Official Opening with New Banksy, Grayson Perry, Rare Meteorites and Dinosaur Skulls
We are pleased to announce the official opening of our gallery to the public, located on Green Street in Cambridge city centre. We have recently added to our collection, expanding our unique range of artwork, sculptures, antiquities and natural history objects for visitors to view or purchase.
Amongst our latest arrivals are two pieces by internationally acclaimed artist Banksy : the collaborative ‘X Escif – Axe’ and globally recognised ‘Flower Thrower’. Both pieces are currently on loan from a private collector.
View work from one of the world’s most famous artists in the flesh. Created in 2019 as part of Banksy’s ‘Gross Domestic Product’ collection, the ‘X Escif – Axe’ is a rare collaboration between Banksy and Spanish street artist, Escif. The resin sculpture depicts an axe stuck into a piece of wood, with a flower growing from its handle. The ‘X Escif – Axe’ sculpture is not for sale and reserved for public viewing only.
The triptych of the 'Thrower’ currently on display is one of just 300 signed limited edition screenprints ever made, which has also been framed by the artist. One of Banksy’s most iconic works, ‘Flower Thrower’ also known as ‘Love Is In The Air’, has been a topic of controversy since it first appeared in 2003 as a graffiti piece in Bethlehem, on the 760km West Bank Wall that separates Palestine from Israel. Banksy himself has described the wall as essentially turning “Palestine into the world’s largest open prison”. The graffiti depicts a man appearing to throw flowers at someone in rage; he is said to represent a rioter, however the flowers signify hope for peaceful resolution of conflicts. As with ‘X Escif – Axe’, this artwork remains for public viewing and is not for sale.
‘The American Dream’ portrays a map of the US inspired by Grayson Perry’s tour of the country when filming his Channel 4 series, ‘Grayson Perry’s Big American Road Trip’. The map has been described by Perry as being a portrayal of America’s extreme version of the online culture war; with Mark Zuckerberg illustrated as a Big Brother-like figure at the top of the piece, Perry highlights the negative impact of social media on society and perceptions of politics, race, climate change and sexuality.
Taking visitors back to the Mesozoic Era, Ed is a fossilised Edmontosaurus dinosaur skull from the Hell Creek Formation in Montana, USA. He was alive approximately 68-million years ago, and was one of the last known surviving species of dinosaur, with a slight resemblance to a platypus and a herbivore creature. To piece together Ed in the form he is today, archaeologists and palaeontologists have spent thousands of hours excavating and studying his history. Part of Ed’s vertebrae bone is also on display in the gallery.
A glimpse of space, in the heart of Cambridge. Cari is a piece of meteorite, approximately 4.5-billion years old and estimated to have impacted Earth around 4,200-4,700 years ago. Cari is a Campo del Cielo meteorite, a group of iron meteorites that were found 1000km northwest of Buenos Aires, Argentina. In Spanish, “Campo del Cielo” translates to “Field of Heaven”. Cari is almost pure iron and weighs approximately 35kg - it is believed that this piece is part of the heaviest single pieces of space rock to impact Earth.
To discover more awe-inspiring pieces, visit the gallery on Green Street, Cambridge, book an appointment with us on +44(0)7739 002 759, browse the Extraordinary Objects website, and follow @ExtraordinaryObjectsUK on Instagram.