Who is Banksy? Unmasking the elusive street artist

For three decades, Banksy has challenged authority, mocked consumer culture and transformed public spaces into poignant canvases - while keeping his true identity hidden from the world.

His signature artworks often appear without warning, sparking global conversation, but the culprit quietly dodges the limelight.

Often described as "elusive" and "secretive" by the press, the "guerrilla street artist" is a hero to some and a vandal to others. But who is the man behind the stencils?

The debate has resurfaced after an investigation by Reuters claims to have finally unmasked the world's most famous street artist. But, many fans believe the news agency has got it wrong and the speculation continues.

Banksy is believed to have been born in the nearby town of Yate, which was then in Gloucestershire, in the early 1970s.

He rose to prominence after he began spray-painting his now-trademark stencilled designs around Bristol in the early 1990s.

He even hosted art classes for teenagers in Lawrence Weston, the same year he would go on to paint his famous Mild, Mild West mural in Stokes Croft in 1999. The photos from these sessions, obtained exclusively by the BBC, are some of the earliest-known images of him.

The city's influential music and arts scene are believed to have inspired his work.

By the mid-2000s, Banksy's work became more ambitious and began popping up in cities all over the world, attracting a media frenzy.

His mythical status as the masked artist poking fun at authority brought him - or at least his brand - international recognition.

Exhibitions of his work, in cities including Los Angeles and London, became sell-out events.

His often politically-charged works began to sell for vast amounts of money, with A-List customers including Brad Pitt, Paul Smith and Christina Aguilera.

The 2010 documentary film Exit Through The Gift Shop - showing Banksy at work - was nominated for an Oscar and a Bafta.

In 2015, he transformed the dilapidated Tropicana lido in Weston-super-Mare, which he had visited as a child, into the subversive tourist attraction Dismaland.

Three years later, in a highly theatrical piece of performance art, he staged a live destruction of his Girl with Balloon at Sotheby's auction house - moments after it was sold for £1m.

A number of names have been linked with Banksy in the past, including Robert Del Naja, Robin Gunningham, Art Attack's Neil Buchanan or a Bristol art collective.

The name Gunningham first emerged in what declared to be a world exclusive by The Mail in 2008, describing him as "a former public schoolboy brought up in middle-class suburbia".

Compounding this theory, the BBC unearthed an interview in 2023 in which the artist appears to confirm his first name as "Robbie".

According to Reuters, Banksy was born Robin Gunningham but later took the name David Jones - though it is unclear whether he still uses this particular alias.

They added these extraordinary efforts to hide his identity began to fall apart in September 2000, after he was charged with defacing a billboard in New York.

Records of the arrest contained his real name.

But Banksy's former manager, Steve Lazarides, told Reuters they were "pursuing a ghost", after he helped his client legally change his name following the incident.

"There is no Robin Gunningham," he said.

"The name you've got I killed years ago. You'll never find him."

As the artist moved into middle age, his prolific creative output continues, if anything with works that are more outspoken and political than earlier pieces.

The war in Ukraine - where a Banksy appeared in November 2022 - the right to protest and immigration are just a few topics recently embraced by the artist.

But not all his work is overtly political, with many having a comic, or sardonic, message about society.

In 2021, 10 pieces of street art titled The Great British Spraycation depicted seagulls dive-bombing for chips, children playing with sand and in boats, as well as a rat leaning back in a deckchair while enjoying a cocktail.

In the summer of 2024, wildlife artworks appeared in London - with eight revealed over as many days.

As is often the case, not all the art survived intact.

The elephants were soon defaced with stripes, the wolf appeared to be stolen within hours of being confirmed as a Banksy, the cat was taken down the same day it was revealed, and a masked man spray painted a tag over the rhino.

Last year, a mural unveiled on the side of the Royal Courts of Justice building - depicting a judge wielding a gavel over a protestor - was also quickly erased.

John Brandler, director of Brandler Art Galleries, believes it is convenient for Banksy to remain anonymous "so he can walk down the street" without being recognised, but says the Banksy brand would survive regardless.

"To the art world, it doesn't matter any more," he said.

"[When he started], being anonymous helped him stand out - the masked crusader - but now it doesn't matter any more.

"His people have made the brand Banksy such an incredible thing, it wouldn't make any difference.

"He's very clever. It's brilliant marketing."

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