A new investigation says Banksy’s true identity has finally been uncovered after years of speculation, identifying the anonymous street artist as “Robin Gunningham” of Bristol and reporting that he later used the name David Jones to avoid detection.

  • Bob Robertson IX @discuss.tchncs.de
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    31
    ·
    15 hours ago

    When my daughter was 7 she got really interested in graffiti and had tons of questions about it. She asked if there were any famous graffiti artists and I told her the names of some of the more prolific local artists, but of course told her all about Banksy.

    I told her that she’s really lucky to live during a time when Banksy’s identity is unknown because at some point it will become known and the magic will be over.

    That was 2 years ago, and I haven’t told her about this story yet because until Banksy confirms it, I don’t accept it. And because it makes me sad that the magic might be over.

    We can unmask Banksy but just let the Panama Papers fade into obscurity.

  • searabbit@piefed.social
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    39
    ·
    15 hours ago

    Banksy’s lawyer, Mark Stephens, pushed back on the report and said the artist did not accept many parts of the investigation as accurate.

    Stephens argued that revealing the artist’s identity would compromise his safety, intrude on his private life, and undermine his ability to work freely.

    Reuters said it decided to publish because of what it described as strong public interest in a figure who has had a significant and lasting impact on culture, the art world, and public discourse.

    This is why we can’t have superheros nice things smh

  • Joe Bidet@lemmy.ml
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    63
    ·
    17 hours ago

    yeah because that is where true, independent, investigative journalism is needed!..

    …to identify and name people who prefer to remain anonymous!

    yay for the 4th estate!

  • HuudaHarkiten@piefed.social
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    44
    ·
    17 hours ago

    Who is wasting resources on this? Seems a bit pointless.

    Also, I think its rather perverted that if someone makes it clear they want to be left alone/anonymous, the society/media declares “NO!” and goes to insane lengths to figure out who they are.

    Same thing happened with Lordi, the Finnish metal band. When they won eurovision, the main guy said “I would appreciate if we could stay anonymous, or at least not have our real faces plastered all over.” So of course the largest gossip magazine in Finland felt the need to plaster his face on the cover of their stupid magazine.

    Though that did lead to a funny thing… There was a “campaign” to boycott the magazine called “käännä Seiska” - “turn Seiska.” My friend didn’t get the full idea, since “käännä” is a slang for stealing. So he stole a bunch of those magazines from a shop, only realized he was supposed to turn them upside down not steal them, after he got home with a pile of Seiska magazines.

    • FaceDeer@fedia.io
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      15 hours ago

      Who is wasting resources on this? Seems a bit pointless.

      There are people who spend their lives tracking bigfoot, or trying to figure out who D. B. Cooper was, or any number of other mysteries. It can be a hobby.

      • gnate@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        6
        ·
        12 hours ago

        True, but I think the point is that Reuters, et al have better things to do.

  • athatet@lemmy.zip
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    26
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    17 hours ago

    It’s not true. Robin was at my place playing vidya anytime banksy put up an art piece.

  • Someonelol@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    6
    ·
    15 hours ago

    The Streisand Effect in action. It doesn’t care whether those who want privacy are good or bad. The only way to stay relatively anonymous is to never use tech, go outside, or do anything noteworthy.

  • HubertManne@piefed.social
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    6
    ·
    16 hours ago

    “several masked men”. if several people are involved in staging I don’t see how they can actually identify one person. He does not even need to be in the area and could decide on how to do a piece from photos and video.

  • jordanlund@lemmy.worldM
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    4
    ·
    15 hours ago

    Really weird story… By some accounts this has been known for years and by others it’s still unconfirmed…