File photo dated 14/2/2023 of the artwork by street artist Banksy, titled ‘Valentine’s Day Mascara’ on the side of a building in Margate, Kent. The artwork depicts a 1950’s housewife, wearing a classic blue pinny and yellow washing up gloves, with a swollen eye and a missing tooth seemingly shoving her male partner into a chest freezer. The ‘6 million work has been lifted by crane into a new exhibition in London. Issue date: Tuesday Sept. 12, 2023. (Press Association via AP Images)
Thanks to a new lawsuit alleging defamation, tongues are wagging about the real identity of the enigmatic British street artist Banksy, whose cutting and graphic works have spanned the globe, sparking controversy and delight for roughly 30 years.
The Daily Mail was first to report this week that a man long believed to be Banksy has been sued for defamation in the United Kingdom’s High Court. The plaintiff, Andrew Gallagher, a former rave and club promoter who helped mainstream the commercialization of graffiti art, reportedly listed “The Artist Known as Banksy” as the defendant in the suit, as well as someone identified as Robin Gunningham, 53, of Bristol.
Alongside Gunningham, Gallagher listed a company established by the guerrilla artist that operates as a “guardian” for the work as well as authenticating and selling it, Pest Control Ltd. A day after the lawsuit was initially reported, the Daily Mail identified another defendant in the suit: Joy Millward, a former UK parliamentary lobbyist with a low-profile and reported wife of Gunningham.
Gallagher has almost completely kept mum about the specifics of his accusations in the lawsuit, refusing to divulge any details other than confirming that the case is indeed a defamation claim.
“I’m afraid I am precluded from saying anything for the moment for legal reasons,” Gallagher’s attorney Aaron Wood, of the London-based Brandmsiths law firm, told Law&Crime in an email on Thursday.
Wood was, however, able to emphasize that while Gunningham is listed in the defamation suit, Gallagher is not “naming” Gunningham as the prolific — and yet still unidentified — artist.
A request for comment from PestControl Ltd was not immediately returned on Thursday.
Gunningham has been suspected of being Banksy since at least 2007, when the Daily Mail published an investigation inquiring after the true identity of the artist. Many people and media outlets alike have tried to unmask the real Banksy but have thus far failed to definitively confirm who he or she is.
As for Gunningham, he has denied any connection to Banksy whenever members of the media have come calling.
Read Related Also: ‘I take my responsibilities as a lawyer very seriously’: Trump ‘elite strike force’ attorney Jenna Ellis, who smiled in mug shot, changes tune and pleads guilty
Banksy’s artwork first popped up in Bristol during the 1990s. Since then, the artist has traveled the globe, leaving works large and small in public spaces, and doing much of it under the cover of darkness or cloaked in some manner to obscure their identity. The works regularly depict sharp or tongue-in-cheek critiques on an array of subjects — from religion and greed to injustice, capitalism, commercialism and dystopia.
A framed copy one of his most famous pieces known as “Girl with Balloon” was sold at a Sotheby’s auction in 2018 for a staggering $1.4 million. Remarkably, however, as soon as the auction gavel was smacked, a shredder built into the frame was covertly flipped on and the picture began to shred itself into neat strips, hanging precariously from the bottom of the ornate frame. Only the top of the work, the bright red heart, remained.
Sotheby’s “Love is in the Bin” Banksy sale. File photo dated 03/09/21 of art handlers at Sotheby’s auction house with Banksy’s ‘Love is in the Bin’, which self-shredded immediately after it was sold at auction. Photo credit: Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire (Press Association via AP Images)
After the shocking spectacle, Sotheby’s declared it was “the first work in history ever created during a live auction,” according to Artland Magazine.
In a public statement afterward, Banksy said Sotheby’s had no idea what would happen and took full credit for the stunt.
In fact, Banksy said, the frame was meant to shred the prized piece completely and according to ArtNet News, there were reportedly strict rules set up around the sale of the painting, including the exact timing it could be placed and sold. Sotheby’s was allegedly told never to remove the artwork from its frame, and the auction house agreed.
The woman who paid for the piece — and whose identity has been kept anonymous — opted to keep the work in its altered form and has since loaned it out to museums around the world.
But by October 2021, it was back to auction. The piece, a smashing success now dubbed “Love is in the Bin,” was expected to fetch anywhere from $5 to $8 million. It ultimately went for a record-breaking $25.4 million.
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
