Banksy Trolls Royal Academy of Arts With Fake Alias
Submitting a new work under the pseudonym, “Bryan S. Gaakman.”
Banksy is battling cronyism in the art world with one fake alias at a time. The elusive artist recently shared a new, untitled artwork on Instagram that highlights the upcoming anniversary of the EU referendum when the people of the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union back on June 23, 2016. The artist painted a politically-charged poster depicting a heart-shaped balloon with band-aids set against “Vote to Love” text with the EU Referendum details beneath.
Using the pseudonym Bryan S. Gaakman (an anagram of “Banksy Anagram”), Banksy initially sent an earlier version of the piece to the Royal Academy of Arts to consider displaying it in the organization’s Summer 2018 exhibition. The piece was rejected. A month later, the artist received mail from contemporary artist and RA curator Grayson Perry to submit a work for the event. Banksy sent the exact same piece and now it’s on display in the organization’s Gallery III.
View the artwork above and let us know your thoughts. In other art news, an artist-duo recently filed a lawsuit against Oakley for using their work in campaigns without permission.
Royal Academy of Arts
Burlington House, Piccadilly
Mayfair, London
UK W1J 0BD
