Rare video footage of Banksy’s team in the process of creating an artwork has been captured.
The moment was caught on camera by a local resident following the 2023 installation of ‘Valentines Day Mascara’ in Margate. It shows a team of artists interacting with passers-by, with the video having been taken by the mother of a child who was being shown how to fly a drone by one of the artists.
The woman did not realise the significance of what she was filming, but the video has now been revealed as part of the second season of BBC Radio 4’s The Banksy Story: When Banksy Comes To Town, which seeks to offer a rare insight into the elusive street artist – audio of The Banksy Story is available now, while footage of his team at work will be available later today (April 6).
The show’s presenter James Peak notes that in the background of the video, you can see “loads of detritus about, bits of stencils on the floor, an easel with loads of paint.”
“Wow, so you’ve caught Banksy’s team at work!” he exclaimed.
It is thought that the easel and paints belong to Peter Brown, aka Pete The Street, who had been commissioned by Banksy to put together a simultaneous artwork to ‘Valentines Day Mascara’ that depicted people flocking to see the new Banksy.
‘Valentines Day Mascara’ is in the process of being sold, with some of the profits to be donated to a local domestic abuse charity.
Banksy’s identity remains a closely guarded secret, with speculation having been rife ever since he first rose to prominence in the early 2000s, with Massive Attack’s Robert Del Naja and Gorillaz’ Jamie Hewlett often being put in the frame.
However, in 2023, a long-lost interview that the artist did with the BBC seemed to uncover new information.
A recording emerged of an interview that Banksy conducted in 2003, but which was never released. In it, he appeared to confirm that his first name is Robbie.
Broadcast for the first time on The Banksy Story, the original interview saw the artist speaking with the former BBC arts correspondent Nigel Wrench at the time of his ‘Turf War’ show.
At the time of the interview, a recent article in The Independent had printed his name as Robert Banks, and Wrench asked whether he could use his real name in the interview. Asking to confirm whether it was Robert Banks, Banksy can be heard saying, “It’s Robbie”.
It appeared last year that he might have been forced to reveal his name in court in the event that a legal tussle over the authenticity of one of his prints escalated any further.
