More than 60 original works by one of the world’s most elusive artists are heading to Oakland this fall, but you won’t find them hanging in one of the city’s usual galleries.
The Banksy Art Exhibit opens Friday, November 13, inside The Henry J. Underground, a never-before-used basement space beneath the Henry J. Kaiser Center for the Arts. The collection includes instantly recognizable works such as Girl with Balloon, Flower Thrower and Rude Copper, alongside lesser-known pieces.
And getting inside is part of the intrigue. Visitors won’t enter through the building’s grand public doors, but via a private elevator on 10th Street, around the back of The Henry J. Exclusive exhibition, new space, private entrance. Got your attention?
The once-in-a-lifetime authenticated Banksy collection: More than 60 original works are going on display
For an artist whose work has a habit of appearing unexpectedly on walls, bridges and buildings, seeing more than 60 original pieces gathered together is already a departure from the usual Banksy encounter.
The exhibition brings some of his best-known images under one roof, giving visitors the chance to see familiar works alongside pieces that might not have made it onto quite so many posters, T-shirts and Instagram feeds.
Bay Area residents have some history with Banksy, too. During a 2010 visit to San Francisco, works attributed to the artist appeared around neighborhoods including the Mission, Chinatown and North Beach. Some survived behind protective coverings; others, like the Haight Street Rat, were eventually removed from their original walls.
That fleeting quality has always been part of street art. Here, the experience is very different: dozens of authenticated works, together, underground in Oakland.
Banksy’s art and his anonymity are still part of the story
Banksy may be famous around the world, but for decades the person behind the name remained almost entirely outside the frame.
Earlier in 2026, Reuters published an investigation claiming to have identified the artist. We’ll leave the detective work there. The more interesting question for this exhibition is what anonymity has meant for the art itself.
Banksy’s work has repeatedly taken aim at authority, war, policing, surveillance, consumer culture and inequality. By keeping the artist largely invisible, attention has tended to stay on the stencil, the joke, the provocation or the uncomfortable question left behind on the wall.
There’s something fitting, then, about encountering that work somewhere most Oaklanders have never had access to.
Why The Henry J. Underground makes this exhibit different
Above the exhibition sits one of Oakland’s great civic landmarks.
The Henry J. Kaiser Center for the Arts first opened in 1915 as the Oakland Municipal Auditorium, a Beaux-Arts complex built for crowds on a massive scale. Over the decades, its rooms have hosted everything from political speeches and community gatherings to performances by Jimi Hendrix, James Brown, Bob Marley, Tina Turner, and the Grateful Dead – reportedly, more than 50 times.
It closed in 2005 before undergoing an approximately $100 million restoration, finally reopening to the public in January 2026.
Now there’s another chapter being added, beneath it.
The Banksy exhibition is taking over The Henry J. Underground, a basement space that has to date never been used as a public venue. A monumental building designed to bring thousands of people together above ground; an anonymous artist displayed somewhere entirely new below it. The contrast practically writes itself.
How to get inside and ticket information
The Banksy Art Exhibit opens Friday, November 13, 2026, at the Henry J. Kaiser Center for the Arts, 10 10th Street, Oakland.
For this exhibition, head to the private elevator entrance on 10th Street at the back of the building. Lake Merritt BART is roughly two blocks away, while on-site parking and nearby garages are also available.
Basic, Child, Premium and VIP tickets are offered, with Premium and VIP options adding perks including skip-the-line privileges and souvenirs. Prices vary depending on the date and time selected, and group discounts are available.