A graffiti titled “Artwork Assault”made by the graffiti artist Banksy is seen on Israel’s extremely controversial West Financial institution barrier in Ramallah on Aug. 6, 2005.
Marco Di Lauro/Getty Pictures
Who’s Banksy? It is without doubt one of the artwork world’s, even perhaps popular culture’s, most enduring mysteries because the avenue artist burst onto the scene within the early 2000s. However we could also be one step nearer to the artist’s true id following the current discovery of a misplaced BBC interview through which Banksy seems to verify his identify.
The BBC reported on Monday that it had unearthed a 2003 interview between the younger up-and-coming avenue artist Banksy and the previous BBC arts correspondent Nigel Wrench. The unique recording was edited for a spot on BBC radio which was then used as a part of the BBC podcast collection The Banksy Story which was launched in July. However Wrench, having listened to the podcast collection, was impressed to revisit the total authentic recording and found much more buried details about the artist that was by no means used.
Within the found audio, Wrench speaks to Banksy, who was in his 20s on the time, forward of the artist’s Turf Struggle present in East London in the summertime of 2003. Banksy is requested by Wrench if his identify is “Robert Banks”, and the artist replies, “It’s Robbie.”
The id of Banksy has lengthy intrigued the artwork world, and specifically, the feverish tabloid press within the U.Ok. The artist hardly ever offers interviews, and that has added to his mystique. In certainly one of his few early interviews, the artist spoke to the Guardian in 2003, and he was described as “white, 28, scruffy informal – denims, T-shirt, a silver tooth, silver chain and silver earring. He seems to be like a cross between Jimmy Nail and Mike Skinner of the Streets.”
Over the past twenty years, varied individuals have been recognized as Banksy, most notably Robert Del Naja, often known as 3D and a co-founder of the massively influential trip-hop act Huge Assault. The supposed proof that Del Naja was Banksy included that they had been each from the Bristol space, and the musician additionally dabbled in graffiti at a younger age. Jamie Hewlett, the artist and designer greatest identified for co-creating the band Gorillaz and the comedian ebook Tank Woman, has additionally up to now been urged because the true id of Banksy.
In 2008, The Daily Mail claimed {that a} Bristol-based man named Robin Gunningham was Banksy. The newspaper spoke to Gunningham’s faculty mates and friends to corroborate the story. The Mail studies that Gunningham began going by the identify Robin Banks, which went on to grow to be Banksy. In October, The Sunday Times reported that Gunningham could also be compelled to disclose his id because of a defamation declare to settle whether or not he’s behind well-known murals.
