User:Dr John Mellor/sandbox

William Gannon (Artist)
William Gannon is a British Street Artist and former local politician living and working in Pembroke Dock in West Wales, UK.

Originally from Warrington, England, Gannon moved to Pembroke Dock, West Wales, in 2013, after living what he described as a “wild life” as a Street Artist from the end of the 1970's “living out of the backs of vans and spraying on walls” [2 ].

Gannon first came to widespread public attention when, in May 2022, he resigned as a Pembroke Dock Town Councillor because he was accused of being the Artist Banksy and of being ten years younger than he claimed to be. The UK Guardian Newspaper examined the available evidence and confirmed that Gannon was telling the truth about his age and identity and that he was not Banksy. However Gannon still resigned as a Councillor as he felt that the persistent allegations were undermining his ability to carry out his duties as a Councillor.[2 ] and that the allegations were “tarnishing the town council’s reputation” [1 ].

Gannon believes the allegations were made maliciously by a rival council candidate [2 ] as part of a campaign of harassment that had begun in January 2022, when someone entered his studio space and took unauthorised photographs of his work [3 ]. Emails were also sent to Pembroke Dock Town Council, alleging, without giving any evidence, that Gannon had changed his name several times, to distance himself from his alleged "former life" as Banksy. Gannon announced in his resignation letter that he feared for the reputation of the council” [3 ]. Just as Gannon stepped down a number of pieces of graffiti appeared in Pembroke Dock[4 ] which Gannon believes may have been painted in an attempt to frame him for creating the graffiti [28 ].

In response to the allegations Gannon explained that “What I’m being asked to do is not to prove who I am. I’m being asked to prove who I am not, and the person that I am not may not exist. I mean, how am I supposed to prove that I’m not somebody who doesn’t exist? Just how do you do that?” [2 ].

Gannon felt that the accusations were particularly damaging as they contained a kernel of truth. Gannon explaining that he had done “All the things that Banksy did” but 10 years earlier than Banksy. Gannon felt that this gave the allegations enough credibility to require his resignation. Gannon Stated that “I was in the same place doing the same thing at the same time. But that doesn’t make me Banksy.” [2 ].

“I am NOT Banksy” Badges.
Gannon went on to produce 999 badges that read: “I Am Not Banksy” which Gannon distributed among the residents of Pembroke Dock. The stated aim being that if everyone in the world who wasn’t Banksy was to wear an “I Am Not Banksy” badge, then the identity of the real Banksy would be exposed as he would be the only person NOT wearing one of the badges. This sounds like a ridiculous ambition, but Gannon explains that “Finding Banksy is about keeping it real” and that in making the badges Gannon hoped “to illustrate the absurdity of trying to find a mythical figure.” [3 ].

Media Coverage.
If Gannon had hoped to halt the spread of the accusations that he was Banksy by resigning as a Councillor his resignation had the opposite effect as it attracted widespread media interest. The story was covered by many of the main UK Newspapers and Radio and TV Stations with most of the coverage being concerned with uncovering the identity of Banksy and not with the possibly more serious issue of the way in which Gannon had been hounded out of public office. [1 ] [2 ] [3 ] [4 ] [5 ] [6 ] [7 ] [8 ] [9 ] [10 ] [11 ] [12 ] [13 ] [14 ] [15 ] [16 ] [17 ] [18 ] [19 ] [20 ] [21] [22 ] [23 ] [24 ] [25 ] [26 ] [27 ] [31 ]

"I am NOT Banksy" Book.
Gannon wrote a book about his experience The book was published on October 1st, 2022, and Titled “I am Not Banksy”. In the book Gannon strongly denied the allegation that he was Banksy and gave his explanation of the origin of the allegations. [28 ]. Explaining his motivation for writing the book Gannon wrote “In May 2022 I was accused of being Banksy. When I tell people that I am NOT Banksy they say, "That is just what Banksy would say". So now I just don't talk about it anymore. If anyone wants to know what really happened, I tell them to … read the book. None of the answers are in it but writing it helped me to understand some of the questions” [31 ]

The Devil in The Library.
During the month of September 2023 Gannon held an exhibition of his work in the exhibition gallery of Pembroke Dock Library. Gannon titled the exhibition “Paintings Prints and Sculptures 1978 to 2023”. However one press article labelled the exhibition as “The Devil in the library” in honour of the largest exhibit in the show [4 ]. That exhibit was a nine-foot-tall statue of a devil like creature complete with horns and wings. Gannon explained that “The statue in the library is based on Baphomet but is of Climate Change, not Satan” [4 ]. Gannon went on to emphasise the difference between Satan and his sculpture by saying that “Climate Change is different from Satan because Climate Change is real and Satan is not.”[4 ].

Despite Gannon’s explanation a “former resident” of Pembroke Dock wrote to a local newspaper saying “how disgusted I am as a former resident born and bred that Pembroke Dock Library is showing off a huge statue of Satan slap bang in the middle of the library itself” [4 ]. Gannon’s reply was that “The statue is sculpted from rubbish found locally and represents climate change. There is an explanation right next to the statue. Anyway, how does anyone know what the devil looks like?” [4 ]. Gannon went on to say that the statue “… is a modern Baphomet in the form of Climate Change; an old god born new from waste and pollution, bringing catastrophe with her” [4 ].

The exhibition also included 20 paintings and prints that covered a wide range of issues from political corruption to codeine addiction in the UK [31 ].

In Popular Culture
Gannon’s resignation was featured as a question on episode 10 series 7 of the UK BBC 2 TV quiz show “Richard Osmans House of Games” on 6th October 2023 [30 ]. The question posed by host Richard Osman at 19 minutes and 52 seconds into the show asked contestants to pick the reason for Gannon’s resignation from the council in 2022 from four possible options. The options were that "A, He couldn’t secure funding for a new toll bridge, B, People thought he was Banksy, C, He wanted a build a boat and D, He lost funding for planting daffodils on roundabouts". All three of the contestants gave one of the wrong answers with none of them selecting the correct answer which was "B, People thought he was Banksy” [29].