Banksy's Shredded 'Girl with Balloon' Painting Is Going on Display to the Public

Now retitled 'Love is in the Bin', it'll be on show for free for four weeks in Germany.
Sarah Ward
January 19, 2019

It has been three short months since Banksy pulled what might be the artist's greatest prank yet — ripping one of his own paintings to shreds the very moment it was sold at auction. If you've watched the artist's extended behind-the-scenes video and still just can't get enough of the stunt, that's understandable. Soon, you'll also be able to see the torn piece with your own eyes, with the artwork going on display to the public for the first time.

Originally titled Girl with Balloon and now known as Love is in the Bin, the painting will be exhibited at Museum Frieder Burda in Baden-Baden, Germany, from Tuesday, February 5 to Monday, March 3. Anyone that finds themselves in the European town, which is located in the Germany's Black Forest right near the country's border with France, will be able to cast their eyes over the piece for free.

Given Banksy's focus on making art available to everyone, the museum's approach aligns those of the art trickster. It's "designed to allow as many visitors as possible to see the picture," the exhibition website notes. Museum Frieder Burda will also host a symposium about Banksy to put his work and creative strategies into context.

It's the latest chapter for a stunt that has sparked plenty of chatter both in the art world and in general since October, when the artwork self-destructed as the hammer fell on the winning bid at London's Sotheby's auction house. As the painting was disintegrating, the collector behind the successful bid was buying it for £860,000 (AU$1.6 million).

If Banksy's prank had gone according to plan, only torn strips of the painting would remain — and that's all that'd be able to be placed on show. In the nearly three-minute clip Shred the Love: The Director's Cut, which was posted on artist's website, Banksy reveals that the entire painting was supposed to be cut to pieces. "In rehearsals it worked every time," the video notes.

In the immediate aftermath of the October 5 prank, Banksy also released a video — showing a shredder being secretly built into the artwork, with an explanation that this was done a few years ago "in case it was ever put up for auction".

Sotheby's has repeatedly advised that it had no knowledge of the prank before it happened. "It appears we just got Banksy-ed," Alex Branczik, head of contemporary art for Europe, told The Art Newspaper.

Love is in the Bin will be on display at Museum Frieder Burda in Baden-Baden, Germany, from Tuesday, February 5 to Monday, March 3.

Images: Olga Rozenbajgier, The Art of BanksyBanksy.

Published on January 19, 2019 by Sarah Ward
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