Getting to Banksy via Bank Station
I recommend a visit to see Banksy paintings at the Red8 Gallery in the Royal Exchange near Bank station in the historic city of London. Seeing Banksy may cost more time than you expected - firstly allow twenty minutes for the seven to ten minute walk from Bank station, Underground. I went up 14 stairs, along a corridor, an escalator, another corridor, another long escalator, past the wide entrance to the Elizabeth line, Another corridor, a circular corridor past numerous exits at which point the Royal Exchange is marked as Exit 3. Out of the exit; you are faced with a magnificent building, Britain at its best.
The Royal Exchange
Yes, you can enter the Royal Exchange, even if you are a mere pleb. Inside is a shopping mall, with the glamorous bar of Fortnum and Mason in the centre.
The welcoming and helpful doorman courteously walked me to the right hand exit where I turned left, following his smiling and nodding instructions. As he had told me, only a few paces brought me to my target, the delightful Red8 gallery.
Red 8 Gallery
The frontage is a window, and inside around the ground floor are sensible sized Banksy paintings which you could hang on any wall in any office or public building or home.
Prices
To find more details and prices if you are interested in buying, hold your phone up to capture the QR code by each picture. I didn't do so. I was too busy discussing the paintings.
Discussing Banksy
Not everyone agrees with Banksy's political opinions. 'T' said, "I don't agree with all his views. He is anti war. One of his dividing wall murals, he has scrawled the word Palestine. Wars tend to have a baddie against a goody and the goodies have to fight, or the baddies take over the world. We might agree repression is bad. He is also saying which side he is on. Not everybody would agree.
"But you must admire his skill. Every picture captures your attention. They are so realistic. He captures the people."
Prices
What if you want one? I did not see any affordable postcards, unlike London's national and modern gallery shops. I discussed prices with a PR person, a visitor, who was considering buying one. He said: "I am interested purely from an investment point of view. Now that I am retired, I buy items as an investment and sell them. I bought one of the Banksy paintings and the price doubled. It was a good investment."
I went there on opening night. I was probably invited because I am a blogger and a journalist. But you could have signed up online, another guest told me.
Banksy is not the only artist available. On their website you can see prints at three hundred pounds and up.
Banksy pictures in the gallery. Photo by Angela Lansbury.
Fair Cop
Outside was a benign British bobby. (For any American readers, a bobby is a cop.) He was happy to be photographed with me. I wasn't sure whether he was protecting the paintings, the people at the gallery, passers-by from drunks, drunks from traffic, or the passageway along the pavement. Or was he just curious to see the picture of the cop by Banksy? I didn't dare to ask.
Useful Websites
Email address: info@redeightgallery.com
The exhibition is open to the public from today until the 15th September 2022.
https://tfl.gov.uk/plan-a-journey/
https://www.redeightgallery.com/key-reasons-why-art-prints-are-worth-your-investment/
See previous post on the Red Eight Gallery.
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