Banksy offers 'salute' to hometown with surprise summer show in Bristol

British graffiti artist Banksy has unveiled a surprise summer exhibitthat has takenover the city-run museum in Bristol, England.

A small circle of people at the City Museum and Art Gallery helped Banksy reveal the large new exhibition on Friday, a day before it officially opens to the public. Admission is free.

Museum director Kate Brindley was among the few officials who knew of the surprise show, titled Banksy versus Bristol Museum.

The thought-provokingartist, whose identity remains a mystery despite his rapid rise to art-world fame, said he wanted to salute the city touted as his hometown because of its early support for his provocative spray-painted murals on local buildings.

"This is the first show I've ever done where taxpayers' money is being used to hang my pictures up rather than scrape them off," Banksy said in a statement.

"This show is my vision of the future."

More than 100 works,many of themnew pieces but also some from previous displays, arebeingshowcased in the Edwardian-era building, which was cleared of a large portion of its regular collection to accommodate the Banksy exhibit across its three storeys. The switch took just a few days, during which the museum was purportedly closed for the filming of a movie and employed only a handful of staffers.

A burnt, graffiti-covered ice-cream truck, topped with a gigantic sculpture of a melted ice-cream cone,greets visitors. So doesan intimidating figure of ablack-clad, SWAT-team police officerwearing an IDpatchwith the word "PEACE" and perched on a coin-operated children's ride.

Other works seem to blend into the museum surroundings or demand double-takes:a normal-looking lion statue that just happens to be biting down on a ringmaster's whip (with a top hat and brocade coat lying at its feet), or a display case depicting a chicken coop where the chicks are actually fast-food nuggets.

Over the past decade, Banksy has grown to international fame for his thought-provoking paintings, murals and installations that question contemporary politics, society and culture. His work has been sold for increasing prices at auction, attracted celebrity buyers such as Brad Pitt and been showcased in international exhibitions.

CityCoun. Simon Cook, whose responsibility includes the arts, said the exhibit is expected to attract 100,000 visitors to Bristol before it closes at the end of August.