Reuters Claims To Have Unmasked Banksy After Extensive Investigation

Reuters News Agency says it has identified the anonymous British street artist, Banksy, whose politically charged murals have made him one of the most influential figures in contemporary art. According to the publication’s investigation, published Friday and titled “In Search of Banksy,” the artist is Robin Gunningham, a Bristol native who reportedly changed his name to David Jones some years ago.The investigation, led by reporters Simon Gardner, James Pearson, and Blake Morrison, drew on a wide range of sources, including a trip to Ukraine, where Banksy was photographed and spoke with locals; a reported fallout with Jamaican photographer Peter Dean Rickards, who allegedly posted photos of Banksy’s face; and a signed, handwritten confession uncovered from a 2000 arrest in New York. The team also reviewed previously undisclosed U.S. court records and police reports, and interviewed a dozen insiders and experts from Banksy’s world.The Reuters investigation pushes back against a long-standing theory that Banksy is Robert Del Naja, the frontman of the band Massive Attack, whose political views and passion for graffiti had fueled the speculation. While Mr. Del Naja was also present in Ukraine in 2022, Reuters says he was accompanied by another man — identified as Mr. Gunningham. Banksy’s lawyer, Mark Stephens, pushed back strongly against the publication. “Working anonymously or under a pseudonym serves vital societal interests,” he wrote. “It protects freedom of expression by allowing creators to speak truth to power without fear of retaliation, censorship or persecution.” Mr. Stephens also warned that publishing the findings “would violate the artist’s privacy, interfere with his art and put him in danger.”Reuters moved forward regardless, concluding that “the public has a deep interest in understanding the identity and career of a figure with his profound and enduring influence on culture, the art industry and international political discourse.”The investigation is the latest chapter in the decades-long effort to put a name and face to one of the world’s most enigmatic artists — one whose anonymity has long been considered inseparable from his art.Banksy continues to make global headlines. One of his most recent works appeared in September last year, depicting a judge attacking an unarmed protester with a gavel. Captioned “Royal Courts of Justice,” the piece was widely interpreted as a commentary on the legal crackdown on pro-Palestine protests in England. It was swiftly removed.Banksy is perhaps best known for a 2018 stunt in which his painting “Girl with Balloon” partially shredded itself — using a hidden mechanism built into the frame — immediately after selling for $1.3 million at Sotheby’s London. The prank, widely seen as a critique of the commercial art world, prompted the piece to be renamed “Love is in the Bin.” It went on to sell for $24.5 million in 2021. Reuters alleges that a man resembling Mr. Gunningham was present at the auction, watching the crowd’s reaction as the shredder activated.In a separate episode that captured global attention, Banksy once sold original signed canvases from an unassuming stall in New York’s Central Park — for just $60 each. The stunt, which took place during a month-long New York residency in October 2013, saw works estimated to be worth up to $25,000 apiece go largely unnoticed by the public.The residency, titled “Better Out Than In,” saw the artist promise a new piece of street art every day throughout October. A video posted to Banksy’s website showed an elderly man manning the stall, making his first sale mid-afternoon to a woman who purchased two small canvases for her children after negotiating a 50 percent discount. A woman from New Zealand bought two more, and a man from Chicago purchased four, telling the seller he had recently moved and needed something for the walls. By the end of the day, total sales amounted to $420.“I know street art can feel increasingly like the marketing wing of an art career, so I wanted to make some art without the price tag attached,” Banksy said in an email interview with the Village Voice. “There is no gallery show or book or film. It’s pointless. Which hopefully means something.”

Reuters Claims To Have Unmasked Banksy After Extensive Investigation

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