Caroline Goldstein: Artnet
Just in time to mark the original “Brexit Day”—the deadline for Britain to leave the European Union—on March 29, the artist-provocateur Banksyreinstalled a painting at the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery. The painting, a 13-foot-long canvas titled Devolved Parliament, depicts the interior of the House of Commons overrun with chimpanzees in place of the MPs.
It was originally displayed as part of the 2009 exhibition “Banksy vs. Bristol Museum” and was later purchased by a private collector who has since loaned it to the museum to mark a decade since the show’s opening. The timing of its reappearance also makes a not-so-subtle allusion to the current zoological state of the Brexit negotiations. In a statement, museum curator Philip Walker said that the work “caused a real stir” when it was first shown in 2009, and that its display now “feels like a timely chance to revisit the work, and a great opportunity to share Banksy’s largest known work on canvas with the public again.” …Read More
Image: Banksy, Devolved Parliament (2009). Courtesy of the artist.