Banksy work at the Geejam Hotel in Jamaica
Banksy was a guest at the posh Geejam Hotel in Jamaica before the hotel opened its doors in 2006. In typical Banksy fashion, he left his mark in and around the hotel, which is co-owned by his friend, British music executive Jon Baker.
Last week the hotel’s owners hired a crew to do some spring cleaning. Hotel guests like Grace Jones and the Rolling Stones may have appreciated Banksy’s art work, but the cleaning crew did not.
They were, reportedly, horrified when they learned that the “scrawls” they thought were done by uncivilized guests were works of art valued at £4 million, or roughly $5 million. Chances are good that Banksy will be invited back.
Banksy’s Walled Off Hotel: Great Art, Terrible Views
The Walled Off Hotel opened in Bethlehem on March 11. Banksy says the hotel “offers a warm welcome to people from all sides of the conflict and across the world”. Banksy has been putting graffiti on the wall in the West Bank for years. “Actually, there were more Banksy tourists coming to Bethlehem than Nativity Church tourists,” said hotel manager Wisam Salsah, “We say more Banksy tourists than Jesus tourists.”
The hotel has ten rooms, each has a view of the concrete wall and is decorated with Banksy’s work, or the work of an artist that he commissioned. There is a Presidential Suite that has a little theater, a bar and a jacuzzi which appears to be filled from a water tank riddled with bullet holes. Budget accommodations are available for thirty dollars a night, furnished with surplus items from an Israeli military barracks. The price includes a bunk bed, locker, a shared bathroom and complimentary earplugs.
Banksy paid the installation costs and has handed it over to be run as a local business. Profits go back into local projects.
Banksy Prints and Drawings in Tauranga
On the other side of the world, in Tauranga, New Zealand, the Tauranga Street Art Festival, which runs through June 15, features, “the most extensive assembly of Banksy works in the Southern Hemisphere.”
That’s 22 works by Banksy, which were collected by George Shaw, one of the organizers of the exhibit at the Tauranga Art Gallery Tauranga is a pristine city, with a harbor, beaches and lush, green mountains. It is not known for its graffiti, but this festival will allow local artists to display their work and for visitors to see Banksy drawings and prints up close.
Banksy Prints at VFA
Banksy’s perseverance and intention to make the world a better place is apparent in his work. For more information about CND Soldiers and the other fine art prints available in our gallery, please come in or contact us.