BANKSY STREET ART// Girl with Balloon, 2002

  • Girl with Balloon first appeared as a mural on London’s South Bank, near Waterloo Bridge, accompanied by the words “There...
    Banksy, Girl with Balloon, 2002.
    Waterloo Bridge, South Bank, London, England.
    © Banksy. Photo © Dominic Robinson, Bristol, UK.
    Girl with Balloon first appeared as a mural on London’s South Bank, near Waterloo Bridge, accompanied by the words “There is always hope.” It has since become one of Banksy’s most celebrated and instantly recognisable images, embodying the simplicity and poignancy of his stencil style. In 2017, it was voted the nation’s favourite artwork in a UK-wide poll, confirming its place as a modern cultural icon.
     
    The image depicts a young girl reaching toward, or perhaps letting go of, a heart-shaped red balloon drifting away. The balloon, the only point of colour, symbolises innocence, hope, dreams, and love, while its fragility underscores the transience of those ideals. Universally understood and deeply emotive, Girl with Balloon resonates with audiences far beyond the street art scene, securing its status as one of the most important and widely recognised artworks of the 21st century.
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  • “Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable.”

     – Banksy

    The simple composition of a child reaching for a drifting red balloon captures both innocence and loss, hope and fragility. Its minimalism is part of its power: with a few stencilled lines and a single flash of red, Banksy distilled complex human emotions into an image instantly understood across cultures.
    Over the years, the work has been repeatedly revisited, from canvas editions to the infamous 2018 shredding stunt at Sotheby’s, when Girl with Balloon partially destroyed itself moments after being sold, re-emerging as Love is in the Bin. Today, the image is recognised globally as a symbol of resilience, fleeting beauty, and the universal longing for something just out of reach.
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      SIGNED EDITIONS

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      ORIGINAL WORKS

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      STREET WORKS