When we speak about modern artists, the one that tends to spring to mind is Banksy. He’s one of the most popular artists of the modern-day and he’s a household name. However, nobody actually knows the true identity of Banksy. Like the recipe of KFC chicken and the New York Times Bestseller List, the identity of Banksy is among one of the best-kept secrets of our time.
Who is Banksy?
There has been speculation as to who Banksy really is, however, nothing has ever been officially revealed or confirmed. His work usually has an air of uncertainty around it, and this makes for part of its charm. In short, Banksy is a street artist whose works have been displayed all across the world. His art has popped up everywhere, from London to New York, and he usually claims responsibility for his work on the official Banksy Instagram account.
Why doesn’t anyone know who Banksy is?
The mystery surrounding Banksy is part of his success. That’s not saying that Banksy’s success is completely down to his mystery. However, that’s definitely not the only reason why he’s so popular.
Nobody knows who Banksy is because he sees keeping his anonymity as a priority. In 2020 Banksy lost his 2014 EU trademark of the Love Is In The Air artwork. He refused to appear in court because he didn’t want the public to see his real identity, which could leave other pieces of his art at risk from trademarking.
How has Banksy hidden his identity for so long?
Even though Banksy began his career in the 1990s, he has been successful in keeping his identity under wraps since then. You may be thinking, ‘how on earth has he managed that?’ We see photographs of celebrities in the newspapers and online all the time. So how does Banksy hide himself so well? The answer to this is that Banksy has methods and processes in place to make sure that his identity remains concealed. For example, he always uses a signature stencil style and uses cones or cloths to hide his work.
What do we know about Banksy for certain?
Even though Banksy’s identity has never been officially confirmed, we do know a little bit about him, like the fact he’s from Bristol. He began as a young artist creating work across the city in the 1990s.
One of his earliest murals was named the Mild Mild West and was painted in 1999 at Bristol’s Stokes Croft. This piece of art was of a teddy bear throwing a Molotov cocktail at three riot police and is still in Bristol to this day. Once he created this piece of art, the rest is history.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you have probably seen at least one of his prints. Some of Banksy’s most famous pieces of art include the Girl With The Balloon, Love Is In The Bin and Pulp Fiction.
Are there any theories as to who Banksy is?
Of course, like anything which has a little bit of mystery involved, theories will circulate. Although not all theories are plausible, there is one theory that seems to be the most prevalent, and that is that Banksy is a man named Robin Gunningham.
Robin Gunningham was born just outside of Bristol and his story seems to align with the one of the secretive artist. According to his school colleagues, Robin was a talented individual who loved drawing in particular cartoons. This is interesting because Banksy has made the point before that his love for art began while he was still in school. The original idea that Robin Gunningham may be Banksy started when he was photographed with some spray paint while on holiday in Jamaica.
Likely, we may never find out Banksy’s real identity
Of course, the theories are all speculation, and as we noted earlier, Banksy’s identity has never been officially confirmed. For those of you who are interested in finding out who Banksy is, it’s bad news. You might never find out his real identity, and that’s why we love him.
