The headline is delicious: "L'identité de Banksy bientôt révélée?" Oh my god! I devour the text of the news with enjoyment and see that it comes from an alleged scoop from The Daily Mail, which gives it an equally appetizing headline: "Is Banksy finally about to be unmasked?".
All this aggravation comes from the fact that the artist has been cited as a defendant in a defamation trial to 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 on Instagram a post in which it says it sees "defamatory intentions with reference to our company".
If Banksy appeared in front of the aforementioned court, we would finally see his face and, after so many years, we would be free of doubts. Is it - as some say who claim to know the truth - Robin Gunningham, a 53-year-old gentleman from Bristol, allegedly rich and with many contacts in the art world?
All this anonymity of Banksy is a clever way of maintaining interest in an artist who has foolishly pocketed a million. Remaining anonymous gives him an aura of mystery, of a revolutionary artist who paints graffiti on the walls of half the world and who ends up counting the income.
In Barcelona, on Carrer Trafalgar, there is a Banksy Museum that exhibits more than a hundred works supposedly by him. Entrance: 12 euros. The company that authenticates his works and manages his business (Pest Control Office Limited) has protested this unauthorized exhibition but the museum remains open, close to the fascinating Passage des Manufactures which, yes, is a place to visit a must for everyone who wants to feel the geological fault under their feet - the Barcelona step - which surprisingly many of the city's inhabitants are still unaware of.
