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 Street Art and Tags not Labels shows unite Banksy with Belfast's finest at Ulster Museum
For the palatial corridors of the Victoria & Albert Museum and the traditionally history-focused Ulster Museum, spray cans and Banksy twists on the bible are largely unchartered territory.
Street Art represents a bit of a new path for the planners involved in the collaboration between the two venues, which has resulted in the V&A's show of some of the best aerosol merchants in the land heading to Belfast.
And alongside the likes of Gorillaz animator Jamie Hewlett, following a hotly-contested local search for talent, they’ve commissioned some of the Northern Irish capital's finest street artists for accompanying local showcase Tags not Labels.
"We were amazed at the quality of the submissions for the exhibition and had a difficult time making our selection," says Kim Mawhinney, the Head of Art at National Museums Northern Ireland.
"We have selected work from artists we believe the public will be excited to see in our galleries for the first time. It's unlike anything we have offered our visitors before and we hope it will attract lots of interest - especially from our younger audiences."
Marian Noone, a traditional and digital artist who works under the moniker Friz as part of large-scale mural alliance the SPOOM Collective, is one of them.
Originally from Sligo, she was snapped up by MTV at an aftershow bash when Belfast hosted the European Music Awards.
"When I moved here three years ago I took part in the Urban Arts Academy class in street art," she says, crediting her college studies in classical animation with "heavily influencing" her style.
"My work usually features strong female characters and I get a lot of inspiration from retro styles. I've found people I've painted with are so open to sharing their knowledge and techniques and there's great culture of collaboration."
The place of graffiti in major museums is a regularly questioned one, but the methods deployed by Friz and her fellow chosen few – who go by the snappy names of KVLR, Lucas and Doc – indisputably take immense skill.
"It's brilliant that the museum has chosen to give our best young artists a platform alongside the international show,” says Adam Turkington, one of the judges who picked the chosen four.
"Street art takes very specific local issues, social tensions and architecture and places them within the context of a global movement.
"It has its roots in marking territory, ideological, geographic or artistic, and this exhibition will certainly leave its mark on the museum and everyone who visits."
Exhibitions: Street Art; Tags not Labels, Ulster Museum, Belfast, December 9 2011 – March 4 2012. Open 10am-5pm (closed Monday). Admission free. Image Caption:Marian Noone from Sligo with some of her work Story adapted from Sligo Today
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