• Technical

Color offset printing on art paper. Color reproduction.

Custom-made frame, black mat and standard protective glass.

Dimensions (with frame): 31 x 41 cm.

• Artist biography

Banksy is the pseudonym of a street artist, filmmaker and sculptor whose real name and identity remain uncertain and are still the subject of speculation.

Apparently British and active since the 1990s, he uses stencil painting to convey his messages, which often blend politics, humor, and poetry.

His works are humorous images, sometimes combined with slogans. The message is generally anarchist, anti-militarist, anti-capitalist or anti-system and his characters are often rats, monkeys, police officers, soldiers, children, famous people or elderly people.

Banksy denounces consumer society through his works.
Originally printed in multiple copies and sold on the streets of Central Park for only $60, signed by the artist, "Girl with Balloon" didn't find many buyers. However, put up for auction with a starting price of €1 million, it finally found its buyer.
Thus he denounces the fact that when a work by a recognized artist is sold at an exorbitant price it always finds buyers, but when it is within everyone's reach it no longer interests anyone.
So what are we ultimately buying in art? The name of the artist or the work itself?
According to some, the red balloon represents Banksy, who is ephemeral because as soon as his name appears, he flies away along with the artwork.

This artwork, sold for 1 million euros, entered art history immediately after its acquisition when a mechanism hidden in the frame by the artist was triggered just after the hammer blow and partially destroyed it.
This destruction also represents an act of liberation because the artist does not want his works to be associated with or dependent on any museum.

However, the message did not get through, as the price of the artwork reportedly doubled.

However, Banksy is not innovative in the happening since he was inspired by Jean Tinguely with his work "Homage to New York" dating from 1960 in which a balloon exploded, colored smoke evaporated, the artist could even be heard speaking in a recording until total destruction.
Banksy is therefore not innovative, but the way he self-destructs his work remains unique.

PAST EXHIBITIONS (SELECTION)

• 2009: " Banksy Versus Bristol Museum ", Bristol City Museum
• 2023: "Banksy: Cut and Run" , Glasgow Gallery of Modern Art