Banksy and Warhol shows to open Amsterdam’s new contemporary art museum

Two art icons will be on display when a new contemporary art museum opens in Amsterdam. One is living, one’s dead, and neither is Van Gogh.

The works of British street artist Banksy and pop artist Andy Warhol will be on display at the Modern Contemporary Museum, or Moco Museum, which is scheduled to open April 9.

Moco has a vaunted location in the Dutch city’s Museum Square, with the Van Gogh Museum on one side and the staid Rijksmuseum across the way.

The museum says “Banksy: Laugh Now” is an unauthorized exhibition, which seems oddly appropriate for the political street artist whose identity remains secret. Last year, Banksy staged Dismaland Bemusement Park in Britain, mocking Disneyland, SeaWorld and other theme parks.

Banksy also has been known to hang and run after installing unauthorized works in New York museums such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the American Museum of Natural History.

The other opening show, “Warhol: Royalty,” includes photographs of Warhol as well as one of his most famous screen prints of Marilyn Monroe. It ends in early July.

Together, the two shows feature more than 50 works.

Lionel and Kim Logchies, owners of Amsterdam’s Lionel Gallery, created the contemporary art museum to introduce younger people and a wider audience to stellar works of art not usually seen by the public.

The museum is in the Alsberg townhouse, which architect Eduard Cuypers designed in 1904. His famous cousin, Pierre Cuypers, was the architect for the Rijksmuseum. Dutch design company Studio Piet Boon transformed the space.

The museum is to be open daily.

Info: Moco Museum, Honthorststraat 20, Museum Place, Amsterdam

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