Julien's Auctions Displays Rare Banksy Mural, HEART BOY, Today

Julien's Auctions, the world-record breaking auction house to the stars, has announced an exclusive display of a rare Banksy mural Heart Boy at Mall Galleries in London beginning Wednesday, April 20th, 2016 and continuing through the live auction sale of the mural on Saturday, April 30th, 2016.

The detached mural, measuring over 7 feet tall was originally created by Banksy in 2009 on the side of a building located at 27-30 Goswell Road in Islington, London, near King's Cross Station. The mural shows a life-size young boy wielding a wet paint brush, having just painted a large graffiti pink heart on a brick wall. This will likely be the last opportunity for the public to view this seminal mural in the city where it was originally created.

To create this mural, Banksy and Brooklyn-based collective, Faile, stalked the streets of Islington seven years ago in search of the perfect building on which to execute their work. When the location was finally found Banksy began creating the mural Heart Boy with black aerosol, stencils and pink acrylic. A variation of this finished work was considered so special to Banksy that he prominently featured it in his own book Wall and Piece (UK, Century, 2006).

The demolition of the building in 2009 initiated the removal and conservation of the mural, which has remained in the owner's possession until now. The public is invited to view the work before it hits the auction block at Julien's Auctions during the Julien's Auctions Street & Contemporary Art auction, which will also feature eight additional Banksy works. The auction will take place on Saturday, April 30th, 2016 at the Julien's Auction Gallery in Los Angeles, California.

Banksy (British, 1974) Heart Boy, 2009 measures 86 1/2" by 41 3/4" by 11 3/4", black aerosol stencil, pink acrylic on concrete and white-washed brick, estimated at $80,000-$120,000.

On the fateful night when Banksy and Brooklyn-based collective Faile found the right building, the meeting of whitewashed brick and concrete became the site of Banksy's mural Heart Boy. The stencil can be found in at least three different places throughout London including Tottenham Court Road, the round-a-bout at Old Street and on Rivington Street in Shoreditch. As a provocateur, Banksy is known for his sarcastic and irreverent style. The demolition of the building in 2009 initiated the removal and conservation of the mural. Banksy posted to his own website of (www.banksy.co.uk) a photograph of a variation of this exact stencil.