an artwork by banksy self-destructed moments after it was sold at auction for more than £1 million (approximately $1.36m USD). the item under the hammer at sotheby’s auction house in london was a framed version of the ‘girl with balloon’, a 2002 mural depicting a young girl letting go of a red heart-shaped balloon. immediately after the item sold, the canvas spontaneously made its way through a shredder — which had been integrated in the picture’s hefty frame — to the absolute shock of guests in attendance.
the elusive artist posted an image of the auction on his instagram page, with the caption: ‘going, going, gone…’. ‘it appears we just got banksy-ed,’ said alex branczik, senior director and head of contemporary art of europe london while at the auction. the unexpected incident instantly became art world history.
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sotheby’s has since revealed on their instagram that banksy has agreed to ‘re-authenticate’ the piece with a new title, love is in the bin (2018). amid speculation of sotheby’s collaborating with banksy to pull of the stunt the gallery has firmly denied any involvement contemporary specialist alex branczik wrote in a recent instagram post:
let’s end the speculation and crazy conspiracy stories. banksy didn’t destroy an artwork during our evening sale last week; he created one. this is the newly titled love is in the bin, 2018. were we in on it? absolutely not. do you really think banksy, who spent his youth stencilling walls in bristol and dodging the local authorities, would want to collaborate with the art establishment? come on, you should all know better that.
it has also been revealed that the evolved piece will be on show at sotheby’s london over the weekend. love is in the bin (2018) will be on view to the public in the gallery’s new bond street galleries on saturday and sunday 13th and 14th october from noon until 5pm.
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banksy (29 articles)
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Banksy is clearly a genius. He continues to put the back-of-the-throat crowd on their heels.
Jim