Elusive beer coaster 'artist' unmasked after 50-year mystery

A 50-year-long mystery involving the elusive identity of an artist who left drawings on the back of beer coasters has finally come to a conclusion.

The once-beloved identity had achieved legendary status across England’s West Midlands region with the scribblings he left at pubs, bus stops and libraries.

But in more recent years, the artist, dubbed the ‘Black Country Banksy’, soured his public image when the tone of his work became perverted.

John Arthur Wheeler, 75, who had signed his art with ‘AJW’ and ‘the Ghost Writer’ and regularly featured imagery of the late opera singer, Mario Lanza, was unmasked in a court case after he was charged with outraging public decency with drawings that depicted vulgar imagery and text.

Local media reported that Mr Wheeler was identified in Wolverhampton Crown Court on May 10, but subsequently avoided a jail sentence for the x-rated scribblings.

“He had been leaving sexually lewd drawings showing male and female genitalia,” prosecutor Sophie Murray said, according to the Stourbridge News.

“He was arrested and interviewed and made a full admission, saying he accepted what he was doing was wrong and he did have sexual thoughts about children but never acted on them.

“He subsequently referred to himself as a pervert.

“When police searched there were hundreds and hundreds of these pictures everywhere in his house.”

Mr Wheeler’s defence, Graham Russell, argued that the pensioner had led a blameless life and had “achieved some renown in the community” for his drawings.

Mr Russell told the court his client’s vulgar drawings were inspired by Pablo Picasso “whose career also ended with sketches which art critics described as nothing more than pornographic fantasy”, the Stourbridge News reported.

Judge James Burbidge ruled for Mr Wheeler to be the subject of a five-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order and he was ordered not leave his house again with anything that depicted naked men or women, unless they were part of an official art exhibition.

The judge spared Mr Wheeler jail time but added that it was not right for him to refer to himself as the Banksy of the Black Country because “Banksy makes drawings of public importance – attracting social comment”.

In stark contrast, Mr Wheeler was “drawing matters that show a perverted mind” and leaving the “lewd drawings in public houses, public stations and libraries for people to see who would not wish to see them”.

Following the news of the court case with its ugly revelations, many of AJW’s longtime fans were at a loss over the news.

A social media fan page – that was created in 2007 for people to share and appreciate drawings supposedly done by the artist – was divided over whether the page should be deleted in the wake of the ugly revelations about the once-celebrated local artist.

“He was a legend that has totally ruined his reputation,” one comment read.

Others alleged they had had personal experience with the elusive artist whose drawings and behaviour were far from innocent.

“He used to come in the Tesco where i work and leave pornographic drawings in the children’s magazines. Disgusting bloke,” one said.

An admin of the page said the drawings had only turned sexually explicit and disturbing in nature over the last “three to four years”, forcing the page to start screening the posts that were uploaded by community members so “no rude ones would appear”.

“I’d hoped that would encourage him to stop the rude ones,” the admin said.

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