On October 14, local time, a very fierce auction was held at Sotheby's in London, and the works auctioned were the classic work "Love in the Trash" by the 47-year-old British graffiti artist Banks. Unlike ordinary paintings, this is a work that has been destroyed, because it has been "baptized" by a shredder, and what is displayed is also restored by a piece of paper.
But it was something like this that sold for £18.6 million (about 160 million RMB), four times the expected price, and set the latest high price for Banks' work, which in March set a record of £16.75 million (about 150 million RMB) and was broken in just seven months, showing how much the graffiti artist is valued.
According to reports, there are a total of 9 bidders participating in the auction of "Love in the Trash", and from the scene of the scene, the real buyers did not appear, they were entrusted to professional bidders to participate in the competition, and in the end, it only took 10 minutes to determine the final owner, of course, the identity will definitely be kept secret.
Originally titled "Girls and Balloons," Love in the Trash may seem like a non-surprising work, but in 2018 it attracted many bidders to sotheby's to compete. And just when the auctioneer announced that it would be sold for 1.04 million pounds (9.15 million RMB at the current exchange rate), the picture frame suddenly sounded alarm, and then the painting began to slide, and the hidden shredder instantly shattered into a note, which also stunned everyone present. Banks also posted this moment on his personal social media, and also quoted Picasso as saying that "destruction is also creation". Although Banksy "self-destructed", in the eyes of critics, this is he creating another kind of art, so there is this time the sky-high price, which is also the art of the shredder.
Considered Banks' most iconic work, Girl and Balloon appeared on London's South Shore around 2002, along with the words "There is always hope." Over the years, the discussion about the true meaning expressed in this work has been intense, and the views on "love, innocence or hope" are very different.