The Banksy Museum in Madrid includes some 170 actual-size reproductions of the mysterious British street artist’s works as they appear in locations around the world. The museum has not only copied the art, but also the setting, in some cases including street signs, utility pipes, wear and tear and even a little debris.

The museum is not without some controversy. Purists will point out that it is a Banksy museum without any works by Banksy, all of the art having been produced by unnamed artists. It is, of course, not really possible to have a collective exhibition of Banksy’s art since his pieces appear on buildings, walls and fences all over the world.

Personally I found the Madrid Museum to be a terrific showcase of Banksy’s street art. His notoriety is not, after all, a result of his technical ability, but rather his brashness and ideas. His messages come across pretty clearly in the Madrid museum: his disdain for consumption culture and the moneyed art business world, and his empathy for marginalized people like immigrants and Native Americans as well as the victimized in places like Gaza and the Ukraine.

The day I visited appeared to be a school holiday in Madrid. I enjoyed watching the Spanish families bring their children to see Banksy on their day off and seeing how so many of the children were engaged, pulling out their phones to take pictures and asking their parents about the images.

I took so many pictures of these reproductions that I’m dividing the blog post in two. Part 2 will include works that were created in the UK and EU.

Ukraine

Palestine

U.S.

New York

Boston

New Orleans

Utah

Los Angeles

San Francisco