Robin Gunningham,

[Bongo]

a.k.a. Banksy

What to Know About Banksy and the Street Artist’s Identity

An investigation by Reuters, which says it has identified the street artist, hinges on a police report from his arrest in New York two decades ago.

www.nytimes.com

 

[Bongo]

I wonder what "Banksy's" work would have sold for,IF from the beginning Robin Gunninham had signed his name to it?

 

[Terri]

The article is behind a paywall, unfortunately. But no doubt, "Bansky" is the one who attracted the attention!

 

[Bongo]

oh.. maybe this one will work

How graffiti artist Banksy kept his identity secret for decades

HE is the world’s most famous living artist – and as his mystique is good for sales, no one in the art world is in a hurry to find out who Banksy really is. The mystery man, whose work sells for as…

www.the-sun.com

When you look at JUST the "art" itself - standing on its own - it looks like something clever(at best)that might have accompanied an opinion piece in the Sunday paper. The content is mostly platitudes, sentimental, border scribbles in a sketchbook. Seeing the work in book form or in a gallery imo humbles it.

The shock value of where it was placed - like finding a spider under your pillow - is what gave it its purchase. And the keystone cops, Scotland Yard, and Bobbies, forever chasing that pesky rascal Banksy and his merry band of sprayers, captured the imagination of a pre-Twitter public.