Following the media controversy around the alleged arrest of famous street-artist Bansky, Artnet discusses the matter. Henri Neuendorf, Artnet’s Associate Editor, reports that Banksy has been arrested and charged for “vandalism, conspiracy, racketeering and counterfeiting’’, according to the American satire website National Report. The website claimed that Banksy - whose real name is Paul Horner, a 35-year-old man from Liverpool - was tracked down by a ''24-hour Anti-Graffiti Task Force'', which apparently broke into the artist’s secret London studio where ''thousands of dollars of counterfeit money along with future projects of vandalism'' were seized. However, shortly after the news spread on social media, the artist’s publicist, Jo Brooks, told The Independent that ''the Banksy arrest is a hoax,'' confirming that the story was purely fictional. ''Banksy is notoriously elusive and little is known about the artist, whose true identity remains a mystery,'' concluded Henri Neuendorf in his article. In the meantime, the journalist followed up on the matter and posted a second article on Banksy’s alleged arrest entitled ''Banksy Paints New Mural to Prove He’s Not in Jail’’. ''The mural, entitled Girl with a Pierced Eardrum (2014), parodies Johannes Vermeer's masterpiece Girl with a Pearl Earring (1665) and features a yellow outdoor alarm box as the girl's earring,'' writes Neuendorf, while adding that the mural was done on the side of a building near the docks in the English city of Bristol - the artist’s hometown - but that it has been defaced later during the week.

Read the full story by Henri Neuendorf on Artnet.com.

Picture courtesy of the National Report.