Obsessed with smoke, I picked up a copy of Smoked [RRP $35] by Jeremy Schmid. Being an urban dweller without the backyard space for a proper smoker, I was reassured to find out I could get started with as little as some wood chips (the variety matters), a tray, a baking rack, some tin foil and a heat source.

The book also managed to teach me how to improve my use of store-bought Liquid Smoke, including combining it with cream to make a much more interesting potato gratin. On my list to make next is his Mexican Smoked Corn Salad.
www.newhollandpublishers.com

Now if smoking meat at home seems like way too much trouble, you can always get your BBQ brisket fix at The Oxford Tavern in Petersham. Jaime Wirth tells me their smoker; dubbed Black Betty, “usually sells out by 2-3pm on a busy day. The brisket and pork ribs are the most popular, but the pulled pork isn’t far behind.” The new Vic’s Meats Market at Sydney Fish Markets is also producing a ripper smoked brisket roll.
www.theoxfordtavern.com.au
www.vicsmeatmarket.com.au

Somewhere between a funhouse and a political rally, Banksy Limitless pulls one of the world’s most elusive artists’ work off the wall and into an immersive world of holograms, installations and reconstructed spaces.

After a sold-out run in London, the exhibition, presented by Muse Entertainment with Fever, is taking over one of Sydney’s oldest precincts this autumn with a gallery of provocation.

A face that’s never been seen and work that’s instantly recognisable, the London-based street artist has spent decades holding up a mirror to the world with quiet fury and colourful wit.

Starting on the streets of Bristol in the nineties, his stencilled figures and revolutionary slogans spread across city walls, conflict zones and auction houses (we all remember where we were when Girl With A Balloon went down), turning anonymous ‘vandalism’ into one of the most discussed and debated practices in contemporary art.

Banksy Limitless brings together 250 of those moments, from certified originals to carefully sourced reproductions, including the Shoreditch Rat, Cinderella’s Carriage and murals painted on the rubble of Ukraine—all curated to pull audiences through one of culture’s most subversive artists images, ideas and impact.

The Infinity Room and three dimensional renditions keep that momentum going, and a full recreation of the Walled Off Hotel lobby, his most brazen real-world provocation, a functioning hotel built directly facing the West Bank barrier in Bethlehem, stops it dead in the best possible way.

Kemal Gurkaynak, Managing Director of Muse Entertainment, says Sydney was a deliberate choice. “This is not just about art. It’s about stepping inside Banksy’s world and experiencing the message, the humour, and the urgency of his work in a way that has never been done before.”

Running through the show is the Louise Michel, the French Navy vessel Banksy bought and painted in response to the Mediterranean refugee crisis, still out operating today and partly supported by exhibition proceeds.

Whether Banksy is already a religion, or just a name you’ve seen pop up in headlines and wondered about, this exhibition pulls you in with the jokes, and leaves you reckoning with its bite.

Banksy Limitless is on from April 9 to May 31 at The Rocks.