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Girl with Balloon (also, Balloon Girl or Girl and Balloon) is a series of stencil murals around London by the graffiti artist Banksy, started in 2002. They depict a young girl with her hand extended toward a red heart-shaped balloon carried away by the wind.
Mar 24, 2023 · Balloon Girl by Banksy is part of a 2002 London series of stencil paintings portraying a little girl with her hand outstretched toward a red heart-shaped balloon swept away by the wind.
Beating Turner’s The Fighting Temeraire, Constable’s The Hay Wain and Hockney’s A Bigger Splash to the top spot, Banksy’s Girl with Balloon was voted UK’s favorite artwork in a 2017 poll; a resounding affirmation of the broad and wide-reaching popularity of this undeniably iconic and culturally formidable image.
Jul 5, 2021 · Banksy’s written message “There is always Hope” accompanying Girl With Balloon has led the artist to create many variations addressing specific political issues. The anonymous artist loaned his moniker and style in 2014 to support Syrians affected by the country’s brutal civil war.
Girl with Balloon is one of Banksy’s many works that focus on the theme of childhood. The artist utilizes the innocence and moral virtue associated with children to turn a mirror on society, foregrounding its faults and injustices.
It wasn’t until two years after Girl with Balloon’s initial appearance, in 2004, that Banksy embraced the image’s potential for widespread reproduction: He partnered with photographer and curator Steve Lazarides’s Pictures on Walls imprint to release the only extant print edition of Girl with Balloon.
Arguably one of the most recognizable images created by Banksy, the Girl with Balloon depicts a child reaching out towards a bright red, heart-shaped balloon. In its simplicity, the imagery captures human emotions that even the ambiguity of the mural cannot conceal.
