[News Figures] The Mysterious Painter 'Banksy'

'Banksy' is an anonymous British artist active since the 1990s, working as a graffiti artist, social activist, and film director.

He never reveals his face and creates his works when no one is watching, then disappears. Only a very few people have met him face-to-face through interviews. People only realize the works are his after he reveals them on his website. With almost no personal information known, he is called the 'faceless painter.'

On August 31st, Banksy's representative work 'Love is in the Bin' was exhibited at Paradise City in Jung-gu, Incheon.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

At one point, there was speculation that he was the Swiss artist Ma?tre de Casson (real name: Edmund Schaffra Junior), but Casson himself denied it, and analyses of age also suggest he is not Banksy, so the theory has lost ground.

According to interviews such as The Guardian Unlimited, Banksy was born in 1974, his real name is Robert Banks, he is white, born in the British port city of Bristol, started graffiti at age 14, and dropped out of high school.

Banksy's politically and socially satirical works have appeared on walls, streets, and bridges in cities worldwide, raising public awareness of street art. His graffiti pursues art that is not boring, and as Banksy became famous, wall paintings began to be highly valued.

Banksy's works carry criticism of the art world and have anti-war and anti-authoritarian tendencies. Most of his works mock capital and power and strongly oppose war and consumerism, earning him a reputation for avant-garde, existentialist, and nihilistic art.

Banksy painting on a building in Bristol, England.
Photo by Asia Economy DB

In 2010, he debuted as a film director with a documentary titled 'Exit Through the Gift Shop,' which shows his creative process and interviews, but he still did not reveal his face. The film was invited to the Berlin Film Festival and received acclaim, and it was also released domestically. In 2020, a documentary film about him titled 'Banksy' was released in the UK, and it premiered domestically in August 2022.

On the 29th of last month (local time), the US CNN reported that a Banksy mural near the Dover ferry port, a major gateway connecting the UK and continental Europe after the UK decided to leave the European Union (EU) in 2017, was set to disappear due to building demolition.

The mural satirizes 'Brexit' by depicting a worker on a ladder breaking one of the yellow stars inside the EU flag with a hammer. Banksy confirmed through an agent that the mural is indeed his work after it was painted. The mural's value is estimated at about 1 million pounds (approximately 1.6 billion KRW).