More than two decades have passed since pieces by the English graffiti artist Banksy first appeared on the streets of Bristol. And despite that passage of time, little has changed in the way we speak of an artist more defined by what we don’t know about him than what we do.
Banksy doesn’t do sit-down interviews. The risk would be too great. It could blow Banksy’s carefully manufactured anonymity — a slow-burn publicity stunt that made a street artist the world’s most famous unidentified person.
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On Monday, two important things happened in the Banksy universe. Banksy unveiled a new mural, which parodied Vermeer’s “Girl with a Pearl Earring,” using an ADT burglar alarm to form the earring. The painting materialized in Bristol, believed to be Banksy’s hometown, spawning a flutter of coverage and speculation. Then, and perhaps more interestingly, a purportedly mammoth scoop boomed into the Internet hinterlands: Banksy, the report said, had been identified.
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“The elusive graffiti artist, political activist, film director, painter and longtime fugitive that for years has gone by the pseudonymous name of Banksy, was arrested early this morning by London’s Metropolitan Police,” reported what turned out to be a fake news Web site, the National Report. “After hours of questioning and a raid of his London art studio, his true name and identity have finally been revealed.” He was none other, the report said, than a wispy fellow named Paul Horner, 35.
The story, quickly discarded by the Independent as a sham, is nonetheless still burning hot. By late Monday night, it had collected a mind-boggling 2.6 million Facebook shares and 15,000 tweets. The article’s social media impact has been nothing short of astonishing, showing the Banksy mystery’s sheer power.
Even now, a conversation percolates on Twitter. People lament the identification of Banksy. Others condemn the gullibility of those who fell for the hoax. Many more share his artwork. The ongoing discussion hasn’t gotten us any closer to the truth of Banksy, but it has added to his legend, feeding what has become a virtuous cycle. The mystery, as much as the artist himself, now does a lot of the heavy lifting.
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“It’s impressive that he has managed to maintain his anonymity for as long as he has given the risks he takes and considering how high profile he is,” Keegan Hamilton, who wrote a Village Voice cover story on Banksy last year ahead of the artist’s New York “residency,” told The Washington Post in a phone interview. “I would be surprised if he ever willingly revealed himself because of the mystery surrounding who he is. It’s a public intrigue that has increased exponentially over the years considering no one knows who he is — or even if ‘he’ is a ‘he.'”
Share this articleShareExplanations of Banksy’s secrecy often revolve around the artist as a criminal. He likes to call himself a “quality vandal,” according to the New Yorker, and says he has to keep mum to keep out of the cops’ hands.
Other times, he has framed his anonymity as an act of defiance against a culture more concerned with jabbering than thinking. “I have no interest in ever coming out,” he once said. “I figure there are enough self-opinionated a–holes trying to get their ugly little faces in front of you.”
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Or he offers a pointed criticism of the art world. “The art world is the biggest joke going,” the New Yorker quoted Banksy saying. “It’s a rest home for the over-privileged, the pretentious , and the weak.” He added: “Every other type of art compared to graffiti is a step down.”
Or he skewers art collectors, such Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, who purchase his work for millions. “I can’t believe you morons actually buy this s–t,” Banksy said.
A lot of artists are cantankerous, but Banksy’s more clever than that. His ongoing anonymity cultivates his persona, sure, but so does the way he has teased it out over years — laboring over it as much as he does his artwork. In 2005, he hung his own work in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Brooklyn Museum and the American Museum of Natural History, all while wearing a fake beard to shield his identity. In 2009, he sneaked into one of his own shows in Bristol.
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And then last year, the Village Voice received an e-mail. The subject: “confidential.” It was Banksy’s flak. The artist was planning a show and wanted publicity — but on his terms. Through his longtime publicist Jo Brooks, he said he felt “an affinity with people who provide quality content for free on street corners.” He ignored the first batch of questions the newspaper asked him. Instead, he wrote a note that illuminated themes in his life that went beyond one show.
“There is absolutely no reason for doing this show at all,” he told the Voice. “I know street art can feel increasingly like the marketing wing of an art career, so I wanted to make some art without the price tag attached. There’s no gallery show or book or film. It’s pointless. Which hopefully means something.”
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