Banksy comes to Reading to try to save the gaol.

[souljacker]

A piece of graffiti that appeared on Sunday on the wall of Reading Gaol has been confirmed as a Banksy. It's a picture of someone escaping the prison using paper and a typewriter and presumably is some sort of reference to Oscar Wilde's short stay at the prison in 1895.

The interesting point is that currently, the prison is derelict and the MoJ are trying to flog the land to develop flats whilst the council and local MP Matt Rodda are campaigning for it to be renovated and turned into an arts centre. The campaign has had the backing of a few famous faces including Kate Winslett and Kenneth Brannagh, who both grew up Reading. Stacey Keach and Anthony Joshua (who have both spent time in Reading nick) have so far not lent their voices to the campaign

Building more and more flats in Reading is currently the hot local topic as developers buy up more and more land for high rise developments whilst no expansion of the infrastructure required to support all these new residents is forthcoming. We're about to knock down the very dated Hexagon theatre in the town centre so are very short on any arts provision in town.

Anyway, here's the piece:

I actually drove past on Sunday and saw scaffolding being put up so initially poo-pooed the idea it was a Banksy as I assumed he worked at night. The video he has posted that shows him putting it up was filmed at night by the looks of it so they must have put the scaffolding up and then he turned up later. BBC link here with the video in the article (a rather nice Bob Ross mashup) Banksy confirms escaping prisoner artwork at Reading Prison

 

[chilango]

Stretching it to call the Hexagon "arts provision" tbh. Justin Fletcher seems to have a permanent residency there!

...but, yes, Reading is desperately short of Arts (in any sense) venues...or indeed any sort of building that isn't a fucking "city centre living" yuppie bedsit or identikit detached suburban box.

 

[souljacker]

Stretching it to call the Hexagon "arts provision" tbh. Justin Fletcher seems to have a permanent residency there!
.

Definitely, but it's pretty much all we've got. The town hall puts stuff on and there is South Street but that's it. Even the private sector hasn't got much going on. Sub89/Bowery and the student union are pretty much it. That is piss poor for a town as rich and populated like Reading.

 

[chilango]

Definitely, but it's pretty much all we've got. The town hall puts stuff on and there is South Street but that's it. Even the private sector hasn't got much going on. Sub89/Bowery and the student union are pretty much it. That is piss poor for a town as rich and populated like Reading.

Yeah. Even hipster gentrification would be a welcome addition!

(I've seen some good stuff at the Hexagon and Sub89, but it's few and far between)

 

[weltweit]

Would like to see how he did it, it is a good few metres above terra firma?

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

Afaik he doesn’t do it himself most of the time, he’s the ‘creative genius’ who comes up with the idea and then gets a lackey to actually do it.

 

[T & P]

Would like to see how he did it, it is a good few metres above terra firma?

Apparently for larger/ taller jobs, like that EU flag/ Brexit mural on the side of a building in Dover, he/ his team erect scaffolding as if they were workers or contractors, then cover the scaffolding with canvas and pretty much work undisturbed and unseen. Then dismantle the scaffolding and fuck off pronto.

So I was told anyway, could be BS...

 

[weltweit]

Afaik he doesn’t do it himself most of the time, he’s the ‘creative genius’ who comes up with the idea and then gets a lackey to actually do it.

Or in this case a lackey with a large ladder or a cherry picker

 

[skyscraper101]

Afaik he doesn’t do it himself most of the time, he’s the ‘creative genius’ who comes up with the idea and then gets a lackey to actually do it.

Sounds like a bit of a swizz to me. I should figure out a way I can apply this to my work.

 

[Sue]

I went to an arts thing in Reading Gaol a few years ago, mainly to look at the building, rather than the arts thing. (Though there was some interesting stuff, like Victorian mugshots of prisoners.) One of my friends was reminiscing about being a teenager and Reading being the metropolis. The shop selling incense and tat and tie dye where he used to hang out was still there.

 

[weltweit]

Apparently for larger/ taller jobs, like that EU flag/ Brexit mural on the side of a building in Dover, he/ his team erect scaffolding as if they were workers or contractors, then cover the scaffolding with canvas and pretty much work undisturbed and unseen. Then dismantle the scaffolding and fuck off pronto.

So I was told anyway, could be BS...

That sounds like it could well be true, it makes sense.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

Sounds like a bit of a swizz to me. I should figure out a way I can apply this to my work.

Become the boss...

 

[mx wcfc]

I went to an arts thing in Reading Gaol a few years ago, mainly to look at the building, rather than the arts thing. (Though there was some interesting stuff, like Victorian mugshots of prisoners.) One of my friends was reminiscing about being a teenager and Reading being the metropolis. The shop selling incense and tat and tie dye where he used to hang out was still there.

I tried to get tickets for that - specifically the show when Patti Smith did an Oscar Wilde reading. They sold out in minutes.

(was the shop "But is it Art"?)

I also agree that Reading has poor arts provision for a town of its size. It suffers, I think, from being too close to London.
It does have several decent breweries and pubs though.

 

[Sue]

I tried to get tickets for that - specifically the show when Patti Smith did an Oscar Wilde reading. They sold out in minutes.

(was the shop "But is it Art"?)

I also agree that Reading has poor arts provision for a town of its size. It suffers, I think, from being too close to London.
It does have several decent breweries and pubs though.

That was the thing -- not that I saw Patti Smith, it was more random wandering about and people doing stuff thing. (And recordings you could listen to with famous people doing Oscar Wilde's poetry and suchlike.)

And it's also close to Oxford for other arts stuff.

 

[souljacker]

Apparently for larger/ taller jobs, like that EU flag/ Brexit mural on the side of a building in Dover, he/ his team erect scaffolding as if they were workers or contractors, then cover the scaffolding with canvas and pretty much work undisturbed and unseen. Then dismantle the scaffolding and fuck off pronto.

So I was told anyway, could be BS...

As I mentioned in the first post, I saw the scaffolding being put up on Sunday afternoon by some men in high viz.

 

[mx wcfc]

And it's also close to Oxford for other arts stuff.

Yeah, but Reading people are far more likely to go to London than O*ford tbh.

 

[Sue]

Yeah, but Reading people are far more likely to go to London than O*ford tbh.

Hah. I used to live in Oxford but worked in Reading for a while and used to do any arts stuff in Oxford or London.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

(was the shop "But is it Art"?)

Not sure they do tat and tie-dye

isn't that one in the harris arcade (or was one in the other arcade that's now shut)?

and yes, in general, think Reading may suffer from being (broadly) well enough connected to london (and increasingly a london commuter suburb)

 

[souljacker]

Not sure they do tat and tie-dye

isn't that one in the harris arcade (or was one in the other arcade that's now shut)?

and yes, in general, think Reading may suffer from being (broadly) well enough connected to london (and increasingly a london commuter suburb)

Saffron moon?

It's long gone I think. I have a vague memory of seeing it in the butts centre though.

 

[Sue]

Not sure they do tat and tie-dye

isn't that one in the harris arcade (or was one in the other arcade that's now shut)?

and yes, in general, think Reading may suffer from being (broadly) well enough connected to london (and increasingly a london commuter suburb)

Oh sorry, not sure what the tat shop was called. Kind of round the back, nearish to the town hall IIRC...?

 

[Fez909]

As I mentioned in the first post, I saw the scaffolding being put up on Sunday afternoon by some men in high viz.

Yep, this is how he always does it - hidden in plain sight / act like you belong, etc

Lazarides worked with Banksy for 11 years, initially documenting the artist at work in 1997 before becoming his agent, strategist and minder.

Speaking about how the pair managed to avoid arrest, Lazarides told The Guardian: “The secret is hi-vis jackets and traffic cones. Nobody stops you if you have them.

 

[discokermit]

it might be a reference to oscar wilde, i zoomed in on the paper coming from the typewriter and it said "off to algeria to nonce some twelve year olds!" in tiny writing.

 

[Judelo]

Definitely, but it's pretty much all we've got. The town hall puts stuff on and there is South Street but that's it. Even the private sector hasn't got much going on. Sub89/Bowery and the student union are pretty much it. That is piss poor for a town as rich and populated like Reading.

Global Cafe/RISC, Rising Sun Arts Centre and Jelly.

Still not much though i know.

 

[Judelo]

Oh sorry, not sure what the tat shop was called. Kind of round the back, nearish to the town hall IIRC...?

In the now closed bristol and west arcade?

 

[MrSki]

Afaik he doesn’t do it himself most of the time, he’s the ‘creative genius’ who comes up with the idea and then gets a lackey to actually do it.

I think he might cut the stencils. He is not a freehander.

 

[Judelo]

Anyway, dude in the picture has got a big jump, and may have to leave the typewriter, unless he's being lowered down by a mate inside of course. That's my only criticism, apart from that it's fine.