There are very few pictures of him or accounts of those who have met him. However, a guy who persuaded the reclusive artist to engage with kids at a youth club in the late 1990s has now provided the BBC with an exclusive look into the man who created the paintings, right before his rise to fame.
One of the most well-known graffiti artists in the world is Banksy. Hundreds of thousands of people have attended his shows, and his work has sold for millions of pounds.
Few people are aware of the Banksy hidden behind layers of paint, lost in time in a youth facility in Bristol.
The artist, on the verge of global recognition, was making his mark not just on his city’s streets.
