Banksy’s Identity revealed in a 20 year old resurfaced Interview? Banksy’s secret identity has been one of the
Mail as the “unmasked” Banksy in 2008, while
most famous debates in the art world, since the
others believe that Banksy is a collective of
street artist’s emergence in the early 2000s,
artist, rather than just one person.
with various UK artists having been linked to the name, like comic book illustrator Jamie
In the full rediscovered interview Banksy also
Hewlett or Robert Del Naja, part of the British
talks about how he sees his work not as
trip-hop band “Massive Attack”, though both of
vandalism but as “a quicker way of making
them have denied the claims.
your point”, adding that: “other people, they can change it. They can get rid of it. […] It is
Now, ten years after an interview between
equally somebody else’s right to go out and
Banksy and Nigel Wrench, former BBC arts
paint over it if they don’t like it.” He further
correspondent,
explained that he sees the city as a “big
the
2003
recording
has
resurfaced and seems to reveal the artist’s
playground” which they can “mess about in”.
identity – or does it? The resurfaced interview is part of the podcast Interviews with Banksy are rare and this early
series “The Banksy Story” and was released as
one provides the unique chance to hear the
a special clip on November 21st 2023.
artist’s voice and information about his first name. In the interview, Wrench asks Banksy if he could use his real name, assuming his name to be “Robert Banks”. To this the then 20 yearold Banksy responded with: “It’s Robbie”.
Variations of Robbie, Robert or Robin have been continuously suggested as names for Banksy, with the artist Robert Gunningham from Bristol having been described by the Daily
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