• For Permissions and Terms on Reproduction of the Banksy Spitalfields Image; contact
  St.Mark@LondonDada.com

(  * December 22 Update, Banksy on Ukraine: scroll to the foot of the page  )

Preface

London Dada’s objective in bringing graffiti artist Banksy’s true appearance and identity to public attention lies in our belief that the art world would be a much healthier and just environment for all artists to operate successfully if the honest and plain-speaking force for good that Banksy can be, abandoned his now tedious verging on cowardly anonymity, screwed-up his courage and stepped out of the shadows to explain in plain terms his wall messages to the main media via interviews and public appearances.
– Michael St.Mark
London, February 2019

Banksy outed in Spitalfields, August 2014.  Rob Gunningham caught short, photographing what was probably intended to have been another addition to his collection of assorted street graffiti images, ( alongside a bulging scrap book of other artist’s torn cartoon pages it looks like; all for consideration to integrate into future Banksy works ** ).

Comparing Rob’s height with the old trade door and almost certainly the obscuring nearby (getaway) car in the image ( Stanmore plate ) , we estimate Banksy to come in at around the 6ft mark – maybe 6ft 1″ – 6′ 2″ in New Balance trainers.
He’s certainly a tall guy.

Context
August 3rd 2014, Wilkes Street London E1.  An early Sunday morning chance encounter with two men, both noticeably avoiding attention in this deserted street, turning their backs as they were approached by London Dada’s Art Axis.

The tall “silver-haired” one, who had by then bent forward, away from the approaching Art Axis, to attend a pro camera setup, apparently procuring photos of Dale Marshall-like graffiti and sundry adulterated posters adorning a dilapidated commercial twin door; on a signal from his assistant on the opposite side of the street, at the sight of AA’s camera, immediately stood, turned and stepped quickly out, placing one leg in front of the parked blue Peugeot 206 RC, obscuring the full plate reg number.

On viewing the total of 4 images we captured of this individual and his ducking & diving assistant/minder, it became clear by the identical features and proportions to those of the person reliably claimed to be *Robin Gunningham / Banksy by the Daily Mail in 2008 ( see below ) : that this indeed was Banksy himself !

In addition to the overall features in this picture both proportionally and specifically matching the famous Jamaican image of Gunningham from 2004, featured reversed in the Daily Mail in 2008, short mustache ( concealing a childhood lip surgery scar ) below a distinctive Punch & Judy chin, aquiline nose, high forehead with hairline interrupted by a widow’s peak, all being pretty much dead ringer giveaways.

Analysis

The dyed grey/silver hair & blotchy white stage makeup-powdered stubble smear, an obvious attempt at c. +25yrs age disguise. Who else on the planet would make this big an effort to mask their appearance – including an obvious latex prosthetic sharp-end nose piece  (see below) –  when ” on duty ” in public and working around street graffiti?

* If Robin Gunningham, ex-public schoolboy from Bristol, for whom there’s pretty indisputable evidence of being a real person is not Banksy, then why is he not listed on any public records, the Electoral Register, nor come forward after seeing his name plastered all over the ‘net to make clear he’s not the man?

Click to enlarge The Real Banksy

(c) Art Axis / London Dada 2014

* Available in a signed limited edition of 10 only; we believe the only available late contemporary image of the world-famous street artist in the public domain.

Lightjet fine art prints onto Kodak Pro archival paper
22″ W x 16″ H ( unframed )
£850 ( unframed )

Enquiries; email St.Mark@londondada.com

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“I had Banksy & his minder by the photo /video balls that morning – and, respecting their space, let the poor scared buggers go” – AA

Banksy in Jamaica in 2008, before adopting his prosthetic sharp-end nose piece disguise

  

 

………………………………………………………………………..                                                  royal

The subject of Banksy’s royal interest & post to his Twitter account.

**
And to think; we all so wanted to believe Banksy is as originally creative and witty as he is a talented draughtsman. **sigh emoji**

#nomoreheroes

+ BANKSY SPY BOOTH direct influence/copy from a 2008 London Dada work by Lisa Cummins

Update, 5/2/2018
Hull sighting of Banksy confirmed as genuine by London Dada

* click to enlarge – the same give-away profile features of his prominent aquiline nose, except again, as in the Jamaican images without his latterday ” on duty ”  latex prosthetic sharp-end nose piece; darkened ginger ( ginger being Rob’s natural hair color)  – ‘tashed thin-lipped mouth covering his childhood surgery scar.. and again the distinctive prominent Punch & Judy chin.
Also note the badly matching  2-part false beard disguise Banksy chooses to wear on this occasion in our enlarged screenshot from the recent video taken in Hull, looking more like a chin strap. Careful scrutiny ( double click ) of the enlargement shows the sideburn part of the disguise is pinned to his right earlobe, probably through a pre-existing piercing, whilst the lower part of the disguise is attached via a small pin ( see red pen highlighted loops in the super enlargement below, click to view. ) 
In addition, it appears the outside edge of Robin’s right ear is missing, perhaps severed in a childhood dog attack or a later knife incident. In this regard see also the ” exit stage right looking pleased” image, below. ( Art Axis spot; 6th February 2018 / June 2023).

Confirming beyond doubt these two pictures show the same man, and that man is Robin Gunningham aka Banksy.

UPDATE 2 Balloon Girl shredding stunt at Sotherbys, October 5th 2018

Banksy was said by some to be present in the audience filming the pre-arranged stunt.. and so were other folks, one of whom panned her smartphone camera across the room, taking in a dozen heads along the way. London Dada’s Art Axis – who passed within a few feet of Banksy in 2014, paused the video ( an online upload ) at the point where he recognized someone uncannily similar to Banksy, face-wise, with recent front teeth orthodontics, hair dyed a darker grey and cropped short, the obligatory mustache and giveaway prominent dimpled chin and aquiline nose with an unusual pointed end.
The gent was decked out in a business suit with a white loose-necked shirt and sporting dark tortoiseshell-framed glasses, with what appears to be a miniature spy camera attached to the right side keeper.
Cameraphone in hand, he’s obviously enjoying the proceedings…however he is filming with his smartphone in portrait mode whereas other video featured on his Instagram account of the auction was shot in the pro standard landscape format, suggesting the short assistant/friend/lookout he always works alongside for cover and security, was filming the event for Banksy’s official Instagram account from close by in the auction room.

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Update 12/12/2018 ( still frame from Banksy’s ” Director’s cut and a Half ” video )
After further close analysis and cross-compares, we can say with 100% certainty that this individual, previously filmed elsewhere in the Sotheby’s auction room, is Banksy himself; inadvertently, the irony of ironies caught in close-up on his own video.


© London Dada 2018

Reproduction terms; St.Mark@LondonDada.com

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The now ubiquitous term “Reality Check”  coined here, July 2015

.ThLink to the associated archive blog post

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Addendum
Crop of Banksy’s  loose-fitting and overlong jeans with trainers combo deportment style from our 2014 Spitalfields photograph with jeans folding down over the shoes ( below, left )
Compare with the same loose-fitting combo style in the known photo of Banksy by Steve Lazarides, bottom right.

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( Cropped & appropriated photograph )
* Original photo courtesy Steve Lazarides

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(On both these occasions below, Banksy is wearing his “on-duty” sharp nose-end latex prosthetic )

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About London Dada

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Banksy in Lockdown ( a slight aside )

This image, put out by Banksy in the midst of the UK coronavirus lockdown in 2020, features a play on French graffiti artist Blek le Rat’s time-honored rat motif and purports to be based on Banksy’s actual home bathroom; perhaps offers an interesting insight into his social-domestic situation.
The fixtures, fittings, and colour scheme are decidedly dated, as if belonging to an unmodernized property from the 1970s or 80s era, which in turn suggests he lives alone, in that if he was married or co-habiting, the lady of the house would typically almost certainly insist on a new suite, especially considering the wealth of her husband or partner
In summary, Robin Gunningham probably lives a predominantly sheltered, if not hermit-like existence, most likely in or around the Bristol area as evidenced by his latest street work on Vale St in the Totterdown district, that if he’s conforming to lockdown rules is probably not far from his house.
Incidentally, the current mask mandates in force would constitute an absolute boon for Banksy – meaning he now doesn’t need to bother with tiresome faffing around with variations of disguise before sallying forth to the shops or further afield “for work”.
We can therefore expect more frequency of activity from an emboldened RG as lockdown is eased this year, but he must of course guard against hubris.

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Provisional social comment on Rob’s recent “spraycation” assortment of vanilla artworks appearing on sundry east coast seaside resort infrastructure; August 2021.
What springs to mind off the bat is a revamped version of two lyric lines from The Who’s old hit ,The Seeker..

” People tend to hate me ’cause I’m faceless & rip-off Blek le Rat
..but if I ransacked their homes they’d wanna shake my hand “

“Suffolk Police said in a statement: “Police are appealing for witnesses to an incident of criminal damage in Lowestoft.

Interesting isn’t it, that defacing a Banksy spray painting on a wall is now considered a criminal offence?

“It took place at some point between 5:35pm on Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 August at just after midnight “
Just because Frank Newsome, the Merrivale Village owner endorsed – nay embraced – the model stable plant complete with urban style text vandalism only after he realised it was daubed by Banksy and would thereby be a means to make mega money as a five-star tourist attraction or to sell, is in no way justification or carte blanche for the artist to go about his business spraying any object or objects with impunity and effectively litter them in public locations without legal consequences, as there definitely would be for other artists not in the same public fame bracket, simply because the graffiti concerned subsequently appears on Robin Gunningham’s website as an “authentic Banksy”.
It’s as if this Blek le Rat copyist has become above the law in the UK.

btw liking the deliberate comment syntax spaghetti-like most blokes, he comes in many different disguises

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BANKSY on Ukraine

Latest Banksy Update, December 2023. X ( Twitter ) post outlining the fairly obvious by now, that Robin is virtually immune from the law. The authorities know full well his amended ID and could track him down at the drop of a disguise hat.

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Update January 2024, Thye Walled-Off Hotel closes its doors, having been spared the Israeli bombing for some reason…

ANGELA MERKEL ADMITS CYNICAL DUPLICITY OVER THE MINSK AGREEMENT