RICHARD EDEN: Will Banksy finally be unmasked? The graffiti artist is named as the first defendant in a legal action accusing him of defamation
He has been called Britain’s ‘unlikeliest national treasure’. But now it seems that graffiti artist Banksy, whose works, often featuring rats and monkeys, sell for millions, is about to be described in less flattering terms – in the Supreme Court.
I can announce that Banksy – the pseudonym of Bristol-born, 53-year-old, public school-educated Robin Gunningham – has been named as the first defendant in a legal action accusing him of defamation.
His co-accused is the company Banksy founded – and playfully Pest Control Ltd. named. Contrary to the title, the company sells its art, which is invariably produced overnight and unseen using a stencil, and which now adorns the sides. of houses and crumbling walls, not just in Bristol and London, but everywhere from the West Bank to Detroit.
The man who initiated the action is Andrew Gallagher, 56 years old, an iconoclastic entrepreneur who started out in the music industry and organized raves in the 1990s before exploiting the commercial potential of graffiti.
Richard Eden can reveal that Banksy – the pseudonym of Bristol-born, 53-year-old, public school-educated Robin Gunningham – has been named as the first defendant in a legal action accusing him of defamation. In 2007, the Mail on Sunday published an investigation which revealed that Banksy was Robin Gunningham, who is believed to be the man pictured above.
Pictured: an artist, probably Banksy, exhibiting his latest creation at the Tate Britain in 2003
The man who initiated the action is Andrew Gallagher, 56 years old, an iconoclastic entrepreneur who started out in the music industry and organized raves in the 1990s before exploiting the commercial potential of graffiti. Pictured: Banksy’s Sweep It Under the Carpet mural
This Banksy artwork, which half tore itself apart, has sold for £18.6 million – four times its estimate
Will Gallagher now make a monkey of Banksy in the High Court (pictured) – not least by forcing him to show his face in public?
“I didn’t realize it at the time, but most of the photos I took were of a newcomer called Banksy,” he explained in an interview last year, adding that the cards and other merchandise he sells are “affordable products for fans – and there are millions of fans’.
He refuses to discuss the upcoming High Court showdown, with his lawyer, Aaron Wood of Brandsmiths, telling me that details are currently “confidential and will remain so until Banksy or Pest Control file their recognizance.” For this reason,” Wood adds, “I am not allowed to say more about the claim.”
Banksy and Pest Control remain silent. After successfully applying for an EU trade mark in 2014, they saw that ruling overturned when Gallagher appealed in 2021.
The judges noted that Banksy, who had declared that “copyright was for losers,” had long expressed disdain for intellectual property rights, adding that it was difficult for him to continue pushing copyright while remaining anonymous.
However, last year Banksy won a separate lawsuit that confirmed his right to trademark his series of images of chimpanzees with sandwich panels around their necks.
But will Gallagher now ape him in the Supreme Court – not least by forcing him to show his face in public?
Banksy’s real identity has never been fully confirmed – and speculation continues about the mysterious artist.
However, in 2008 the Mail On Sunday came as close as possible to suggesting his identity – using a photo taken in Jamaica showing a man in a blue shirt and jeans.
Mail journalists visited Bristol, reportedly Banksy’s hometown, where a man claimed the man in the photo was Robin Gunningham.
Banksy has denied that the photo is his.