BANKSY is one of the most well-known artists, but his identity still remains unknown.
His work over the years has sparked many theories about who the genius behind the art is. Here’s what we know.
Who is Robin Gunningham?
In 2008, a photo emerged of a man in Jamaica who was allegedly Banksy.
The Mail on Sunday revealed that the man in the photograph was previously known as Robin Gunningham.
Far from rebellious disruption, what we know about Robin paints more of a picture of middle-class suburbia.
Robin was born in 1973 in Bristol, also known for being Banksy’s supposed stomping ground.
He was a student at Bristol Cathedral School.
Robin’s father, Peter Gordon Gunningham, was a retired contracts manager from the Whitehall area of Bristol.
His mother, Pamela Ann Dawkin-Jones, was a secretary to the company director and grew up in the exclusive environment of Clifton and he has an older sister called Sarah.
When Robin was nine years old, the family moved to a larger house on the same street and it was there that he spent his formative years and became interested in graffiti.
In 2024, a man seen at the site of the latest artwork in Finsbury Park, north London, denied being the creative in question.
Conspiracy theorists went into a frenzy when the man was photographed wearing glasses similar to those associated with Mr Gunningham.
But The Sun tracked down the man who verified his real name is George Georgiou.
He told The Sun how “all hell broke loose” after work appeared on Hornsey Road.
Unlike many admirers, he did not consider the work a “masterpiece”.
He was unhappy about having his photo taken saying, “Instead of just taking a photo, should they have just said who are you? It would have been a lot easier.”
Is Robin Gunningham Banksy?
3
Banksy has never confirmed his identity.
The artist is thought to have given a glimpse of his identity during a 2003 interview, ahead of his Turf War exhibition.
In this brief segment broadcast on ITV News and reported by correspondent Haig Gordon, the tagger appears speaking for 35 seconds.
He is seen wearing a baseball cap and a t-shirt covering the lower part of his face, leaving only his eyes, eyebrows and forehead exposed.
Other reports suggested he could be artist and musician Robert del Naja due to Naja also being a graffiti artist and member of Bristol collective The Wild Bunch.
In October 2014, an American news website claimed that a man named Paul Horner from Liverpool was identified as Banksy after he was tracked down by an Anti-Graffiti Task Force and arrested for vandalism, conspiracy, extortion and forgery.
Banksy’s publicist, Jo Brooks, later denied that the artist had been arrested and confirmed that the original article was a hoax published by a satire website.
In March 2015, Brooklyn artist Richard Pfeiffer was arrested for allegedly painting graffiti done by Banksy.
Pfeiffer and his partner were admiring a piece of street art in Manhattan’s East Village when police showed up and accused him of drawing the image.
Pfeiffer – who was found in possession of a pen – was able to prove that the tip did not match the style of the piece that officers claim he drew.
The charges were dropped six months later.
Art Attack presenter Neil Buchanan denied being Banksy in 2020 after a bizarre conspiracy theory about his identity swept the internet.
In 2022, Pembroke Dock councilor Billy Gannon resigned from his role after being accused of being Banksy.
He said the allegations undermined his ability to do his work and that despite being a community street artist, he was not the mystery man.
Banksy’s latest artwork was seen at Glastonbury 2024.
The artist launched an inflatable life raft holding fictional migrants into the crowd during the Idles’ performance.
The raft was a reference to the inflatable boats that human traffickers used to smuggle asylum seekers across the English Channel.
Banksy’s stunt was labeled by many as poor taste after he claimed he was behind the piece.
3
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
