As a variety of new Banksy artworks have appeared around London, it has revived interest in the elusive artist, with people continuing to question who they are.
The mysterious street artist has evaded the public eye for many years, with their iconic trademark artworks popping up from time to time, but their identity remains a secret. The mystery surrounding Banksy has resulted in his artworks selling for large sums of money, and various A-list celebrities are among his fans and collectors.
In July, several Banksy artworks turned up around London, with the latest being graffiti art of a gorilla helping animals escape from a zoo, which aptly appears on roller doors at London Zoo. This was the artist's ninth piece of animal artwork in nine days, which he posted to his Instagram account on August 13.
In the first installment of the series on August 5, a goat was shown "perching" on a building. This was followed by murals of elephants, monkeys, a wolf, pelicans, a cat, swimming piranhas and a rhino appearing across the city. The rhino has since been sprayed with graffiti, the wolf has been stolen and the cat, which was painted on a billboard, has been removed by contractors amid concerns it would be pulled down.
Banksy has been posting these artworks to his Instagram every day since the first piece, with no captions or further information. The significance of the series has been the subject of much conjecture, with The Guardian claiming the artist is attempting to lift people's spirits amid a period of upsetting news, including stories about racist riots taking place across the United Kingdom.
No matter the meaning behind the series, this renewed interest in the artist once again has raised the question, "Who is Banksy?"
Newsweek emailed a spokesperson for the artist for comment on Tuesday.
The mystery person gained notoriety in the 1990s for street artwork and graffiti, with Banksy's works now fetching millions at auction. Over the years, various names have been linked with Banksy, such as Robert Del Naja, Robin Gunningham and Art Attack's Neil Buchanan.
In 2008, The Mail on Sunday claimed Banksy was the artist Robin Banks, formerly known as Robin Gunningham, "a former public schoolboy brought up in middle-class suburbia."
This theory was compounded after the BBC discovered an interview conducted in 2003 in which Banksy seemingly confirms his name is "Robbie." The never-before-heard audio is featured as a bonus episode in BBC Radio 4's The Banksy Story.
In the audio episode, the show's presenter caught up with reporter Nigel Wrench, who had an interview with the artist that took place on "17.07.2003" as Banksy's show Turf War was being installed in an East London warehouse.
At the time, Wrench said a highly edited version of the interview would have gone out, and the rare complete audio is now included in this additional episode.
During the interview, you can hear Banksy make statements comparing his work to a "celebration of vandalism" and looking at "vandalism as art." On London and the inspiration it gave him, Banksy said he enjoyed living in a "free and easy" city and that people should "treat the city as a big playground and it is there to mess about in."
Gunningham has never commented on the speculation.
The artist has also been connected to Robert Del Naja from the hip-hop group Massive Attack. However, the singer has rejected this and claimed he is friends with the "real" Banksy. When speculation grew that it could be Neil Buchanan, host of the show Art Attack, he was forced to deny any links to the artist.
Some have theorized that Banksy could actually be the work of an art collective based in Bristol.
The mystery surrounding Banksy's identity is sure to keep people guessing, as the artist's PR team and those in the know are notoriously tight-lipped.
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