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Update: Motor City Muckraker Busts Metro Times For Being April Fools

April 01, 2014, 3:45 PM

UPDATE, 5:35 p.m.: Metro Times reports its original story was actually an April Fool's joke, and it is really Motor City Muckraker Steve Neavling who was punked. If true, Metro Times' original story was remarkable for its subtlety.

EARLIER: Ever-vigilant Steve Neavling noticed today how Metro Times, now owned by a Cleveland company, fell for an April Fool's joke revolving around supposed artwork in Hamtramck by Banksy, the internationally known street artist.

Neavling writes:

Even a graffiti novice knows the stenciled monkey in Hamtramck was not painted by Banksy, a world-famous graffiti artist who was in Detroit in 2010.

But the Metro Times, a weekly tabloid that covers the arts, believed Banksy re-emerged with a stenciled painting of a monkey because the Hamtramck Star wrote a story – published today on April Fool’s Day – that claims the artist has taken credit for it.

Turns out, dozens of others also were fooled and were seen photographing the piece today.

From the Metro Times:

Banksy, the notorious international street artist, has again tagged a Detroit-area location, The Hamtramck Star reports. The painting appeared on the corner of Sobieski and Commor in Hamtramck. Like all of Banksy’s paintings, the message is cryptic — art experts believe it could possibly be a reference to the 555 Gallery removing a purported Banksy from a Packard Plant wall and attempting to sell it.

Today, a group of art aficionados could be seen buzzing around the painting, tweeting photos and making phone calls. Apparently, the piece has already been authenticated by Pest Control, an independent organization that authenticates the mysterious artist’s work.

Neavling notes:

First, Banksy does not take credit for his work. In fact, the elusive and anonymous Brit believes authentication would encourage the sale of his street art. As a joke, Banksy’s team created Pest Control, a group said to authenticate his work but won’t. 


Read more:  Motor City Muckraker


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