Banksy – PARK

In 2010, a work by Banksy appeared on the south face of a building in the south of Broadway in Los
Angeles. This is done on the wall of this building just above a parking. It is the only preserved public
artwork of Banksy in Los Angeles.
This mural is called PARK and nicknamed Swing Girl because you can see a little girl sitting on a swing.
This swing hangs from the letter A, from the word PARK. Indeed, Banksy used the word parking written in
red already present and whitewashed the letters ING in order to highlight the word PARK. Just below this
work, we see cars parked in front of the wall of this parking lot.
There are many paradoxes brought to light thanks to Banksy's work: firstly, usually the cars are in motion but
here they are stationary, parked in this parking unlike the little girl who appears to be in motion as we see
with her hair blowing in the wind or the movement of her legs. In addition, the girl seems free above the cars
which seem stuck in front of the wall of the building.

Banksy did not choose the location at random for his work. Indeed, Broadway is the first and largest historic
center of LA and there are therefore always a lot of people and agitation. Secondly, he probably chose the
parking to illustrate the importance of cars in LA: highways come into the city and the number of cars is very
high in a big city like LA. Third, the building on which he painted his work is part of a group of neighboring
houses and people live right next to it. But especially at this time in 2010, a group of people living in the
neighborhood were raising money to build a children's park in place of a nearby parking.
In addition, Banksy once again reuses a theme he often takes: that of the child. Indeed, this represents
vulnerability, innocence but also future generations.

Thus, Banksy's work illustrates the fact that cars are like an addiction in LA and that the incessant life of this
city leaves little space and attention for children. Yet in the work the little girl seems happy and free
paradoxically to the immobile and stuck cars.

Swing girl is a great exemple of how Banksy integrates his work into the urban scene whithin the existing
landscape.
And he gives us several messages through his work:
First of all, a child doesn't need a lot of things to play and have fun: a swing is enough.
Then it shows that in this neighborhood there is not enough space for children to play like parks and we must
not forget that during this time people were petitioning to create a park in place of a nearby parking lot.

Since this work by Banksy appeared on the building, it was estimated at 16 million dollars and is now worth
30 million.
Unfortunately a real estate developer had a building built in place of the parking lot and so now Banksy's
work is stuck in an alley between 2 buildings and the parking lot which gave meaning to the work has
disappeared.