A major Reuters investigation claims to have uncovered the true identity of elusive street artist Banksy, identifying him as Robin Gunningham, a 52-year-old from Bristol who now goes by the name David Jones. The report, spanning 8,000 words, traces evidence from New York to Ukraine, backing up a 2008 claim by the Mail on Sunday.
Key evidence includes a 2000 NYPD arrest report where a man signed the name Robin Gunningham after being caught defacing a Marc Jacobs poster in Manhattan. Reuters also found that Banksy's artworks appeared in Ukraine in 2022 around the same time Robert Del Naja of Massive Attack entered the country, accompanied by a David Jones whose birthdate matched Gunningham's on the arrest file.
The investigation suggests Del Naja may be Gunningham's collaborator or gatekeeper. Banksy's former manager Steve Lazarides previously indicated in his book that Banksy was indeed the artist caught in New York. Banksy's lawyer Mark Stephens told Reuters that the artist "does not accept that many of the details contained within your enquiry are correct," stopping short of a denial.
While previous theories linked Banksy to Robert Del Naja, the new evidence points to Gunningham, who has effectively vanished from public records since 2008. The report concludes that the artist's use of the common name David Jones serves as effective camouflage.
