Banksy is the most famous street artist. Despite his worldwide fame, for many years he has managed to remain anonymous and hide his name behind a catchy pseudonym. His works are worth hundreds of thousands of pounds, and people compete for the opportunity to buy them at auctions. At the same time, Banksy himself ridicules the vices of our time, protesting against the way of modern society, and demonstrates his position through his own work.
There are many versions of who Banksy is. According to common versions, his real name is Robert or Robin Banks. In 2016, a version appeared that Banksy’s name was Robert Gunningham.
One of the most common versions is that the founder of the trip-hop group Massive Attack, Robert Del Naja, is hiding under the pseudonym Banksy. Some people also assume that Banksy is Jimmy Heard, a British comic book artist and founder of the Gorillaz.
There are also those who believe that Banksy is the name behind a whole group of street artists. This assumption is based on the idea that one person cannot physically paint so much graffiti, and in different parts of the world.
However, Banksy’s name is not known for certain – none of the versions of his name have been confirmed.
Games with the artist’s real name have become an integral part of his PR campaign and only fuel the audience’s interest. Banksy has long since turned from an ordinary street artist into a full-fledged brand.
Banksy has never shown his own face. His only media appearance was an interview for his own documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop, but even here he hid himself in the shadows and changed his voice. The film, by the way, received an Oscar nomination.
At the beginning of his career, Banksy gave up his copyright and constantly posted his own works on the Internet for other people to use.
Banksy is even credited with the aphorism “Copyright is for losers”. However, the days when he did not accept intellectual property are long gone.
In 2018, Banksy could not resist the flood of souvenirs, fakes and unauthorized sales of his works, and for the first time filed a lawsuit against the Mudec Museum in Milan. The museum was selling postcards and other items with graffiti images as part of the exhibition “Banksy’s Art – Visual Protest”. The lawsuit was filed by the Pest Control agency, which buys the artist’s works. The court ruled in favor of Banksy.
