31 December 2023 , 10:12
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A microscopic version of a Banksy masterpiece has been created inside the eye of a needle - and then shredded just like the original. David A Lindon, known to fans as 'Microangelo', spent months meticulously crafting a miniature version of anonymous artist Banksy's famous Girl with Balloon painting.
The original was shredded during a live auction in 2018. Lindon, 54, incredibly recreated the famous artwork in miniature form - so small it's housed inside the eye of a needle - before emulating Banksy in using micro blades set within a 24-carat gold picture frame to shred his artwork.
The mini masterpiece has now been sold to a private collector for an undisclosed fee. Previous examples of Lindon's tiny works have been valued at more than £75,000.
In 2002, satirical street artist Banksy began a series of stencil murals around London depicting a young girl with her hand extended toward a red heart-shaped balloon being carried away by the wind.
The artist used it several times to support social campaigns, and it was voted in a 2017 poll as the UK's favourite artwork. In 2018, a framed copy of the work was sold by auctioneers Sotheby's at an artist-record price of £1,042,000.
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But seconds after the gavel came down, the canvas began sliding out of the bottom of the frame and shredding itself to the sound of a siren and the complete surprise of attendees - including those working for Sotheby's.
Though the shredding of the artwork stopped around halfway through, Banksy said this was unplanned and he had intended for the entire canvas to be shredded.
Love is in the Bin, as the half-shredded artwork became known, has been on permanent loan to the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart since March 2019 and was sold again at auction in October 2021 for a staggering £18,582,000.
In shredding his version of Girl with Balloon, using tiny blades concealed within the tiny frame, Lindon emulated the fate of Banksy's celebrated artwork. Lindon's mini art piece, which is mounted inside the eye of a needle and preserved within a bespoke glass dome, was recently bought by a private collector in the UK for an undisclosed amount.
A Banksy Love in a bin by 'Microangelo' artist David A Lindon (David A Lindon / SWNS)The micro-painting is now part of an exclusive collection of modern masterpieces. Lindon has also recreated several other of Banksy's artworks in miniature versions, including Happy Choppers, Love Rat and The Flower Thrower.
On the meticulous nature of his work, Bournemouth resident Lindon said: "A single twitch from my fingers can wreck months of work. "My hands still jump a little as my heart beats, so I work in a rhythm between each pulse.
"If I don’t concentrate all the time my fingers can accidentally flick weeks of work off from under the microscope and when it disappears from my sight, it will probably never be seen again. I can accidentally blow it away, with a sneeze or a cough. Even a breath of wind from an open window can make it fly away and disappear forever.
A matchstick shows David's work to scale (David A Lindon / SWNS)"Once a piece is lost, you can spend hours hunting around for it with a magnifying glass in your hand and still never find it. It takes hundreds of hours and superhuman dedication to make a single piece of art, but seeing the look on people’s faces and their reactions makes it all worthwhile."
Lindon, who has previously created micro versions of popular paintings such as The Girl with the Pearl Earring and Vincent Van Gogh’s The Starry Night, crafted his most recent miniature artwork using the tip of an ostrich feather and works under a microscope.
He uses strands of Kevlar, carpet fibres, pieces of ceramics, crushed micro pigments, precious metals like gold and platinum as well as gemstones, diamonds, emeralds and rubies to create his miniature artworks.
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