
Speaker 4 (09:01):
Now, and it's a bit of you're right and that
the exterior is glass and it looks terrific when you
get inside it's a little bit industrial. So we've taken
we're taking changes. So there's going to be a red
carpet for the whole time during the exhibition. We've got
this Ou have sponsored a vehicle and they're going to
(09:22):
have it in there. We've got other sponsors like JMA
decorators and people who are doing their bit for Wellington
in terms of making this really lively. There's a great
mobile with all of the balloons that you know, the
girl in the balloon is such an iconic image, so
all of that.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
Stuff's happening in the for showtime. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Absolutely, thank you for coming in, Stuart, and thank you
for telling us about the banks of the exhibition, and
thank you for all that you do for our city
and our country because you've done it for a number
of years, decades, and your show's making No, you're not old,
but you do amazing things and you keep doing them.
So as a well Antonian appreciate what you're doing. I'm
(10:05):
really looking forward to the be the exhibition coming and
I definitely will be buying a ticket and going along
and having a lot pleasure.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
For more from Wellington Mornings with Nick Mills, listen live
to news talks It'd be Wellington from nine am weekdays,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.
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