Is This Ska Album Cover Banksy's Earliest Work?

More like Skanksy

BY Josiah HughesPublished Aug 7, 2018

Notorious street artist Banksy has spent decades capturing the imagination of everyone from the art world to Ja Rule. And while we may never know the artist's true identity, a newly surfaced ska album cover has entered the conversation.

Though some have speculated that Banksy is a member of Massive Attack, a longer running theory is that the art moniker belongs to Robin Gunningham. An album cover for the Bristol ska band Mother Samosa has surfaced in an online auction, and it's the first public artwork credited to Gunningham.

Further, the cassette art bears some similarity to the work of Banksy. The album, which is called Oh My God It's Cheeky Clown, features plenty of stark imagery that pairs playful humour with social commentary.

Speaking with the Bristol Post, auctioneer Jack Syer said, "We get asked to sell all sorts of weird and wonderful artworks and artifacts and we have to be accurate as to the description," he said. "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 about online but this may be the first artwork that has escaped into the public domain that can be indisputably accredited to him."

The piece is currently valued at around £4,000 (or $6,800). If you feel like buying it, you can drop some cash here.

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