The man is described by some as the most important figure in counter culture art and the chances are you have never heard of him. Most of his work no longer exists and was painted illegally in the first place. King Robbo is a wanted man and protects his identity for fear of arrest.

Considered a myth and a legend somewhat like the outlaw Jessie James he his without a doubt one of the pioneers of graffiti writing a movement which champions freedom of expression and can be seen on street corners all over the world.

Step in Banksy, an enigmatic street artist who also came from graffiti but has sold a popular and commercially successful version back to the world. While Robbos art is reviled and criminalised, Banksy’s street art is fated by celebrities and endorsed by the authorities. The different treatment of Banksy and Robbo is symptomatic of a wider battle between street art and graffiti and until recently both men were a universe apart, that was until one of them committed an act deemed so hostile it shocked the graffiti world.