Banksy’s Identity Finally Revealed, Report Says
The British street artist has remained anonymous for decades, often working under the cover of night to avoid being seen
A Reuters investigation has reportedly revealed the identity of the infamous British street artist known as Banksy. The revelation, which stems from previous court records and police reports, names the stencil-style artist as Robin Gunningham and says he later changed his name to David Jones, although it is not clear whether he has changed it again. Banksy’s longtime lawyer Mark Stephens said the artist “does not accept that many of the details contained within your enquiry are correct,” but did not confirm or deny his identity.
Banksy, whose most famous works include Girl with Balloon, Love Is in the Air (Flower Thrower), and Devolved Parliament, was allegedly nabbed in 2000 in New York City for climbing a roof and defacing a Marc Jacobs billboard. Records pertaining to the incident include a handwritten confession that stated, “I painted eyeshadow a new mouth and a speech bubble of the billboard,” with Robin Gunningham’s signature at the bottom.
Photos of the artist have been published in the past, but did not state his name. At a 2018 Sotheby’s auction of Girl with Balloon, where the piece was shredded by a built-in mechanism, art dealer Robert Casterline told Reuters that a man in peculiar glasses was watching the crowd while they looked on, with a video of the shock later appearing on Banksy’s Instagram.