BASED

Banksy Makes a Statement (Again)

From the time he dropped on the scene to Exit Through the Gift Shop and beyond, it's been hard to know what's real with Banksy. He lives in the shadows, and it's hard to believe one person pulls all this off. Is it a media stunt? Who's really in on it?

Back in April, he did it again. Overnight, a statue appeared in Waterloo Place in central London: a man in a suit marching proudly with a big flag, the cloth covering his face, stepping off the edge of the plinth into thin air. It went up the same week King Charles was on a state visit to the U.S. A day later, a video on Banksy's Instagram confirmed it was his. It's set to "Pomp and Circumstance" and ends with a passerby saying how much he dislikes it. Westminster's council says it's staying.

Whoever he is (a Reuters investigation named him as Robin Gunningham; he's never confirmed or denied it), the optics are fun, exciting, contrarian and full of dissent. "Interesting" doesn't cover it. Call it mischief.