Welcome to Dismaland: A First Look at Banksy’s New Art Exhibition Housed Inside a Dystopian Theme Park

Photo by Christopher Jobson for Colossal WESTON-SUPER-MARE — Inside the walls of a derelict seaside swimming resort in Weston-super-Mare, UK, mysterious construction over the last month—including a dingy looking Disney-like castle and a gargantuan rainbow-colored pinwheel tangled in plastic—suggested something big was afoot. Suspicion and anticipation surrounding the unusual activity attributed to fabled artist and provocateur Banksy has reached a Willy Wonka-esque fervor. Well, if Banksy’s your bag, continue fervoring. If not, there’s more than a few reasons to continue reading. The spectacle has since been revealed to be a pop-up art exhibition in the form of an apocalyptic theme park titled Dismaland (“The UK’s most disappointing new visitor attraction”) that will be open to the public for five weeks. Photo by Christopher Jobson for Colossal / CLICK FOR DETAIL Dismaland legend Dismaland brochure / Park aerial view courtesy Upfest / Photo of construction

Banksy Dismaland show revealed at Weston's Tropicana Graffiti artist Banksy has announced an exhibition at a derelict seafront lido in Weston-super-Mare. The Dismaland show - which will also feature work from Damien Hirst, Jenny Holzer and Jimmy Cauty - will take over the Tropicana site for five weeks. "I loved the Tropicana as a kid, so getting to throw these doors open again is a real honour," Banksy said. The show is his first in the UK since 2009's Banksy v Bristol Museum show which drew huge crowds. Banksy described the show as a "family theme park unsuitable for children". He said he had been motivated to work on the site which had been "popular with low income holiday makers" after peering through a gap in the fence in January. Many of the works require "audience participation". "A dead princess is only complete when surrounded by gawping crowds with their cameras out, or the opportunity to photograph yourself pulling an amazed expression when a killer whale leaps from a toilet," he said. Analysis - by David Sillito, arts correspondent

Banksy's Dismaland: 'amusements and anarchism' in artist’s biggest project yet | Art and design He describes it as a “family theme park unsuitable for small children” – and with the Grim Reaper whooping it up on the dodgems and Cinderella horribly mangled in a pumpkin carriage crash, it is easy to see why. Banksy’s new show, Dismaland, which opened on Thursday on the Weston-super-Mare seafront, is sometimes hilarious, sometimes eye-opening and occasionally breathtakingly shocking. The artist’s biggest project to date had been shrouded in secrecy. The name is a play on Disneyland, but Banksy insisted the show was not a swipe at Mickey and co. Works by 58 handpicked artists including Damien Hirst and Jenny Holzer have been installed across the 2.5-acre site. In one tent would-be anarchists can find out how to unlock the Adshel posters seen at bus stops. Across the way is a “pocket money loans” shop offering money to children at an interest rate of 5,000%. Cullen said he had met so many people taking out payday loans who were well aware of how ridiculous the payback was.