It seems we've all been fooled by the Banksy exhibition at Chelsea's Vanina Holasek Gallery, but, surprisingly, not by the infamous practical jokester. A few private collectors learned a thing or two from Banksy's tricky ways (and perhaps from the many faux-Banksy hawkers), bought themselves a gallery full of prints and some props, and went to town selling them some Banksys.

Robin Barton, co-owner of the Bankrobber Gallery in London and co-organizer of the Holasek gallery event says gallerists were just jazzing things up a bit and decorating the gallery in the style of Banksy, not trying to trick anyone into spending a small fortune on public art. A press release for the show, however, is titled "Banksy Does New York," and nowhere does it mention that the mystery man has not authorized the show. "It's all in the fine print," Barton says, adding, "You've got to bear in mind, we don't expect people to come in off the streets and buy at these prices. We deal with the collectors separately."

Over at the Complex blog, editor Bucky Turco smells a rat and writes that the gallery's splatter-painted walls, nonchalantly scribbled prices, stuffed rodents, caution tape, and rat traps were an attempt to make the place look as if Banksy had secretly created the installation himself under cover of darkness. Instead, it looks like a few private collectors are trying to cash in on the once-anonymous artist's street cred. "It was such a piss poor attempt from the jump," Turco tells Radar. He was handing out mugshots of the artist to "line crawlers"—a spoiler for those still unaware his photo has been bandied about on the Web.

Barton, on the other hand, said the Banksy fans in attendance responded well, and neither he nor the other gallerists have heard a peep from Banksy or any of his actual representatives. "You have to look at the blogs for all of the bitchiness," Barton said. "If you ask me, bloggers are just about the worst human beings in the world. They've got nothing better to do." He added that the exhibit allows Banksy fans to see the elusive artist's very famous older works up close and in person. "It's all about keeping the whole Banksy thing alive." And profitable, no doubt.

Banksy seems to be doing just fine on his own, though.

The homepage of what appears to be the legitimate Banksy website (who can really say with so many tricksters at play?) states:

"There are two Banksy shows in December
—A print show in a New York gallery that is completely unauthorized and unlikely to be worth visiting
—A painting show in a Bethlehem chicken shop that is fully authorized (but still unlikely to be worth visiting)"

He later adds, "Please note: Banksy does not sell photos of street graffiti or mount exhibitions of screenprints in commercial galleries, so please don't complain here if you found them disappointing."

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