Banksy confirms his authorship of a mural in the prison where Oscar Wilde was held

The elusive street artist Banksy has released a video this Thursday in which he is seen doing his most recent painting on the wall of the old prison of Reading, in the south-east of England.

The recording is titled

and shows the process of making graffiti in the middle of the night, while fragments of the American program

by artistic popularizer Bob Ross

, are interspersed

.

At no point is the face of the graffiti artist revealed, one of the most famous anonymous creators of all time.

"Painting, to me, represents freedom," Ross is heard saying as the video presents the finished work.

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The image shows an inmate coming down from one of the prison walls with the help of tied sheets that end up in a typewriter.

It is suspected that the prisoner of the graffiti may be an allusion to Oscar Wilde, who served his sentence in Reading for homosexual acts between 1895 and 1897. The disastrous experience of his imprisonment inspired Wilde

, one of his works most celebrated.

The correctional facility was in operation from 1844 to 2014 and there is currently a debate on whether to convert the facilities into a cultural center or sell the property to the private sector.

A representative of the City of Reading has explained in a telephone call with EL PAÍS that the building is owned by the UK Ministry of Justice and the decision-making on its future rests with the entity.

A campaign to save the building has been supported by personalities such as actors Kenneth Branagh, Stephen Fry and Judi Dench.

Art recovers Oscar Wilde's cell

Deputy Matt Rodda, representative of the Reading East constituency in the British Parliament, has expressed in statements collected by the BBC that he hopes that Banksy's work will become "an attraction on its own merits" and that he trusts that it will encourage the project to create "an artistic center" in the building.