The headline is tempting: “L’identité de Banksy bientôt révélée?” My God! I devour the text of the news with relish and see that it comes from a supposed scoop from The Daily Mail, which gives it with an equally appetizing headline: “Is Banksy finally about to be unmasked?”
All this turmoil comes from the fact that the artist has been named as a defendant in a defamation trial that will be held in the High Court of Justice of England and Wales. The company Full Color Black, which prints congratulations with reproductions of Banksy's works, has denounced the artist for having shared a post on Instagram in which he says that he sees "defamatory intentions in reference to our company."
If Banksy appeared before the aforementioned court we would finally see his face and, after so many years, we would clear up any doubts. Is he – as some who claim to know the truth say – Robin Gunningham, a 53-year-old man from Bristol, allegedly rich and with many contacts in the art world?
All this joke about Banksy's anonymity is a clever way of maintaining interest in an artist who, in a fool's way, has pocketed a million. Remaining anonymous gives him an aura of mystery, like a revolutionary artist who paints graffiti on the walls of half the world and then counts his income.
In Barcelona, on Trafalgar Street, there is a Banksy Museum that exhibits more than a hundred works supposedly his. Admission: 12 euros. The company that authenticates his works and manages his business (Pest Control Office Limited) has protested against this unauthorized exhibition but the museum remains open, along with the fascinating Manufactures passage, which, yes, is a must-see place for all visitors. who want to feel under their feet the geological fault – the Barcelona step – that surprisingly many inhabitants of the city are still unaware of.
