The identity of British artist Banksy has long been a heated source of conspiracy theories and speculation. Masked in anonymity, his paintings illustrate controversial topics in the world today. Most recently with his painting ‘Girl with a Balloon’ selling at the world renowned Sotheby’s auction house in London, quickly followed by the painting in question seeming to self-shred itself. The painting was sold for £1.04 Million equalling the previous record value for a Banksy painting.

One person in particular who is being scrutinised as potentially being Banksy is Geneva based conceptual artist ‘Koukjian’ originally from the middle east. He was present at the said auction witnessing the event unfold, stating that he had seen Banksy in the auction house that same day. Now that alone isn’t enough evidence, however it has been known that Koukjian frequently visits Bristol where his son attended University. Although little is known about Banksy, it is known that he is from Bristol, located in the South-west of England. The controversial contemporary topics that Banksy typically focuses on also shares a mutual ground with the topics that Koukjian himself focuses on. his topic usually focuses on the misuse of power in modern times and a critique of our contemporary lifestyle. Having run away from the war as a teenager and living his life as a renegade, the topic of abuse of power seems to be burning in the heart of Koukjian as we see in his Neon artworks criticising the Lebanese war and the climate associated with it. His painting often portrays girls involved in a war situation from a funny, criticising point of view that let the viewer imagine a war culture and draw their own conclusions. Koukjian and Banksy are working on the same topic, conveying the same message.

Koukjian shares the same sentiment as Banksy’s views towards the establishment having lived through wars that have torn through the Middle-east, most fitting of the paintings drawn by Banksy to this is the abuse of the army/police towards civilians. Pierre Koukjian is based in Geneva however is known to frequently travel across the planet and never seems to be settled in one location in particular, this matches with how works from Banksy’s keep appearing in random locations. Famous for his pro-Palestinian mural Banksy and Koukjian seem to ideologically share the same foe.

Similar works include the portrayal of the queen of England in a mundane and funny way. Banksy portrays her as “Ziggy Stardust” below while Koukjian portrays her smoking a Hookah.

Banksy and Koukjian use the symbol of the helmet to portray authority. In the paintings below the helmets are present in all of them and represent the symbolism of the hidden and masked oppressive authority That separate the monopoly of violence from the humanity aspect. Banksy on the top left below and Koukjian in the 3 other paintings. The north Korean piece from Koukjian is also a clear critique of how the ones in power are happily in control. The “warry me?” shows a sheepishly following of the masses another tangent between Koukjian and Banksy’s work.

Comments following the unexpected stunt from Banksy in Sotheby’s from Koukjian were that the buyer was “very lucky” to own a now-historic piece, referring to the stunt as a “turning point in the history of contemporary and conceptual art”. These statements seem to show a lack of surprise and possibly hint at anticipation that this was going to happen. He also stated that he himself has met Banksy previously, adding to the credibility that if he had seen him in the room, was Banksy there or was he referring to himself?

On the contrary, with a growing distaste towards the establishment and those in power, contemporary art pieces are is on the rise in popularity and also in value. However, Koukjian has been well profiled in this form of art for quite a while now, sometimes donated the proceedings of sales his works to Philanthropic causes such as the charity ‘Fight Aids Monaco’ another stunt as he managed to put a blown glass artwork representing a used condom in the hand of the Prince and princess of Monaco.

To summarise, following up from Koukjian’s comments, his approval of the stunt both for the future of contemporary art and for the owner was clear to see. His previous credentials of having met Banksy and frequently visiting the home city of Banksy does support the allegation that he could himself be Banksy. However, part of Banksy’s prowess and fame is due to the ongoing anonymity of his identity, so it will be a long time until we know whether this theory is true or not but we can now add a possible candidate to the list.

Stephanie Lord

stephanielord@protonmail.com