“What’s a Banksy Museum Without Banksy?” You might well ask, and when an establishment of just that description opened on SoHo’s southern border in May 2024, The New York Times made that question the headline for an anthology-worthy take-down by the art critic Max Lakin. Turns out there are several such tourist traps around the world, but the one in the Big Apple (not really much of a Banksy city) claims to be the biggest, best, and most recent. For the record, the capacity maxes out at 75, with standard adult admission set at $30. That’s “in line with what the Met charges non-New Yorkers,” Lakin pointed out at the time, “but at least at the Met the Matisses are real.” Yes, but the Banksy œuvre is for the most part site-specific, far-flung, and notoriously ephemeral. So, a tour d’horizon created by a small army of anonymous street artists isn’t such a crummy prospect. They’ve even recreated a full-size bedroom from his Walled-Off Hotel in Bethlehem! Lakin scores valid points about the sophomoric quality of Banksy’s social protests and the baked-in contradictions of his commercial empire—subjects Reuters investigates at length in “In Search of Banksy,” published in March 2026. Banksy, we’re told, is really the 50-something Robin Gunningham of Bristol. Or he used to be, until he changed his name to David Jones, notionally the most common name in Britain. Of course, Banksy’s lawyer Mark Stephens implored Reuters not to publish, to no avail. “Reuters took into account Banksy’s privacy claims,” the article tells us, “and the fact that many of his fans wish for him to remain anonymous. Yet we concluded that the public has a deep interest in understanding the identity and career of a figure with his profound and enduring influence on culture, the art industry and international political discourse. In so doing, we applied the same principle Reuters uses everywhere. The people and institutions who seek to shape social and political discourse are subject to scrutiny, accountability, and, sometimes, unmasking. Banksy’s anonymity—a deliberate, public-facing, and profitable feature of his work—has enabled him to operate without such transparency.” According to one poll, Banksy’s Girl with Balloon is the most popular work of art Britain has ever produced—that’s the one with a Les Miz-type waif releasing a red heart on on string, and very sweet it is. Of course, you’ll find it and all his other iconic motifs on Canal Street. Two cops kissing, rats rampant, school-age bomb throwers, angels, smiley faces, Queen Ziggy, a Banksy dude walking his Keith Haring pooch, you name it. And wherever you look, words to live by. “IF GRAFFITI CHANGED ANYTHING, IT WOULD BE ILLEGAL.” “IF YOU GET TIRED LEARN TO REST NOT TO QUIT.” “COPYRIGHT IS FOR LOSERS.” —Matthew Gurewitsch