I was just going through the archives and I remember I had this stencil of a Banksy signature. I acquired it through his first manager Stephen Earl (RIP) who I met in Barcelona circa 2003 and we became good friends. When I met Stephen he had departed from Banksy although just previously they had spent a bit of time working in Barcelona on some pieces and campaigns. I believe they had some fall out over money – at this time Banksy wasn’t really that well known. He definitely had a following and had very recently done the artwork for the Blur ‘Think Tank’ album but he was no where close to being the phenomena he was today. 

I stayed in touch with Stephen after I left Barcelona and moved to Los Angeles – he actually came out to visit me one time here in California as he was managing a Finnish house producer and DJ called Luomo and he played a show up in Hollywood and they all stayed with me. A short while later when in Barcelona Stephen had a brain hemorrhage and tragically died – RIP.

I remember Stephen had an amazing Banksy collection which would be worth a fortune now. I particularly recollect in his Barcelona flat he had a large oil painting of a group of rioting grandmothers outside a burning Tesco store. It was a big piece and I always wondered where it ended up – it would be worth millions now. I have often done images searches in the internet to see if I can find it but to no avail. The missing Banksy? It probably would have ended up in some private sale and is now proudly displayed on the wall of a hedge fund managers penthouse suite in Mayfair. 

I have been interviewed quite a few times by various people over my friendship with Stephen as it seems not many other people knew him and he figures in the early years of Banksy’s biography. I am cited in ‘Banksy: The Man Behind the Wall’ written by William Ellsworth-Jones which is probably the best of the many Banksy biographies. I have also been asked if I had a photo of Stephen Earl which to now I never did – till now. I always had a hunch that I had a photo somewhere and spent hours searching through old photos on harddrives and I found it. I don’t know what to do with it, it might even have some value hence I am holding off on publishing it for now. Also what to do with this signature. It probably has some value but would be hard for Pictures on Walls to authenticate it. Looking at the style of it and of course relating to the provenance of how I acquired it, it is an early signature, prob circa 2001.