After a lost radio interview at the end of 2023 from the BBC from 20 years ago to urban artist known under the pseudonym “Banksy“was rescued by the British television network, her identity began to cease to be a mystery. In recent days, the English media spread different images and according to her childhood friends it is curious that it is “pretended” that her name is still “anonymous”.
For years, there had been speculation about whether the artist’s name was Robin or Robertsince in the aforementioned radio note, which took place in 2003, “Banksy” said that his name is “Robbie”. Now, the English medium Daily Mail He assured that his real name is Robin Gunninghamand who is around 50 years old.
Is the mystery over? Famous street artist Banksy revealed his name
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Through a report, the newspaper pointed out that “Banksy” was supposedly born into a wealthy family and attended a well-known school in the city of Bristol board.
“Perhaps it is not surprising that the guerrilla graffiti artistwhose works have sold for millions, was seen as a talented artist even back then, when he attended the prestigious Bristol Cathedral Schoolafter starting at the then £700-a-term school in 1984,” the article says.
They also documented that, during the late 1980s and early 1990s, Gunningham went on a study trip with his friends to the Berlin Wall and ski to an exclusive Italian resort known as the “Pearl of the Alps”.
“His creative talent – says the report – found outlet not only in art classes, but also on stagewhere, according to the school magazine The Cathedralian, he played an ‘Ant Commander’ in its first year” in a performance of the play The Insect Play. According to that chronicle, he was acclaimed for ‘how he dominates and has presence on stage.’
The same year, he was called up to the Under 12 rugby team. He also adds that, in 1987, Gunningham had managed to join the debate club and was a member of the Youth Debate Societyearning the nickname “The Guru”.
In 1988, the artist supposedly placed third in the art exhibition awards of the school and his comic strip “The Story of Fred and the Wheel” was exhibited in the aforementioned school magazine.
In dialogue with the English newspaper, a former classmate of the graffiti artist said: “In 2008, we were all quite surprised to have gone to school. with this Banksy characterbut the even bigger mystery was why people in some parts of the media and art world keep pretending to be anonymous“.
“I guess it’s all part of the appeal and his works wouldn’t fetch those ridiculous amounts of money if he were the old Robin Gunningham of Bristol“, he commented when asked by Love is in the Binwhich was sold in 2021 at auction for 18.6 million pounds ($23.3 million).
Why wasn’t Banksy’s identity discovered sooner?
The name information came to light in December 2023 because the interview with the artist was not broadcast in its entirety at the time, in July 2003. So, not all the material was used and that passage was dispensed with. Years later, journalist Nigel Wrench listened to the podcast The Banksy Story‘ and decided to recover the complete note that he had saved at home. It was then that He noticed that the graffiti artist was saying his name.
In the interview, Banksy also defended vandalism as art: “I’m not going to apologize for it. It’s a faster way to express your ideas, right?”
Banksy rose to fame through a series of graffiti that appeared on buildings in Bristol, England, marked by their satirical themes. Despite being one of the most famous artists in the world, decided to stay in the shadows.
In 2018, he shocked the art world when his painting Girl with balloon “self-destructed” in London, immediately after being sold at auction for $25.38 million, the highest amount ever paid for a piece of his.
FP CP
