Banksy’s Painting Girl With Balloon, a 2006 work that was once shredded at auction, is back for a second inning, retitled and redated. The famous painting was previously renamed Love is in the Bin by the artist’s studio, Pest Control, after being shredded during a live auction at Sotheby’s in 2018. Sotheby’s also issued a certificate of authenticity; essentially, the half-shredded painting became a brand-new work. A third round of renaming ensued at the “Love in Paradise: Banksy and Keith Haring” exhibition at Paradise Art Space in Incheon, South Korea, in August of last year.
Intriguingly, even Sotheby’s was caught unawares when ‘Love is in the Bin,’ the same artwork that garnered a staggering $25.3 million, was rechristened as “The Girl Without Balloon.” In a discussion with The Korea Times last year, Buckley Wood shared insights: “The new piece was born in 2021, coinciding with the destruction of the original. We can only surmise that Banksy’s intention behind the name change was to signify the birth of a new painting.” Elaborating further in a conversation with The Art Newspaper, he emphasized that the “destruction” of the work was largely “symbolic.”
Wood added, “Physically, it’s a single artwork. However, the alteration in its title suggests a shift in its significance from the artist’s perspective.” The name change, orchestrated by Banksy’s studio Pest Control, remains shrouded in mystery, with no explicit clarification on the reasons behind it or whether it has been reissued a new certificate of authenticity.
It’s understandable if this narrative leaves you bewildered, as now the same painting is known in the art market under two distinct names and dates. A true enigma to unravel!
