After assembling a broad sweep of names synonymous with street art for an exhibition in Dubai, the ProArt Gallery team is taking a selection of 15 of these pieces to the Yas Viceroy Hotel in the Legends of Street exhibition that opens this week.
Banksy's boom box-toting Gangster Rat, a screen-print signed and numbered by the elusive artist, features in this collection, alongside silk screen prints on steel by Shepard Fairey (the creator of the red, white and blue Hope image that was an iconic accompaniment to Barack Obama's run for the US presidency).
Eight artists feature, including Mr Brainwash, a fan-turned-imitator of Banksy who featured in the British artist's film Exit Through The Gift Shop. One work on canvas depicts a confusing mash-up of Charlie Chaplin, Obama-as-Superman and half-baked graffiti hearts.
Tatiana Faure, the director of ProArt Gallery, describes street art as an "amorphous beast".
"With rebellious undertones, it is a democratic form of popular public art probably best understood by seeing it in situ," she says. The polished enclave of the Viceroy, we can safely assume, is not exactly the sort of situ she's referring to.
Nonetheless, while Banksy may be part of the institution these days, collected by celebrities with only a passing interest in the arts, it is always good to see some of his works up close.
Similarly, pieces by Richard Mirando (alias Seen) evoke the raw, quick-draw aesthetic that graffiti sprouted from.
Saif B Chilmiran is a young Emirati artist who's trying to make a name for himself - here cutting and pasting Ronald McDonald peering over the shoulder of one of the US founding fathers. Anarchic stuff.
The majority of the pieces here are lithographs and signed prints, so prices tend to err a little more on the affordable side than canvases. Beyond the Banksys, that is.
Legends of Street Art will show at the Yas Viceroy Hotel, Abu Dhabi, from May 8 until June 10. Open 10am to 10pm daily. It is a collaboration with the Abu Dhabi-based platform Swiss Art Gate
