Banksy's "Girl without Balloon" at the mUCA Bunker
Happy Valentine! From 14 February to 13 April 2025, Banksy's world-famous "Girl Without Balloon" (fka "Love is in the Bin"), the half-shredded artwork of the girl with the heart balloon.
Review: Banksy's "Girl with Balloon"
The motif "Girl With Balloon" by Banksy was voted the UK's favourite "painting" in 2017. The MUCA Collection includes a work from 2004 from this famous series.
By combining the medium of spray paint with an image that immediately conveys emotion and meaning to a wide audience, this artwork has become an iconic example of the anonymous street artist's ouevre.
Originally called "Street Souvenirs", the small-format canvases show some of Banksy's best-known motifs from the early 2000s. They are a tangible and authentic distillation of the British artist's aesthetic and working methods.
Live shredding: How Banksy created "Love is in the Bin" at Sotheby's
Banksy's most media-effective action took place in October 2018: during a Sotheby's auction in London, a sold painting from Banksy's famous "Girl With Balloon" series was shredded by a hidden shredder integrated into the frame. Shortly before the work was to be completely destroyed, the remote-controlled shredding mechanism stopped. According to media reports, the auction house Sotheby's was not privy to this "Banksy stunt".
According to Banksy's message in his video "Shred the Love" posted on YouTube, the plan was for the picture to be completely destroyed. In the video, Banksy shows previous test runs in which it worked. According to Banksy, this action was intended to criticise the art market.
After the spectacle at Sotheby's, the artwork was given a new name: "Love is in the Bin". The shredding thus created a new Banksy work, no doubt to the surprise of the buyer at the time. Sotheby's announced that it was "the first work in history ever to be created during a live auction".
naming: Why is Banksy's work now called "Girl without Balloon"?
The plant was renamed again in 2021, this time with far less media impact.
After being exhibited in a European museum for several years, the artwork was auctioned again, this time with the shredder deactivated. After the auction, Banksy's work was renamed "Girl Without a Balloon" again.
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