Banksy reveals clue to true identity in 'lost' BBC interview from 2023

Banksy, who has remained anonymous throughout his career, spoke about the anti-authority nature of his work still present today in an interview on Radio 4, which was recorded 20 years ago. It is finally being broadcast for the first time as part of a BBC documentary titled The Banksy Story. During the video interview, the artist revealed his real name at a particular period of time.

“Are you happy for me to use your name? I mean, The Independent has,’ journalist Nigel Wrench asked Bansky, who replied, ‘Yeah.’ ‘Is it Robert Banks?’ the journalist continued, to which Banksy replied: ‘It’s Robbie.’ ‘Robbie. OK. Robbie,” Wrench reiterated.

In the interview, Banksy or Banks spoke about whether graffiti is vandalism and said, “If it’s done properly it is illegal! But I got a good reaction I think off most people from my work. You know, I’ve even had policemen in the past say they kind of like things about it, but… I just think it’s my right to go out and paint it.” He added, “And it is equally somebody else’s right to go out and paint over it if they don’t like it, you know? It doesn’t actually take very long with a bucket of white paint to paint over things. I think it’s better if you treat the city like a big playground, you know? It’s there to mess about in, you know?” Revealing he was uninterested in the ‘art world’, Banks said, “I don’t know… it’s not something that interests me, really. I’m more into art that’s voted for by people with their feet than I am into one millionaire judging you and telling people whether you’re ‘art’ or not.” When pointed out that his canvases were on sale for £15,000, Banksy responded, “Apparently so! That’s not what I get for ‘em! No. I make paintings these days, you know? And yeah, I dunno who buys them actually. Maybe I should find out. Good point.”