Who is Banksy? Best theories from Robert Del Naja to Robin Gunningham
The art world does love a mystery, and Banksy is the one we just haven’t been able to crack.
It is remarkable that an artist so popular – the nation’s favourite of all time, apparently – could remain anonymous even when new paintings keep popping up around such heavily frequented areas. A new mural has emerged on a Birmingham street to highlight homelessness at Christmas. Banksy posted a video of a homeless man, Ryan, settling onto a bench to sleep and a pair of painted reindeer carrying him off into the sky.
Banksy has supposedly emerged from the shadows on a number of occasions – unearthed footage of the artist (supposedly) was discovered from a 2003 ITV interview recently.
As with any conspiracy theory, no one can agree, so here are some of the most intriguing suspicions surrounding Banksy’s identity.
Massive Attack’s Robert Del Naja
This is one of the most popular theories – of course, it would be fun if Banksy was someone we already know. Massive Attack musician Robert Del Naja is already a graffiti artist and spent years in Bristol, which strengthens the claim. Fans believed they’d cracked it when DJ Goldie supposedly let Banksy’s name slip on Scroobius Pip’s podcast. While discussing Banksy, Goldie said: “No disrespect to Rob, I think he is a brilliant artist. I think he has flipped the world of art over.” Theorists have managed to match up Massive Attack tour dates with the appearance of new murals, while both Banksy and Del Naja have cited each other as inspirations. But Del Naja denied being Banksy, and this “Rob” has also been claimed to refer to Robin Gunningham, another potential candidate.
Robin Gunningham
Bristol-born Robin Gunningham being Banksy is the strongest rumour. Born in 1973, a few miles from Bristol, by former schoolmates say Gunningham is the mysterious artist. Criminologists at Queen Mary University even used geographic profiling to supposedly identify the street artist in 2016. The technique is usually applied to locating repeat offenders, but the researchers analysed 140 artworks in London and Bristol attributed to the artist to make their conclusions.
Gorillaz founder Jamie Hewlett
Another famous face to get caught up in the speculation is Jamie Hewlett, comic artist and founder of Gorillaz. An anonymous forensic expert last year reportedly obtained data that showed the name J Hewlett associated with every company connected with the artist. Adding fuel to the fire, Banksy’s gorilla artwork was used in the band’s music video for Tomorrow Comes Today. However, Banksy’s publicist denied the claims.
Thierry Guetta aka Mr Brainwash
Banksy’s 2010 documentary Exist Through the Gift Shop tells the story of Thierry Guetta, aka Mr Brainwash, a street artist in Los Angeles who runs a vintage clothing shop and obsesses over filming his surroundings. Thanks to the documentary Guetta rose to fame and rumours began to spread that he was, in fact, Banksy himself, and that the documentary was a hoax. These theories have been expressly contradicted by many sources.
An unnamed woman leading a group
Most assumptions have been that Banksy is one man, but there have been theories posited that Banksy is actually a woman in charge of a group of artists. In the documentary Banksy Does New York, Canadian artist Chris Healey puts forward this argument, saying that Banksy is the blonde woman who appears in studio scenes in Exit Through the Gift Shop. Healey refuses to reveal his source, but maintains this stance.
Richard Pfeiffer
Richard Pfeiffer was simply in the wrong (or right?) place at the wrong time. The artist and his girlfriend were admiring one of Banksy’s works in Manhattan, when he was arrested, accused of drawing the image. He had a pen in his pocket at the time, but he was able to prove it was not the same pen that drew the graffiti and the charges were dropped six months later.
