Journalist Craig Williams came up with one of the leading theories when he investigated this mystery two years ago: he believes that musician Robert Del Naja of the band Massive Attack might be behind it all. With a new Banksy exhibit opening today in Toronto, we thought it was the perfect time to revisit the mystery of the elusive street artist's true identity. and then on walls all around the world, including Israel's separation wall and walls in post-Katrina New Orleans. His work has become incredibly valuable, with galleries selling his paintings and sculptures for more than half a million dollars. Let the caretaker of Banksy’s Wikipedia page sum up these latest developments, for they have done it best: “It has been argued that Goldie could have been referring to either Robert Del Naja, Robin Gunningham, or neither of them.It's one of the art world's biggest mysteries: who is Banksy? The British street artist's politically charged images have become hugely popular over the last 20 years, and yet, no one knows his true identity.īanksy first gained fame for his stencilled spray-painted works that appeared overnight in public spaces around the U.K. But according to an investigation by journalist Craig Williams, 31, Banksy could. Since July 2008, Banksy has been thought to be ex-Bristol Cathedral pupil Robin Gunningham. Attempting to dispel rumors onstage in his hometown of Bristol last year, Del Naja made things even murkier: “We are all Banksy,” he told the crowd, so helpfully.Īnd so, another chapter in the saga of Banksy’s identity concludes inconclusively. World-famous graffiti artist ‘Banksy’ may not be a former public schoolboy after all, but instead could be a team of artists led by a member of the band Massive Attack. A few months earlier, in 2008, he told _The Teleg_raph that Banksy was “iconic, mad and creative” the newspaper identified Banksy as Del Naja’s “close friend.”Īccording to Del Raja, apparently that means you’re also close friends with Banksy, too. “When you look at Banksy’s work as a catalogue of ideas, it’s undeniably brilliant,” he once told The Guardian. Whether he is or not, Del Naja is definitely familiar with Banksy’s work. Massive Attack and Banksy's worlds are fairly intertwined, to the point where a lot of people theorize that the anonymous artist is in fact the group's Robert Del Naja, aka 3D, though he's denied. These facts, along with Del Naja’s noted past street art career going back to the ’80s, have amounted to enough evidence to convince Craig Williams, a journalist who’s become a Banksy identity expert, though more recently he has backpedaled to say that Del Naja is likely a primary figure in a collective that actually makes up Banksy, instead.
#MASSIVE ATTACK BANKSY TV#
(Even though the same publication later “ confirmed” that Banksy was actually another Rob, someone named Robin Gunningham.)īanksy’s works have, after all, seemed to pop up in suspiciously close proximity to the tour stops of the trip hop group (also known as the band behind the theme song of House, which is an objectively excellent TV show). Banksy provided the foreword to Del Najas book 3D and the Art of Massive Attack, which was released last year. I think he has flipped the world of art over.”Īs it turns out, “Robert” is also the name of Goldie’s known friend Robert Del Naja, a former graffiti artist, member of the band Massive Attack, and longstanding internet candidate to actually be Banksy the Daily Mail’s Mail on Sunday even “ revealed” Del Naja was Banksy back in 2008. Massive Attack had played two nights in the city that April. We can sell it now,” Goldie said on Pip’s podcast, before adding, “No disrespect to Robert, I think he is a brilliant artist. “Give me a bubble letter and put it on a T-shirt and write ‘Banksy’ on it, and we’re sorted.
Naturally, the conversation soon turned to the mysterious artist behind public works like a recent anti-Brexit mural and a whole host of political art around Israel’s West Bank and London, whom most people know as Banksy-but whom Goldie seem to know by a different name: Robert. Recently Scottish journalist Craig Williams presented a theory claiming that Massive Attack member Robert Del Naja AKA 3D is the person behind Banksy’s works. This week, the British DJ Goldie sat down with the British poet and musician who goes by Scroobius Pip to discuss, among other things, the commodification of graffiti. His unknown identity and controversial art has made him a man of mystery as well as an international icon with some of his pieces reaching over a million dollars at Sotheby’s auctions.
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