This Ska Band's Album Cover Could Be Banksy’s Earliest Work

Sneaking suspicions surrounding the real identity of Banksy are circulating once again. Online art brokerage, My Art Broker, is auctioning a print worth over $5,000 USD that may be the first piece ever done by Banksy before he gained notoriety.

The artist responsible for the artwork is credited to Bristol-born artist Robin Gunningham — who has been speculated as the anonymous artist as early as 2008 by the Daily Mail. In its “unmasking” report, the news website also revealed a photograph of Gunningham brandishing spray cans in Jamaica which was captured at the same moment legit Banksy pieces were spotted on the island at the time. Not to mention, the print in question also appeared when Banksy works began to emerge around Bristol. The piece was made for the ska band Mother Samosa’s album Oh My God it’s Cheeky Clown back in 1993.

“What we do know is that the front cover is credited to Robin Gunningham, whose identity is up to individual interpretation, It’s a name that is widely speculated over online, but this may be the first artwork that has escaped into the public domain that can be indisputably accredited to him,” said the brokerage’s auctioneer Jack Syer to the Bristol Post.

Head over to My Art Broker’s official website to learn more and let us know your thoughts below.