A building in downtown Los Angeles is heading for auction, and with it, the city’s only known Banksy, Girl on a Swing. The massive 3.5m by 10m mural depicts a young girl playfully swinging from the letter ‘A’ of a parking sign. It was stenciled on the side of a former costume company warehouse by the enigmatic street artist during his visit to the metropolitan city in 2010. That was where he was attending the premiere of his documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop.
As a famous street artist, Banksy is known for his thought-provoking and sometimes downright irreverent oeuvres. This probably belongs to the former category; a simple statement on the lack of children’s spaces in LA. The mural also depicts LA’s subsequent imagined reattempt to claim playgrounds of their own.
The painting has since attracted international attention from the art community and tourists alike. That said, the building it’s painted on is itself worthy of recognition. The 2,400 sqm building was constructed in 1914. It contains the geometric grandiosity characteristic of the art deco movement synonymous with the 1920s.