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Banksy’s Girl With Balloon – The Meaning Behind The Art

Banksy’s most iconic piece of artwork is the image of a little girl holding a balloon. The words near the girl say “There is always hope.”

Banksy is one of the world’s most well-known artists, who started out as a graffiti artist in Bristol, often creating art that made people question power and authority. Banksy began using stencils in the 1990s, but his work didn’t become widely recognized until Bristol became his base.

Banksy painted the West Bank Barrier in 2005, with imagery that often appears in his work. It was given significant media attention from the  world-wide press.

Banksy created new pieces of public artwork everyday during his visit. For some, he sold art for as little as $60 and well below market value.

Banksy, who is world-famous, has managed to stay anonymous. In 2008, The Mail On Sunday reported that Robin Gunningham (also known as Banksy) was the founder of the project. However, a year later he claimed he did not know anything about it. Recently, The Mail also published an article claiming that scientists were able to figure out that his true identity is Mr Gunningham thanks to geographic profiling.

Peter Dean Rickards famously took a photo of Banksy in Jamaica, and at a Sotheby’s auction in London, the artist’s 2006 painting simply self-shredded.

Banksy’s Girl with Balloon is his most popular piece of art, and it’s being exhibited in many households around the world. People might find the universality of the image enough to explain its popularity – in a 2017 poll, 2,000 people voted it their favorite. The heart-shaped balloon is likely a representation of love, hope, innocence, childhood, and self-confidence. The addition of words like THERE IS ALWAYS HOPE give an ironic dimension to the image that perhaps suggests the loss goes beyond what Banksy originally meant to convey when he created it.

With Canvasjet, you can buy Banksy artwork as canvas art.

Banksy’s Girl with Balloon is set for release on September 20, 2018.

1. Banksy Kids on Gun Hill Canvas Print

In this work, Kids on Gun Hill, Banksy uses a graphical heart balloon as a symbol to represent hope against despair.

The exhibition Kids on Guns was first released in 2003. The idea is that there is a powerful message and reminder of the innocence in childhood and love despite the world being such a dark place.

2. Banksy Flying Balloon Girl Canvas Print

The Banksy mural – Flying Balloon Girl is a powerful mural. It can be interpreted as a desire for freedom from suffering, articulated via his familiar motif of childhood innocence.