Art and artists both can garner attention by being something different! The case in point is a Banksy artwork, “Love is in the Bin”, which created a sensation in the art world when it self-shredded after being sold for a sum of $1.4 million. The same work is again creating ripples as it is up for sale again and hold on, this time it is being quoted at a price which is much higher than the earlier one!
According to a report in apnews.com, Sotheby’s, the auctioneer last week disclosed that “Love is in the Bin” will be up for sale on October 14 at London. The pre-sale estimate for this work is anywhere between 4 million pounds to 6 million pounds ($5.5 million to $8.3 million).
The artwork as is evident from the image above shows a half-shredded canvas with a spray-painted girl’s image who is reaching for a heart-shaped red balloon.
Before the shredding took place, this piece of artwork was known as “Girl With Balloon”, and in October 2018, it was sold at Sotheby’s. Then the dramatic event took place as the anonymous European buyer made the winning bid, a shredder which was hidden and embedded in the frame by artist Banksy started working and left half the canvas hanging from the frame in strips.
Interestingly, the buyer instead of going back on his purchase, decided to go ahead. Well, the decision will prove right provided it fetches the estimated price, that too within a space of less than three years.
Sotheby’s Chairman of Modern and Contemporary Art, Alex Branczik, described “Love is in the Bin” as “the ultimate Banksy artwork and a true icon of recent art history.”
Talking about the past Branczik observed: “’Love is in the Bin’ was born of the most spectacular artistic happening of the 21st Century. When ‘Girl With Balloon’ ‘self-destructed’ in our saleroom, Banksy sparked a global sensation that has since become a cultural phenomenon.”
Before going under the hammer, this unique piece will be put on public display in London, Hong Kong, Taipei and New York.
Though the artist, Bansky’s identity has never been confirmed, he started his artistic career by spray-painting buildings in Bristol, England, and later became an internationally known artist.
Among his works – which are often mischievous and satirical — include two policemen kissing, armed riot police with yellow smiley faces and a chimpanzee with a sign bearing the words, “Laugh now, but one day I’ll be in charge.”
Originally stencilled on an East London wall, the work “Girl With Balloon” has been reproduced endlessly and is among Banksy’s best-known images.
Also read: An auction of 18th-19th century Company School paintings
