Banksy’s Real Name Might Have Been Revealed In Old Interview

Who the hell is Banksy? It’s a question that has preoccupied the art world for more than three decades. Although the elusive street artist has heroically managed to keep his identity a secret since the ’90s, every now and then he almost slips up. (Unless he makes a false mistake in his act, of course.) In 2018, people I thought they had finally guessed who he was. Now, thanks to a very old interview found by chance, we might finally know… well, his first name, at least.

By HuffPost, former BBC correspondent Nigel Screw has unearthed an interview he did with Banksy in 2003. It is so old that the conversation was recorded on a minidisc. To make this discovery even better, Wright found it in a closet.

The interview was conducted for Banksuy’s ‘Turf War’ exhibition, which was held in a warehouse in east London. It starts off innocently enough, with Wright testing his mic, then asking if it’s okay to use his full name, which is “Robert Banks.”

Banksy then casually corrects him by saying, “It’s Robbie.”

Audio of the interview has since been made public by the BBC. Wright says he always thought Banksy was on the level.

“There was no reason to think he was lying,” Clé said, adding that he repeatedly called her “Robbie” throughout their conversation. “No one from the Banksy empire has ever contacted me. No one has ever contradicted this.

“If that wasn’t his real name, why wouldn’t he just say, ‘Yeah, it’s Robert Banks?'” Clé added. “I thought [after he said his name was Robbie] that it was absolutely his real name.

Be careful, this is far from being a confirmation of Banksy’s identity. Allowing a reporter to call him by a name is absolutely something someone who wants to keep their identity secret would do, right? Surely an artist who I sold a painting for a fortune then had it shredded I wouldn’t ruin it that badly.

(Via HuffPost)