Late-night visitors to Banksy’s hit show at the Gallery of Modern Art in Glasgow will soon come face to face with death himself.
From Friday evening, a figure of the Grim Reaper will be prowling the city’s Royal Exchange Square in a remote-controlled dodgem to the tune of Stayin’ Alive by the Bee Gees in a bid to encourage visitors to attend the all-night Cut and Run exhibition.
The Grim Reaper is one of Banksy’s most famous works, first spotted in Bristol.
It has since been a feature in two previous exhibitions in New York in 2013 and at Dismaland in Weston-Super-Mare in 2015.
The elusive artist’s first solo show in 14 years arrived in Glasgow under a shroud of secrecy last month.
Banksy, whose identity has never been revealed publicly, used stencils from many of his most famous artworks to create new versions for the exhibition.
The artist said he took the show to Glasgow because his favourite work of art – the statue of the Duke of Wellington, which has a traffic cone on top of it – is situated just outside the gallery.
When the show was launched, Banksy said: “I’ve kept these stencils hidden away for years, mindful they could be used as evidence in a charge of criminal damage.
“That moment seems to have passed, so now I’m exhibiting them in a gallery as works of art. I’m not sure which is the greater crime.”
The exhibition has been hugely popular with day tickets selling out quickly, but art fans can still take a late-night trip or turn up on the day.
Nearby Max’s Bar on Queen Street in Glasgow is serving free Irn-Bru margaritas to anyone holding a late night show ticket.
Tickets for Cut and Run are available via the show’s website at https://cutandrun.co.uk/
