The artwork Girl with Balloon (also known as Balloon Girl or Girl and Balloon) is a London series of stencil paintings by graffiti artist Banksy, begun in 2002. The Balloon Girl by Mr. Brainwash (Thierry Guetta) goes back to such a work of his mentor with whom he also made his documentary “Exit Through the Gift Shop”.  It shows a young girl with outstretched hand pointing to a red heart-shaped balloon carried away by the wind. The first artwork was on Waterloo Bridge, and there were other murals around London, none of which have survived. Banksy has used variations of this design on several occasions to support social campaigns: in 2005 on the barrier in the West Bank, in 2014 on the Syrian refugee crisis, and also on the elections in Britain in 2017. In a Samsung survey in 2017, Girl with Balloon was rated the most popular artwork in the United Kingdom.

In 2018, a framed copy of the work was spontaneously shredded during an auction using a mechanical device hidden in the frame. The artist certified that he was responsible for the shredding during the sale and gave the altered work a new name: Love is in the Bin. Sotheby’s said it was “the first artwork in history ever created during a live auction.

The Banksy Balloon Girl wich was shredded live during the Sothebys auction in 2018 was again for sale later. Love is in the Bin, as the painting was soon renamed by Banksy’s authentication body, Pest Control, sold for £1.1 million (US$1.4 million). On Thursday, October 14, 2021, the Banksy Balloon Girl was sold again at Sotheby’s in London under the new title “Love is in the Bin” in the auction during FRIEZE week. The Contemporary Art Evening Sale at the New Bond Street auction saw the dramatic sale of Banksy’s infamous work ‘Love is in the Bin’, take center stage. It broke all records with a price of 18,582,000 pounds. And so the painting, half-destroyed by Banksy, has now been sold by the owner for 16 million pounds plus premium, just three years after the last purchase, in accordance with the rules of speculation. The million from 2018 was well invested. This example is a perfect example of how the art market is no longer just about art, but also about investment, prices and increase in value.

Mr. Brainwash always refers to his mentor’s artwork and interprets it in his own way. The original white background in Mr. Brainwash’s work is typically colorful with collages, silkscreens, stencils, and comic books. The cheerful and light-hearted is thus made even more apparent, true to Mr. Brainwash’s motto: “Life is Beautiful” or “Follow Your Dreams”. Of course, Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat or Andy Warhol’s symbols are not missing in the background.

Mr. Brainwash unique and original Art is for sale online or directly at our gallery space. Buy Balloon Girl, unique and original Aatwork with prices and quotations online with us.

Hardly any other street art artist has experienced such a rapid rise as the Frenchman Thierry Guetta aka Mr. Brainwash, born 1966 in Garges-lès-Gonesse. His path to becoming the most successful artist of recent years is closely linked to the name Banksy and his Oscar-winning film Exit Through the Gift Shop: In this documentary Banksy encourages the then still unknown Guetta to become active as an artist himself under the pseudonym Mr. Brainwash. The rumor persists that the Frenchman Brainwash is a purely fictional person invented by Banksy and that his works are actually created by Banksy. We certainly know that this is not true…

The film about Mr. Brainwash and Banksy, which won numerous awards, resulted in sold-out Mr. Brainwash shows and exhibitions worldwide. In winter 2023 / 2024 FRANK FLUEGEL GALERIE shows new works by Mr. Brainwash in Kitzbuehel / Austria like every year.

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