Who is Banksy?

Do you want to know more about the identity of the mysterious British street artist ? This secret has been one of the most mysterious since his sarcastic stencil appeared on the art scene.

The street artist, whose identity remains unknown, was reportedly born in Bristol, England, around 1974. He became known for his provocative stencil works in the late 1990s. You can check out our ranking of the British artist's best works.

Some clues to his mysterious identity were revealed in the famous 2010 documentary, Exit Through the Gift Shop , which examines the relationship between the mysterious artist, the art market, and street art.

Over the years, many people have tried to "unmask" Banksy, an obsession that seems to have gripped the world. Recently, a new sighting was reported in Australia. Theories surrounding his identity range from plausible to absurd. We enlisted the help of curator and street art expert Carlo McCormick to rank ten theories about Banksy's identity according to their plausibility.

McCormick added: "He has probably been exposed countless times, but like a good conspiracy theory, improbable fiction will always be more convincing than simple, mundane truth."

1) Is Paul Horner the mysterious urban artist?

In October 2014, a news website reported that Paul Horner, a 35-year-old man living in Liverpool, had been identified as Banksy. This identification followed an arrest for vandalism and property damage.

Banksy's communications manager, Jo Brooks, denied any involvement by the artist in the matter. Furthermore, Paul Horner was subsequently accused of spreading fake news and that it was all a hoax.

2) Could Richard Pfeiffer be the street artist?

In early 2015, Richard Pfeiffer, then 32 years old and a renowned New York street artist , was arrested for vandalizing public walls bearing Banksy graffiti. Pfeiffer and his partner were actually simply admiring the street art in Manhattan's East Village when the police arrived and framed him.

Richard Pfeiffer, who was found in possession of a pen, was able to prove that the nib did not match the style of the artwork the police claimed he had drawn. The charges were dropped a few months later.

3) A woman at the heart of graffiti art?

Banksy's repeated use of women in his art has led some to believe that the artist is actually a woman.

In the HBO documentary "Banksy Does New York," Canadian media artist Chris Healey claimed that Banksy is actually a team of seven artists led by a woman. He maintains that the leader is a blonde woman who makes several appearances in the documentary film Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010).

According to our research, this is not possible. This may illustrate a lack of understanding of the nature of the vision and eccentricity of his contemporary art, suggesting that it is a team effort rather than the work of a single individual.

4) A parking attendant at "Dismaland" who created these murals?

According to British media, Banksy was hiding in plain sight at the site of his satirical amusement park project "Dismaland" which he built in the resort town of Weston-Super-Mare in 2015.

Some people claimed to have recognized Robin Gunningham, a man presented as the mysterious artist based on an image purported to be Banksy published in 2009. Subsequently, investigators discovered that the parking attendant was employed by the city and that the link made with Banksy was unfounded.

5) Is Robin Banks the king of urban art?

In February 2015, a young British man said that a man claiming to be Robin Banks gave him a small piece of graffiti on a sheet of paper signed by Banksy on a train, after the teenager helped the graffiti artist pick up spray paint cans that had fallen out of his backpack.

The man reportedly told the boy that the graffiti was worth approximately £20,000 ($24,000) and that the artwork belonged in the finest art exhibitions. It later turned out to be a copy, not an original Banksy.

6) Is Thierry Guetta, aka Mr. Brainwash, one of the most famous graffiti artists?

Some say that the French comedian who starred in Banksy's documentary film "Exit Through the Gift Shop" is actually one and the same artist.

In our opinion, no. There's a confusion between Mr. Braindead's clumsy stupidity and Banksy's astute radicalism. To put it simply, Thierry is a wealthy kid who could give artists like Banksy access to resources in Los Angeles, so some of the more audacious works could have been authorized.

7) Is Robert Del Naja also a street artist?

Journalist Craig Williams claims to have irrefutable proof that Robert Del Naja, the leader of the electronic music group Massive Attack, is also Banksy. Williams asserts that he has identified a correlation between the cities where Massive Attack has performed and those where the artist's murals have been created.

Del Naja quickly denied the reports, saying the rumors were "greatly exaggerated".

8) A graffiti artist in Australia

YouTube user Mia S claims to have caught Banksy in the act after filming a man believed to be the street artist in Melbourne, Australia. The video shows a man wearing glasses, jeans, a dark jacket, a hooded sweatshirt, and a baseball cap.

She confronts the graffiti artist in the video before he tells her to "fuck off" and runs away. This theory is plausible, but unfortunately (or fortunately) she was unable to precisely identify his face.

9) Banksy in the Red Hook warehouse?

Twitter exploded when photos purportedly depicting Banksy preparing his artwork Siren of the Lambs (2013) surfaced. The photo showed five men loading stuffed animals into a truck outside a warehouse in Red Hook, Brooklyn, leading to intense speculation that one of the men standing next to the truck, who appeared to be giving orders, was the elusive British artist.

Observations are, of course, very different from identifications. They may well be legitimate, but they don't tell us anything more about the king of stencils.

10) Robin Gunningham is definitely our street artist

Criminologists at Queen Mary University of London used a technique called "geographic profiling" to identify the street artist as Bristol resident Robin Gunningham.

Geographic profiling is a statistically based analysis frequently used by investigators to apprehend suspects. They then sought a link between the 130 Banksy murals in Bristol and London. It's chilling to think that something as frightening as geographic profiling could be used for such purposes.

Despite the rumors, Banksy has always denied any repeated links with Gunningham. But the odds might not be as bad as they seem. In October 2016, street art expert Carlo McCormick estimated the probability that Gunningham was in fact the man behind Banksy at 75%.