A builder has blasted people who say he is Banksy and told them to ‘get a life’ after an investigation has claimed to reveal the true identity of the famous street artist
George Georgiou said he has had enough of people claiming he is Banksy(Image: / SWNS)
A raging North London builder has furiously denied that he is the world famous street artist Banksy.
George Georgiou was first surrounded with rumours and claims he might be the elusive artist when he was spotted installing Perspex around one of Banksy’s pieces of work. The builder was snapped at the Hornsey Road tree mural, near Finsbury Park, London, back in March 2024. Georgiou is the dad of the graffitied building’s landlord, Alex Georgiou, and at the time said he was installing the cover to protect the art.
An investigation over the weekend, by the Reuters news agency, unmasked the street artist as Robin Gunningham, from Bristol, but images of Georgiou, from 2024, have been recirculating.
The builder was snapped at the Hornsey Road tree mural in 2024(Image: / SWNS)
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Despite this, the furious North London builder shut down the rumours and denied he is the world famous mystery artist. The man, speaking to the Daily Mail, blasted the two-year long theories and said the Banksy claims were “annoying”.
The Londoner said: “I’m not Banksy… It’s really annoying, it’s ridiculous and it’s disturbing. The first day, it was a laugh. It’s a bit of an old joke now.”
An investigation has claimed Robin Gunningham in Banksy(Image: YouTube)
The builder said he sometimes does maintenance work on the building his sons own. In a reference to when he was snapped putting up the Perspex, he suggested the street artist would be too rich to be putting up a cover himself.
In a message to the people who accused him of being Banksy, Georgiou said: “Grow up. Get a life. If Banksy were to be found, he wouldn’t be standing there. I’m sure he is well enough endowed not to have to go there doing building work.”
The tree mural was put up in Finsbury Park in 2024(Image: / SWNS)
Georgiou, who is from a Greek family but born and raised in London, even joked that he wished he was the world-famous artist. Despite initially finding the claims funny, the semi-retired builder said he wanted the ordeal to end because it was “disrupting my day endlessly”.
This comes after Reuters this weekend claimed the artist Robin Gunningham, who reportedly operates under the name David Jones, was Banksy.
The investigation also made another shocking claim that the art creator did not work alone and had a “famous painting partner” to help with his mystery works. Banksy’s anonymity has led to his works being sold for thousands or even millions.
A team of journalists spoke to dozens of insiders and found previously sealed U.S documents and police files attempting to expose the artist. They also spoke to people who saw him entering Ukraine in 2022 to create one of his famous pieces.
Locals who met the art star said a man named Dave Jones, along with photographer Giles Duley, crossed into Ukraine on October 28, 2022.