The Hero
الأســــــــــــــطورة
- إنضم
- Jun 29, 2008
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- في ضحكة عيون حبيبي
Is this Banksy? Elusive graffiti artist may have finally been caught out after his van broke down while installing artwork in New York
Secretive artist apparently seen wearing a flat cap and dirty overalls
His true identity has never been confirmed for sure despite his fame
Banksy is currently in New York creating artworks around the city
Many believe he is a former public schoolboy named Robin Gunningham
Follows a 2011 sighting of a man believed to be Banksy in Santa Monica
Reclusive graffiti artist Banksy has apparently been caught on camera overseeing the creation of one of his artworks in New York.
A man in a flat cap and paint-spattered overalls was photographed trying to fix a 'moving painting' in a van which had broken down, as part of the artist's month-long 'exhibition' in the U.S.
That person is now believed by several newspapers to be the elusive Banksy, who has never confirmed his identity and of whom no picture is definitely known to exist.
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The artist's real name is thought to be either Robin Banks or Robin Gunningham, but all that is known for sure is that he is from Bristol.
Previously photographs purporting to show Banksy were taken in Santa Monica in 2011 and East London in 2007.
[h=3]THE ART OF DECEPTION? EARLIER 'SIGHTINGS' OF THE MYSTERIOUS BANKSY[/h]
He's the Scarlet Pimpernel of modern art and his true identity remains a jealously guarded secret.
A network of myths has grown up around him. That his real name is Robin Banks. That he used to be a butcher. That his parents don't know what he does, believing him to be an unusually successful painter and decorator.
Then there's the suggestion that Banksy is actually a collective of artists and doesn't exist at all.
Banksy's refusal to reveal himself may have started simply to avoid prosecution for what could be described as acts of vandalism.
However by remaining anonymous he has created an air of mystery which has helped him to become one of the most successful artists of his generation.
He has been photographed in the past but always wearing a mask or hood.
In 2008 he was reportedly 'unmasked' as Robin Gunningham, a former public schoolboy from Bristol with a passion for art. At the time Banksy's agent refused to confirm or deny the story.
Banksy then wrote on his website:'I am unable to comment on who may or may not be Banksy, but anyone described as being 'good at drawing' doesn't sound like Banksy to me.'
Fans had hoped he would finally reveal himself in his spoof 2010 grafitti film Exit Through The Gift Shop - he did appear in the film however he was heavily pixellated.
The film tells the story of an eccentric shop-keeper-turned-documentary-maker who attempts to locate and befriend Banksy, only to have the artist turn the camera back on him and gives few clues as to the artist's identity.
Banksy has resurfaced several times since, notably in 2011 when pictures were taken of a man daubing lettering on a water tank in Santa Monica.
The story goes that a homeless man had been living inside the tank for years and Banksy's artwork resulted in him being kicked out.
Banksy had turned Tachowa Covingtons makeshift Pacific Coast Highway home into a piece of art by spray painting along the side of the bus-sized tank This looks a bit like an elephant.
But after the art world got wind of it someone bought Covingtons squat with the intention of selling to collectors.
Banksy reportedly made amends with Covington by providing him with a sizeable sum of money.
He said this week that his plans in New York had been hampered by the speed of building in the city as places he wanted to paint were redeveloped.
'I returned to find most of the empty lots I planned to use have got condos built on them already,' Banksy said in a rare interview with the Village Voice. He said he staked out the city months ago and was shocked at the speed of development.
'I chose it for the high foot traffic and the amount of hiding places,' he said. 'Maybe I should be somewhere more relevant, like Beijing or Moscow, but the pizza isn't as good.
The famously private graffiti artist chose the New York City paper for his interview because he feels an affinity with people who provide quality content for free on street corners'.
Through a publicist, Banksy discussed his work, his self-imposed anonymity, and his plans to create a new work on the streets of the Big Apple for every month in October.
I represent the artist Banksy, began an email to the Village Voice with the subject line confidential. The alt-weekly received the message in September from London art publicist Jo Brooks.
Brooks would be the facilitator between the Voice and Banksy, who keeps his identity hidden in part because of the illegal nature of his work.
Most recently, that illegal work includes Better Out than In: An Artist Residency on the Streets of New York. The month long project began posting photographic evidence of Banksys work on the website BanksyNY.com.
The plan is to live here, react to things, see the sights - and paint on them, Banksy told the Village Voice in an email. Some of it will be pretty elaborate, and some will just be a scrawl on a toilet wall.
Starting on October 1, Banksy has used his masterful stenciling technique to turn New York City buildings into his canvas.
Naughty paperboys, a dog peeing on a fire hydrant, and a Band-Aid covered balloon now decorate Manhattan and Brooklyn - or did until they were quickly painted over.
