Banksy's Love Hurts Sculpture: Wounded Heart Motif from Walled Off Hotel

Banksy's Love Hurts sculpture, a hand-painted resin wall section, features a wounded silver heart balloon caught in barbed wire with a hooded figure. The work originates from The Walled Off Hotel in Bethlehem, Palestine, which opened in 2017 facing the West Bank barrier. The same motif appears above the bed in the hotel's Presidential Suite, designed by Banksy, Sami Musa, and Dominique Petrin. The image belongs to a broader Banksy language of wounded heart balloons, including a rare 2012 signed screenprint edition of 16 artist proofs, a 2013 New York mural during the Better Out Than In residency in Brooklyn, and the 2018 Vote to Love Brexit placard intervention. The sculpture is part of a limited series sold through the hotel's gift shop. Collectors require strong provenance including original Walled Off Hotel receipts, numbering, and matching details due to fakes on the secondary market. GraffitiStreet co-founder Donna Haden stayed in the Presidential Suite in September 2017 and describes the work as carrying the emotional pressure of the place. The sculpture connects Banksy's practice across print, installation, and object, rooted in the political context of Palestine.