Is this Banksy? BBC claims to reveal the voice of the elusive street artist in new podcast series after unearthing interview he gave to a US radio station nearly 18 years ago
- The snippet is taken from a news show on National Public Radio (NPR) in 2005
A BBC podcast claims to have unearthed the voice of Banksy from a radio interview in the US some 18 years ago – in which he boasts about how ‘fun’ it is to illegally display his work in noted galleries around the world.
The snippet is taken from the All Things Considered news show on National Public Radio (NPR) in March 2005 – just days after the street artist had hung up his work inside the Met in New York.
The rare interview is heard for the first time in the UK on BBC Sounds’ The Banksy Story, a 10-episode podcast series on Radio 4 that chronicles the life and career of one of the most famous artists of the 21st century.
The resurfaced chat follows a decades-long attempt to reveal the graffiti maestro’s identity, which has been shrouded in mystery since he first emerged in the late 1990s.
An investigation by the Mail on Sunday in 2015 said it had identified the enigma as Robin Gunningham, a former public schoolboy who grew up in the suburbs of Bristol – but this has never been confirmed by the artist or his inner circle.
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‘We assume that you are who you say you are, but how can we be sure?’ asks the NPR host, to which the person claiming to be Banksy retorts with a Bristolian twang: ‘Oh, you have no guarantee of that at all.’
In the NPR chat, the alleged Banksy says he sees himself as a ‘painter and decorator’ and claims he likes to glue his work to the walls of institutions such as the Louvre in Paris because ‘You don’t want to get stuck in the same line of work your whole life long, do you?’
The host asked how the alleged Banksy gets into institutions and hangs his work up without permission.
He replies that he has been reading books about Harry Houdini, adding: ‘Like him I won’t go into the details but he’s got some good tips to offer artists coming up, I would say…
‘I think it’s testament to the frame of mind most people are in when they’re in a museum really.
‘Most people don’t really notice things and let the world go by… For instance in the Met, they hung a Henri Matisse painting upside down for 42 days I believe it was, until someone told them it was round the wrong way.
‘I was aiming for at least 42 days, but unfortunately didn’t get that far.’
Asked if he works alone in hanging his work up without permission he said: ‘I do… you don’t want to bring other people into that.’
He added: ‘I thought some of them were quite good, that’s why I thought, you know, put them in the gallery, otherwise they’d just sit at home and no one would see them, right?
‘If you wait for people to latch onto what you’re doing you’ll be waiting forever, you might as well cut out the middle man and go and stick it in yourself.’
When he is told that what he is doing is illegal, the man replies that ‘that’s what makes it good fun.’
Art piece ‘Slave Labour’ by Banksy displayed during his solo show ‘CUT & RUN: 25 years card labour’ at The Gallery Of Modern Art (GOMA), in Glasgow
Banksy has kept his identity a secret since first appearing in 1990s at first to hide from criminal charges but now to protect the mystery of his name
Banksy latest show in Glasgow includes authentic artefacts, ephemera and the artist’s actual toilet
‘Flower Thrower’ also known as ‘Love is in the Air’ by Banksy displayed during his solo show ‘CUT & RUN: 25 years card labour’ at The Gallery Of Modern Art (GOMA), in Glasgow
During his early years, Banksy was anonymous due to fear of being prosecuted for his street art. Now, he paints covertly to protect the air of mystery and stay out of the spotlight.
His work, which usually makes strong political statements, has appeared all over the world and sold for millions at auctions.
A new exhibition showing the works of Banksy opened in Glasgow last month – in what is his first official exhibition in 14 years.
The Cut & Run show, at Glasgow’s Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA), is the first exhibition to be officially authorised by the elusive street artist in more than a decade.
The exhibition covers 25 years of Banksy’s career and features a selection of the artist’s stencils for the very first time.
The show also exhibits an array of artefacts collected throughout Banksy’s career – including the artist’s own toilet.
The Cut and Run show at Glasgow’s Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA) is the first exhibition to be officially endorsed by Banksy in 14 years
As for Banksy’s choice of Glasgow as the location for his latest show, he said the traffic cone which famously sits on the head of the Duke of Wellington statue outside the gallery, was behind the pick
Banksy said: ‘I’ve kept these stencils hidden away for years, mindful they could be used as evidence in a charge of criminal damage.
‘But that moment seems to have passed, so now I’m exhibiting them in a gallery as works of art. I’m not sure which is the greater crime.’
Various unsanctioned exhibitions of Banksy’s work have taken place around the world in recent years.
However, Banksy said that ‘while the unauthorised Banksy shows might look like sweepings from my studio floor, Cut & Run really is the actual sweepings from my studio floor.’
As for his choice of Glasgow as the location for the show, Banksy said the traffic cone which famously sits on the head of the Duke of Wellington statue outside the gallery, was behind the pick.
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A gallery label for the show explains: ‘For anyone who isn’t aware – the statue out the front has had a cone on its head continuously for the past 40-odd years.
‘Despite the best efforts of the council and police, every time one is removed another takes its place.
‘This might sound absurd and pretentious (just wait until you see the rest of the exhibition), but it’s my favourite work of art in the UK and the reason I’ve brought the show here.’
The stencils on show include those used for some of Banksy’s most famous pieces.
Those include Girl With Balloon, which appeared on walls throughout London from 2002 onwards, and Kissing Coppers which appeared on the wall of The Prince Albert Pub in Brighton, East Sussex.
It also features a model that shows the way through which the modern artist managed to shred a version of Girl With Balloon during an auction at Sotheby’s in London in 2018.
The Banksy artwork hit the headlines when it partially self-destructed at the conclusion of an auction in which it had been sold for £1.1 million.
The canvas was passed through a secret shredder hidden inside its frame, leaving the bottom half in tatters and just a singly red balloon left on the painting.
The artist subsequently renamed the work Love Is In The Bin and later it sold at auction for £18.58 million in 2021.
The Glasgow show will run for almost three months from 18 June to 28 August and could tour in the future if it proves popular.
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