This Video of Banksy's Famous "Girl with Balloon" Being Stolen from a London Art Exhibit is Almost Certainly The Start of an Outrageous Banksy Stunt That Will Make Him Millions of Dollars

NY Post - Two men have been arrested for allegedly stealing one of Banksy’s most iconic artworks, “Girl with Balloon,” from a London gallery, cops said Friday.

Larry Fraser, 47, and James Love, 53, are accused of snatching the incognito artist’s famous stencil mural — valued at roughly $355,000 — from the Grove Gallery on Sunday night, the Metropolitan Police said.

I think we can all agree that Banksy himself is behind this, and will parlay his stolen artwork into an multi-million dollar payday. I expect by the end of this weekend, Larry Fraser and James Love will have busted out of jail through a hole in their cell. A hole in the shape of 3 British constables carrying assault rifles chasing a small bear holding a sign that says "HOPE". People from across London will flock to the jail to observe the scene, at which time Banksy will detonate a bomb, blowing the cell to pieces. Art enthusiasts will call it the single greatest moment in the history of art, the individual pieces of rubble will sell for a few million dollars a piece, and Larry Fraser and James Love will never be seen again. Were one of them Banksy? We may never know.

Of all the people in the world, I'm not sure anybody comes as close to being able to literally print money the way Banksy can. This piece of art that was stolen, "Girl with Balloon", is not even his original piece. Not even close.

The piece is one of several versions of Banksy’s Girl with Balloon — a stenciled image of a young girl reaching for a heart-shaped red balloon.

Originally stenciled on a wall in east London, the picture has been endlessly reproduced, becoming one of Banksy’s most famous images.

Every time Banksy creates a stencil image of "Girl with Balloon", he's making tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars. I'm unclear on exactly how many true Banksy, "Girl with Balloon"'s there are in total. But I found a website that appears to be selling versions of them from anywhere between $80,000-$450,000.

And of course, if Banksy really wants to up the price of one of his famous stencil drawings, he can always run it through a paper shredder.

The art world is one of the stupider worlds we have in this world. I can only assume everyone who runs in these circles is laundering money. It's the only thing that makes sense. 

Advertisement

Dennis Reynolds said it best, "Is art good just because the right people say it's good? Yes. Yes, that's how it works."

I like to think Banksy goes to bed laughing every night. That every time he sells a piece of art he thinks to himself, "I can't believe these fucking morons keep giving me money for this." 

At this point, I'd imagine Banksy could take a shit on a plate and sell it for millions. If Banksy shot up an office building, they would call art. If we learned tomorrow that the attempted Trump assassination was actually a Banksy, or that Banksy orchestrated 9/11, someone who looks exactly like Frank Reynolds in the clip above would applaud it as the greatest display of creative bullshit the world has ever seen.

It's been a while since we've had a ridiculous Banksy stunt. Perhaps this stolen piece is the start of one.