Girl with Balloon
| Balloon Girl | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | Banksy |
| Year | 2002 |
Balloon Girl is a 2002 mural by graffiti artist Banksy depicting a young girl letting go of a red heart-shaped balloon. Banksy has used a variant of this image in his 2014 campaign supporting Syrian refugees. Another variant Banksy created for the 2017 United Kingdom general election generated controversy after he offered free prints for some anti-Conservative voter, and he soon retracted the offer. A 2017 Samsung poll ranked Balloon Girl as the United Kingdom's number one favourite artwork.
History
In 2007, it sold for £37,200 at Sotheby's.[1] The Sincura Group removed the mural from an east London shop and sold it for £500,000 in September 19 2015.[2]
In March 2015, the third anniversary of the Syria conflict, Banksy reworked the painting to depict a Syrian refugee and added the hashtag #WithSyria. On 13 March, the image was projected on the Eiffel Tower and Nelson's Column. An animated video was released, featuring animation based on Banksy's work, narration by Idris Elba, and music by Elbow.[3] In the following weeks, the singer Justin Bieber got a tattoo based on the original art and posted a picture of it on Instagram before deleting it. Banksy posted this picture on his Facebook page with the comment "Controversial".[4]
In November 2015, a print of the painting was auctioned for £56,250, more than twice its estimated value.[5]
In early June 2017 before the United Kingdom general election, Banksy introduced a variant of Balloon Girl with the balloon coloured with the Union Jack design.[6] Banksy initially offered to send a free print of his art to registered voters in certain constituencies who could offer photographic proof they had voted against the Tories. The offer included a disclaimer: "This print is a souvenir piece of campaign material, it is in no way meant to influence the choices of the electorate".[7] Banksy canceled this offer on 6 June 2017 after the Electoral Commission warned him it could violate election bribery laws and invalidate the election's results in those constituencies.[8]
In July 2017, a Samsung poll of 2,000 people from the United Kingdom asked participants to rank twenty pieces of British art. The poll's results listed Balloon Girl as the people's number one favourite artwork.[9]
In October 2018 a copy of the Artwork was auctioned at Sothebys. Moments after the hammer dropped, with a hammer price of 1.042 million, the picture shredded itself as a shredder built into the frame activated. [10]
References
- ^ "Record price for Banksy bomb art". BBC News. 8 February 2007. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
- ^ McDermott, Josephine (7 February 2014). "London Banksy Girl and Balloon mural to be removed". BBC News. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
- ^ Jess Denham (12 March 2014). "Banksy reworks girl with heart balloon to mark third anniversary of Syria conflict". The Independent. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
- ^ "Justin Bieber's Banksy Tattoo Blasted By The Graffiti Artist, Sort Of". The Huffington Post UK. 18 March 2014. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
- ^ "Print of Banksy's Balloon Girl sells for more than a Picasso". Western Daily Press. 25 November 2015. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
- ^ "Banksy risks breaking election law with offer of art prints for anti-Conservative voters". ITV. 3 June 2017. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
- ^ O'Connor, Roisin (4 June 2017). "Banksy is offering free art to people who vote against the Tories". Independent. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
- ^ Morris, Steven (6 June 2017). "Banksy forced to withdraw offer to send free artwork to non-Tory voters". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
- ^ "Banksy's balloon girl chosen as nation's favourite artwork". BBC News. 26 July 2017. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
- ^ "Banksy artwork shreds itself after £1m sale at Sotheby's". BBC News. 6 October 2018. Retrieved 6th October 2018.
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External links
- #WithSyria video on YouTube