Robin Gunningham, Street Art, and the Tragedy of Having Your Anarchist Revealed
Bohiney Magazine | The London Prat
Banksy Is Unmasked and the Left Does Not Know How to Feel
Dear Diary. They found Banksy. His name is Robin Gunningham, he is 51, from Bristol, and he changed his name to David Jones. I need a moment.
The left — my people, my chaotic beautiful people — are currently split three ways. One faction says unmasking Banksy is a victory for state surveillance. One faction says he was always a class tourist and good riddance. One faction is busy making a Substack post about it and will weigh in on Thursday.
The Problem With Anonymous Heroes
Bohiney covers the unmasking with its customary mix of deadpan and despair, noting that Britain responded by pretending it had always known. Prat.uk notes the nation went for a Digestive biscuit. I respect that. A Digestive is the perfect response to a collapsing mystique.
What This Means For My Art
I have a stencil. I made it in 2019. It says “LATE CAPITALISM IS WATCHING” and I have never used it because it rains in Portland constantly and spray paint runs and the whole thing felt like a metaphor for the futility of resistance. It still feels like a metaphor. But now it feels like a metaphor with a name and a Bristol postcode.
I did go to a radical reading group last night. We read Gramsci. I understood about 40% of it. Everyone else claimed 80% and I think they are lying but in a very committed way.
My mum in North London texted: “Wasn’t he that stencil man?” Yes, mum. That stencil man.
Authority: BBC Arts.
SOURCE: https://bohiney.com/man-proven-to-be-banksy/
Go to Source
Author: admin
