Banksy's 5 most controversial works of art as street artist's identity finally 'uncovered' after years-long investigation
People have been reflecting on Banksy's most controversial works of art, after reports that the artist's identity has been 'uncovered'.
The infamous graffiti artist has been producing work since the 90s, with his best known pieces including the 'Girl with Balloon', while 'Flower Thrower', 'Choose Your Weapon', 'Laugh Now', and 'Kissing Coppers' are also world-renowned.
For decades, people have been trying to uncover Banksy's identity, but following an investigation by Reuters, it's now believed that the ever-illusive artist has been successfully identified.
According to Reuters, Banksy is Robin Gunningham. A key piece to the puzzle was police records in the US noting that a man with this moniker was arrested in September 2000 for defacing defaced a billboard atop a building on 675 Hudson Street, New York City.
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According to the report, it has been suggested that Gunningham now goes by David Jones (as of 2008).
"In 2017, for example, there were about 6,000 men named David Jones in the UK, according to data analyzed by GBG, an identity-data intelligence company. David Jones also is the given name of David Bowie, whose Ziggy Stardust alter ego inspired a Banksy portrait of Queen Elizabeth," Reuters writes.
Back in 2023, HUNGER magazine reflected on some of Banksy's most controversial works.
Let's get into it.
Slave Labour
Around the time of the London 2012 Olympics, Banksy spray painted Slave Labour onto a Poundland shop in Wood Green, London.
Taking a swipe at consumerism, the image showed a child producing Union Jack flags for the event, as well as the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, which was taking place the same year.
I remember when all this was trees
In 2010, Banksy made a point about some of the major changes that have taken place in Detroit over the last several decades.
Painting a young boy holding a paint can and brush, alongside 'I remember when all this was trees' in red letters, the work of art was located outside a derelict Packard Plant in the city.
In 2015, Carl Goines and Monte Martinez - directors of the the 555 Nonprofit Gallery and Studios in Detroit - reflected on the work.
“There used to be a whole infrastructure of people working there, and they’re all gone. So are the trees people? Or are the trees trees?” Martinez told Rust Belt Magazine.
“You could plant this anywhere in Detroit,” Goines added.
“The city’s been rebuilt, reshaped, rivers buried. It’s nothing like it ever was.”
Girl with Balloon
One of Banksy's most famous paintings, Girl with Balloon, self-destructed just moments after it was sold for more than £1million ($1.3million) back in 2018.
It was auctioned by Sotheby's in London, but immediately shredded itself after the artist had secretly fitted a shredder inside.
Quoting Picasso on his Instagram, Banksy wrote afterwards: "The urge to destroy is also a creative urge - Picasso."
"It appears we just got Banksy-ed," said Alex Branczik, Sotheby's senior director and head of contemporary art in Europe, at the time.
Dismaland
In 2015, Banksy installed an amusement park in Somerset, which people could visit for £3 per person.
It provided a satirical and dark take on the likes of Disneyland, pointing out the differences between the world we live in and the Disney take.
It featured a run down Cinderella castle complete with a coach crash, as well as a boat game referencing the refugee crisis.
Banksy said Dismaland was 'a place where you can get your counterculture easily available over the counter. A theme park for the disenfranchised, with franchises available'.
Cardinal Sin
For Cardinal Sin, Banksy created a vandalised sculpture of a priest at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool.
The piece was intended to be in reference to the child abuse scandal within the Catholic Church.
"The sculpture very clearly contains a message," said Reyahn King, director of art galleries at National Museums Liverpool.
"When you look at it and see the tiles that have been applied to the sawn-off face, you immediately get the impression of those pixelated images of suspected criminals you see on screen or in a newspaper photograph.
"What interests me is that when a visitor sees that, they then perhaps will look at the other paintings in the gallery and look for the less obvious messages that all artists tend to have within their work."
Other controversial work
In 2024, several pieces of artwork popped up all over London over a period of nine days.
The animal-themed work included a goat standing on a narrow ledge; two elephants poking their heads out of a window; three monkeys dangling on a bridge and a pelican sitting on top of a fish and chip shop.
“It’s been suggested it’s 'just for fun' to brighten up the world, but nothing with Banksy is just for fun," Charlotte Stewart, managing director at MyArtBroker told LADbible.
"Street works by Banksy are intended for the public, and as such are for everyone to interpret personally.
"For me, personally, they represent the gradual building of an Ark, as the Bible story of Noah does when the world needed to start over again. Representing a mass exodus.
"Equally, Banksy has been notorious for his works that involve animal welfare, such works as ‘Barcode’ and ‘Laugh Now’ show themes of animal activism.
"It is a subject he hasn’t dealt with in recent years, but it seems an incongruous focus with the state of the world right now, its wars, and current politics."
Lucy Devine