'Banksy is a bit of a control freak'

Michel Boersma - who knows the identity of anonymous artist Banksy - has a standard response when people ask him to reveal it - "Do you really want to know?".

When the UK press has correctly guessed Banksy's real name in the past, people then just "go and ignore it", saysThe Art of Banksy curator, so he suspects the real answer is no.

"I think people are longing for this mystery, and then are waiting for the next stunt that he does," he tells Culture 101.

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The Art of Banksy - which is on in Auckland until 3 August - has been shown in 19 cities over the last nine years.

Despite Banksy's dislike of his work being exhibited, Boersma knows that the artist has seen it in person.

"I know that deep in his heart, he likes what we have and he respects what we have, but on another day, he hates that this exhibition is there because he can't control it, and he's a bit of a control freak."

Banksy - regarded by many as a "brilliant businessman" - is believed to have been born in the early 1970s in the South Gloucestershire town of Yate.

While living in Bristol in the early '90s - where he's said to have been influenced by the bands Massive Attack and Portishead - Banksy began spray-painting his now-trademark stencilled designs around the city.

His former lovers and friends from the '90s who've contributed artworks to the exhibition are both admiring of what Banksy has achieved and also disappointed by some of his choices when it comes to money, Boersma says.

"In the beginning, there was this can-do spirit, and it does get affected or infected a little bit when money gets involved... How pure and honest is it?"

As a private person who makes public art that looks simple and often perceived as free but is actually expensive, there's a "huge duality" to Banksy, Boersma says.

"There's this Robin Hood kind of thing, but when you start zooming in on that in the world of Banksy, there is a financial world behind it of sellers and buyers and commercial sponsoring."

One of his personal highlights of curating The Art of Banksy was witnessing the reactions of Banksy's friends from back when he was selling his work underneath the London train tracks.

"For them, it was mind-blowing because they had actually worked on these pieces, but they had never seen them in one space. To see basically their whole youth in one space was mind-blowing."

The Art of Banksy, which features over 160 authenticated prints, sculptures and images, includes works that Banksy gave to three ex-girlfriends but later refused to authenticate, including some "absolutely stunning" handmade birthday cards and the original sketch for his famous stencil mural 'The Flower Thrower'.

It was Banksy's refusal to authenticate the artwork he first "gifted" to a London band in exchange for the name Exit Through The Gift Shop - the title of his 2010 documentary - that doesn't sit well with Boersma.

"I was like, No, mate… you're using your power willy nilly in a way, and playing with people, while you're using your art as a currency. If I look at how he treated that whole thing, I'm not sure if that's right to me."

For Boersma, Banksy's business reputation doesn't take anything away from his "visual genius".

Although he now knows the Art of Banksy collection intimately, it was a "luxury" to take a solo walk around it before the show opened in Auckland on 7 July.

"You walk through it, and the guy is absolutely brilliant in catching moments, in making you think, but not in a heavy-handed way.

"There's always this sense of humour there, even with the most serious of subjects, and some of it is beautiful.

"In 50 years, museums will have their own Banksy collections and exhibitions. I think they'll finally get it."