With Banksy's work garnering attention all over the world, from a museum filled with censored art in Barcelona to a deteriorating wall along a tourist spot in Venice, his pseudonym has become a "household name." However, thanks to a recent resurfacing interview his "real name" might just get the same notoriety.
In the 2003 audio recording, then-BBC arts correspondent Nigel Wrench asked the artist if his name was "Robert Banks." Banksy, who was in his 20s at the time, replied plainly, "It's Robbie."
Although the artist's identity has been the subject of many speculations, it has never been formally revealed, and one-on-one interviews with Banksy have routinely been scarce.
GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - JULY 04: Members of the public walk past work by the street artist The Rebel Bear, a tribute by the Glasgow artist to Banksy, on Argyle Street on July 04, 2023 in Glasgow, Scotland. The painting, located at the entrance to Debenham's store on Argyle Street, features Banksy's signature rat as the Duke of Wellington, tipping his traffic-cone hat to passersby.
How did the Audio Recording Resurface?
A "polished" version of the 2003 interview was aired at the time which provided the rare opportunity to hear Banksy's voice, but the part regarding the artist's first name, among others, was edited out and unaired.
That is until Wrench got the idea to recover the "lost" audio after listening to "The Banksy Story" podcast, promptly searching his house for a copy of the full interview that was stored in a minidisc. Wrench later reshared the full recording as a bonus clip for the podcast series.
In the same recording, Banksy can also be heard defending the medium of graffiti art by using a "microwave" analogy for the process of creating his art, refusing to apologize for his "vandalism."
"I'm not here to apologize for it," Banksy told Wrench before also saying, "It's a quicker way of making your point, right?"
So, Banksy isn't Robin Gunningham?
Preceding the existence of the recording, Banksy's identity had also been "exposed" before. Specifically, in 2008, the Daily Mail reported the artist's name to be Robin Gunnigham and that he was a 34-year-old who previously attended a public school.
The outlet cited a 2004 photo of a man in Jamaica kneeling beside used spray paint cans and graffiti stencils, claiming him to be Gunningham. That said, the artist has since denied this claim.
In another instance, a lawsuit from a company had also threatened to jeopardize Banksy's identity. In 2022, Banksy had posted on Instagram that allegedly "damaged" the brand GUESS's reputation. In the post, the artist said that the company "helped themselves" with his artwork without asking.
