Girl With Balloon

Girl With Balloon is a spray paint stencil on canvas produced by the acclaimed street artist Banksy in 2003. The signed canvas comes in an edition size of 25 and shows a young girl spray painted against a white backdrop. Standing in the centre of the composition, the girl is captured side-on, reaching out for a heart-shaped balloon which appears to be drifting out of the composition. Rendered in black and white with a hint of red, the design is simple and evocative and can be interpreted in various different ways.

The image of Girl With Balloon has become a symbol of innocence and hope and has also been seen as a comment on loss, temporarily and release. The artwork captures Banksy’s ability to make profound statements through simple designs. While Banksy’s artworks are often deeply satirical and steeped in anti-establishment values, this artwork is much lighter in tone and carries a more universal meaning.

Girl With Balloon has been produced in various iterations which is a testimony to its wide-reaching appeal. The image first appeared in 2002 spray painted onto a concrete wall under the stairway of a loading dock in London’s South Bank. While there are no remaining renditions left on the streets of London, subsequent series of canvases and prints, like this version, capture the impact this image has left on the public.