Artist claims bench sign remembering ‘father, husband, adulterer’ is a prank – and copied from one he designed four years ago
An artist has debunked speculation that a copper plaque spotted on a bench in Bristol commemorating a ‘father, husband, adulterer’ is a Banksy.
The unlucky man shared a four-year-old photo of a very similar ‘honest memorial’ joke – which he claims was copied – on social media.
Locals were shocked to see the copper plaque which appeared ‘overnight’ on March 22 in Royal York Crescent in the city’s Clifton area. Another plaque was seen meters away on a rubbish bin, commemorating a ‘Craig, who spent many peaceful moments here’.
The bank’s full message reads: ‘For My Love. 06.09.69 – 25.12.23. Husband, father, adulterer. Yes, Roger, I knew it.’
After much excitement about linking the monument to Banksy, The unfortunate fortune teller posted on Instagram: ‘It’s not by Banksy; it’s fucking mine!’
An artist has debunked speculation that a copper plaque spotted on a bench in Bristol commemorating a ‘father, husband, adulterer’ is a Banksy
The unlucky man claimed that the plaque was a copy of his own work from years ago. He shared a photo from 2020 with a very similar message (photo)
It is not known who is behind the plaques, but the lucky guy claimed they were copied from his designs from years before.
He shared a photo from his camera roll of another plaque on a bench, taken on March 6, 2020.
This read: ‘For My Love. 26.11.53 – 03.04.20. Husband, father, adulterer. Yes John, I knew it.’
The post on Monday added: ‘So apparently some complete t*** in Bristol stole one of my plaque ideas and put it on a bench. The nerve.’
He also reshared posts from last year promoting some similar 2023 designs.
He told MailOnline that after he was shown a news article about the plaque, and people thought it could be the famous graffiti artist, through a friend and thought: ‘Oh s***! That is 100 percent my plaque that someone saw on my feed and stole word for word.”
Although it is ‘quite a hassle’ for an artist to track down every instance of suspected copying, this was too blatant to pass up.
This isn’t the first time Themisfortuneteller has felt let down when one of his designs goes viral.
His most popular plaque was inspired by an ex-girlfriend he joked in memory of: “For Barbara. Terrible when you’re hungry, but otherwise pretty hearty.’
“I took a picture of it, threw it on my feed and it just blew up,” he explained.
Despite millions of people viewing the design through online meme accounts, no one credited the designer, instead saying he “should be happy” if the work received publicity.
Although some cynics have accused Themisfortuneteller of keeping all the fake bank engravings, he insists that the case of the Bristol bank is very special.
“People can see it for what it is. It’s just a straight copy,” he said.
“I think there’s a different comma and maybe they changed the dates, which I think makes it less funny – a bit ‘try hard’.”
The monument spotted in the Clifton area was meters away from another plaque on a rubbish bin, sparking talk of a ‘new Banksy’
Another brass plaque remembered ‘Craig, who spent many peaceful moments here’
People were shocked to see the copper plaque which appeared ‘overnight’ on Royal York Crescent in the city’s Clifton area on March 22. Another plaque was seen meters away on a rubbish bin, commemorating a ‘Craig, who spent many peaceful moments here’.
Sue and Martin Wells, who saw the plaque on the bin, said the plaque on the bench ‘appeared under cover of darkness outside our home on the respectable Royal York Crescent’.
Adding: ‘Maybe it’s a secret message to a local lady? Revenge or forgiveness? Either way, his Roger days are clearly over.
‘It is the second copper plaque to appear within meters of each other recently.
‘Is there a pattern emerging – a Banksy copper plaque perhaps?’
Do YOU know who is behind the plaques? Contact matthew.cox@mailonline.co.uk