Too late! This is where you say "That's ironic!" and some grammar nerd's like "This is not technically a case of 'irony'" or whatever. I guess it's "funny." [Pics: Robin Gunningham]

The new show's at the museum in Bristol, where Banksy's from, because he is really this guy. All pics from the Facebook page of Robin Gunningham.

Some group called "Appropriate Media" went and splashed paint all over a classic Banksy piece in Bristol, cause Banksy is way too "middle class" now. No idea when "Middle class" became a slur over there. Also, Banksy is in fact upper class. Anyhow, their manifesto:

In the early hours of this morning, Banksy's 'Mild Mild West' on Stokes Croft in Bristol (UK) was repainted by a member of Appropriate Media, presenting an alternative version of this 'alternative Bristol landmark'.

Through this action, Appropriate Media asks ?What is the value of street art??. How much time and money will be spent to restore this urban 'masterpiss' by urban masterpisser, Banksy.

Come on, you only care about it cos its a Banksy and he sells his lazy polemics to Hollywood movie stars for big bucks.

Come on, you only care about it cos makes you feel edgy and urban to tour round the inner city in your 4x4, taking in the tired coffee table subversion that graffiti has become.

Graffiti artists are the copywriters for the capitalist created phenomenon of urban art.
Graffiti artists are the performing spray-can monkeys for gentrification.
We call for the appropriate and legitimate use of public and private property.

We are taking matters into our own hands

We will not seek permission

We will retaliate

Hmmm. Current odds in favor of this being a stunt by Banksy himself: 3-2.

the photo of the hooded person is not banksy. it's me, r nicholas kuszyk, a williamsburg brooklyn based artist informally affiliated w banksy and colossal media. i was consulting the paint crew on behalf of banksy who was too busy to oversee the entire process. this might sound like shameless self promoton (the name of the game) but at least i had the foresight, well banksy and i had the foresight, to plan on wearing something that covered my face yesterday in the case of people like david noseypants photog acting all paparazzi. otherwise this ordeal would have made my face public property. a dozen people took my photograph yesterday. david was the most intrusive. well played sir.

Here's his website, and here's a sample of his art, which is wild and crazy in a good way I believe:

David Steele Overholt took these pics of a hooded figure who seemed to be supervising a new rat mural on Houston St. yesterday. The guy denied being Banksy, but then walked away suspiciously. Possibly him? Here's an actual older picture of Banksy. You decide:

And more:

Street art resembling Banksy's has been popping up in Lower Manhattan in the last week:

"Mr. Lazarides has denied rumors of Banksy's participation in the show. But over the past week, street art and graffiti, some of it in the style closely associated with Banksy, has emerged on the stretch of Houston between Bowery and Elizabeth Street, suggesting the presence of the elusive prankster.

...Since Sunday, however, graphic images, including posters of Senator Obama dressed as Superman, Warhol-style images of Marilyn Monroe with Monroe's face replaced by that of Britney Spears, Michael Jackson, or Leonard Nimoy, and a Degas dancer on crutches, have emerged on the concrete construction barriers, portable toilets, and pieces of detritus littering Houston Street west of the Bowery. Banksy's work often includes stenciled images of pop-culture icons in appropriated scenarios."

...Banksy? Probably not, Sun. Animal NY also says "no way."

[Previously]

[Original photos by John d'Addario , toaminorplace, and Anthonyturducken's Flickr.]

Stills from the 2000 UK documentary Boom or Bust, by filmmaker Si Mitchell:

From Squall magazine:

Two prints from British artist Mister Aitch, both of which are allegedly profile pictures of Banksy. We're told that the title, "F5," is a reference to the button people hit on their keyboard over and over to refresh a page when a new Banksy print goes up for sale:

[Read our previous Banksy coverage here. If you do not feel this investigation is as exciting as I do (it is very exciting), please keep that to yourself.]

A tipster wrote in to point out that the new photo we found is probably not of Banksy, the artist; it's of Banxy, the break dancer. Well who the fuck can keep track, really? Banxy is a dancer and performer in the UK who once appeared in a dance TV show with Deborah Bull, the British ballet dancer who appears with "Banksy" in this photo:

Here's a photo of Banxy, the dancer:

So, it's likely that the photographer who took the 1999 photos we found from Rex photo service simply heard "Banxy," assumed that it was the famous artist, and labeled the photos as such. Well, screw it. OUR BAD. We'll keep looking.

[Banxy]

Who is he?

He's just a dude from England who makes street art. We once thought he might be the alter ego of fellow Brit stencil artist Nick Walker, but that's probably not the case—not exactly, at least. The Daily Mail says he's a guy from Bristol named Robin Gunningham, who has a Facebook page that may or may not be real. There may or may not be more than one photo of Banksy extant. Basically he's a big fucking mystery.

Why is he important?

Ha. "Important" is a subjective idea. But he's important artistically, because he is the single funniest and most incisive social critic working in street art today; and he's become a celebrity, making him important...to people who care about celebrities. Once his works started selling to Angelina Jolie and other assorted stars, his secret true identity became an item of even hotter speculation. But most Banksy fans loved the guy for his art long before they even knew he was a big secret.

Who cares about his identity?

If you're a Wu-Tang fan, you remember when Ghostface Killah first started rhyming, when he wore a stocking over his face in all photos. It was awesome. People who are self-proclaimed mysteries succeed immediately in making fans who would normally care little about their background start to obsessively wonder about them. But you have to give Banksy credit: any time in the past couple of years, he could have sold a big reveal of his identity to the highest bidder for a huge sum. The idea that he's staying secret out of fear of prosecution for vandalism is a little ridiculous; this is a guy who started as a vandal, but now has museums and town councils voting to keep his (illegal) works in place—sometimes even having city employees go back and touch up his pieces when they get painted over with more graffiti. He's probably just a guy who doesn't care to be treated like a superstar in public. The irony is that, by staying anonymous, he's pushed interest in himself up to mythical levels.

And?

Dig it:

An added dose of credibility: this picture is from the archives of the Rex photo service, and is labeled as "Graffiti artist Banksy," shown in the Sony Playstation Skate Park in London in 1999. The subhead reads, "'Banksy' as himself, probable real name Robin Banks, or Robin Gunningham from Bristol." Here it is:

Compare to the well-known 2004 photo:

Our source tells us that the 1999 picture was confirmed as Banksy by the photo agency. Which would mean that—if this is actually him—pictures showing the face of the most wondered-about anonymous artist in the world have been sitting around, forgotten, for nearly a decade.