I’m Banksy’s greatest mate… I do know why he is by no means revealed his identification and why he by no means will
Banksy‘s former agent and photographer has revealed the elusive artist ‘never really got to enjoy the fame he got’ because of his need for anonymity – but it’s also a secret not about to end any time soon.
Steve Lazarides worked with the discreet street artist from 1997 to 2008 after the fellow Bristolians met in the late 1990s and discovered they shared a mutual love for graffiti and innovative street art.
The 55-year-old, who has previously described those years as ‘glorious’ and a ‘ride’, is now auctioning memorabilia from his time with Banksy, from coveted prints and artwork to drawings and even private correspondence with the artist.
More than 170 lots are going under the hammer at Julien’s Auctions in Los Angeles on Thursday, with the highest-priced estimate currently reserved for a stencil of a rat holding a drill, which is expected to fetch up to £150,000.
His print of the now-famous Girl With Balloon could also fetch £60,000 when it goes under the hammer, experts predict.
A print of Banksy’s now-famous Girl With Balloon could fetch £60,000 when it goes under the hammer this week
A pair of Banksy’s Puma sneakers are among the more than 170 lots at auction in Los Angeles
Banksy’s £10 note with Princess Diana’s face on it could fetch up to £1,500 under the hammer
Since Banksy made his name with his trademark stencil-style ‘guerrilla’ art in public spaces – on walls in London, Brighton, Bristol and even on the West Bank barrier separating Israelis and Palestinians – his works have sold for hundreds of thousands of pounds.
He is the world’s most elusive artist – a ‘graffiti guerrilla’ who began his street art 25 years ago and is now a darling of the art world, his work coveted by collectors and celebrities.
Lazarides believes he understands more than most Banksy’s need to remain anonymous, a status that began initially as ‘self preservation’ to ensure that he did not get caught by police and sent to jail for what could essentially be seen as vandalism.
In an interview with The Mirror, he said: ‘As the years went by and it went on for longer, I think that the anonymity became quite a disease.
‘Everyone has this figure in their mind, they have a folk hero, and it looks different in everybody’s mind.
‘He’s never really got to enjoy the fame he got.’
So keen were the pair to maintain Banksy’s secret that they even bought dozens of burner phones, with the artist only communicating on cheap pay-as-you-go handsets for every street art job he took.
At one point, Lazarides claims that he bought two new burner phones every couple of weeks and changed where he bought them from.
Banksy’s identity has been shrouded in secrecy until The Mail on Sunday launched an investigation in 2008, naming Robin Gunningham as the Bristol artist.
When the paper published its groundbreaking investigation, Mr Lazarides told an American newspaper that a photograph of Mr Gunningham – taken in Jamaica four years earlier and showing a man kneeling by a spray can – did not show his client.
Steve Lazarides worked with the discreet street artist from 1997 to 2008 after the fellow Bristolians met in the late 1990s and discovered they shared a mutual love for graffiti and innovative street art
Laugh Now by Banksy is among the works that will go up for auction this week
Love Is In The Air by Banksy has an estimate of around £40,000
However, it is still strongly suggested that Mr Gunningham is Banksy and researchers at Queen Mary University of London even used a statistical technique of geographic profiling to prove it is him, which is more commonly used by police to catch criminals.
They claim to have tagged him by identifying an obvious pattern between the locations of his art and addresses he often visits in Bristol and London.
Fans include Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, who commissioned a mural four years ago for their private gallery at their estate in the south of France.
Ahead of this week’s auction, Lazarides speaks only fondly about Banksy and describes him as ‘probably the world’s best known artist’.
On a promotional video posted to YouTube, he said: ‘I first heard about Banksy when we were at a meeting at Sleazenation and I met him and I saw his work and it blew me away man.
‘It had a message and it was funny and it was different. He had f******g balls and he put his s**t in places that no one else was willing to go. I was fully sold.’
Banksy’s works have gone from being considered graffiti and vandalism to commanding millions at auction, with his most expensive work, Love is in the Bin, fetching £18.6million in 2021.
