Voina x eBay x Banksy's Identity

by Rachel Schwerin
The two leading members of the Russian performance art collective Voina have been imprisoned in St. Petersburg without a charges or a trial for four months now. For those who aren't familiar, Voina has been responsible for numerous confrontational and political actions including the painting of a giant penis on a drawbridge that faced the building that housed former KGB offices.  Banksy, a fan of the collective's antics, announced a while back that he was going to donate the proceeds from his latest print release to fund their bail. Voina's lawyer offered the court 2 million rubles ($66,000) bail for each, but the judge denied the request. He cited a "lack of information about the person providing the money" for the bail as his justification to keep the Voina members locked up.  No doubt Voina’s imprisoned idealogist Oleg Vorotnikov doesn't appreciate the irony that Banksy's anonymity had just been available for purchase through an auction on eBay.


The highly scrutinized auction on eBay was posted by someone who claimed to have used tax records in some capacity to secure proof of the mysterious artist's identity.  Evidently the auction seller felt that this was marketable information, and that people looking for bargain electronics and obscure collectables would be equally interested in purchasing the documentation.  The auction was pulled before it was completed, but not before bidding reached nearly a million dollars for the promised info.  Speculation was that Banksy himself may have been behind either the auction listing or it's removal.  Either way, Banky’s identity can now be valued somewhere between $1 million and freedom.


Learn more about Voina (which translates from Russian as 'war') and check out the Free Voina page for the latest developments in their case.

is this the face of Banksy...again?

Keiran Argo is the Animation Programme manager for the nearly unknown British cinematic celebration called 'The Encounters International Film Festival'. Normally we wouldn't pay any mind to the Bristol based fest, but this year Ms. Argo promised the addition of something compelling to the program: footage of Banksy painting a street piece.

According to Argo:
What Banksy didn't bargain for when recently stencilling the back wall of Aardman's new building was the discrete CCTV system they had installed allowing us, for the first time, to put a face to the name.  All will be revealed in the programme...


Well, as it turns out all that was revealed was that Argo is full of shit.  Evidently she claims she got confused and the piece of footage in question is actually animated.  Its easy to understand how one can confuse reality with an animated short film.  In college we once made the same mistake with an episode of Ren and Stimpy.

Thanks to ukstreetart for keeping on top of this.

performance art from Banksy?

Banksy has been at it again.  He has updated his website and posted pictures of some recent outdoor stencil pieces near the British seaside, and his guerilla installation at Brighton Pier of the reconditioned dolphin ride he originally showed at The Village Pet Shop and Charcoal Grill in New York, which has now been updated to include a ruptured BP oil drum and a wave of crude oil.

Then there was posted a video, "Royal Visit Glastonbury 2010", in which Banksy presents us with a hilarious encounter between a costumed hippy hemp enthusiast and the heir to the British throne. We were dumbfounded that the interaction was permitted to take place, as here in the US you wouldn't even get that sign up before security would be all over you. And throwing a sample bag of weed at "Charlie, Charlie" would be out of the question.  The episode displays the cunning of Borat, the brazen recklessness of Jackass and the irreverence towards celebrity of Punk'd.

And it raises numerous questions. Who is the hippy? Is it the same person who posed for the portrait in Times Square wearing a black ski mask back on May 19, 2010?  Is Banksy creating another "superstar" (in the Warholian sense) the way he created Mr Brainwash?  Are these "pranksy" pieces part of the next big Banksy project or just a diversion? Is it Banksy himself doing these actions? Is it a friend of Banksy's? Is it Robin Gunningham?

For those who don't follow the British tabloids, The Daily Mail ran an article in July 2008 claiming that it had tracked down the identity of Banksy, and that he is Robin Gunnigham (pictured above right). Comparing these two pictures, we cannot rule out that it s the same person in both.  Is this Banksy? And if so, what's he up to?

Check Banksy's website banksy.co.uk for future updates.

is this the face of Banksy?

Recently, the elusive Mr B. once again updated the "outdoors" section of his website. The last time he did this, we here in Chicago discovered that we had Banksy art in the Windy City. No such luck this time, though pictures were added further documenting the recent spate of Banksy street art that popped up across North America in conjunction with his movie "Exit Through The Gift Shop".

Then there is the picture above. It is posted in the "outdoors" section as well. The photograph next to it on the site shows a masked man sitting for a street portrait in Times Square in front of the Viacom headquarters. It is undoubtedly the same masked person in both the sketch and the photograph. We are led to assume that the sketch is the result of the street sitting. Are we to believe that this is Banksy in the drawing, hiding in plain sight?

Is this tongue in cheek performance art or political statement? Is it a commentary on anonymity or fame or terrorism or simply an homage to Chris Burden's 1971 performance "You'll never see my face in Kansas City"? And if it's not Banksy in the pictures, who is it and what is his connection to the artist? So many questions, and as usual no answers from Banksy.

View the pics for yourself on Banksy's website: banksy.co.uk.
Read about Chris Burden's astounding performance art of the 1970's including "You will never see my face in Kansas City".