Spy Booth

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Spy Booth was a 2014 artwork by Banksy in Cheltenham, England.[1] The piece has been seen as a critique of the global surveillance disclosures of 2013.[2]

In 2014, Robin Barton and Bankrobber London helped with the preservation of the artwork,[3] and attempted to broker the removal and sale of the piece. However the artwork was painted onto a Grade II listed building (153–159 Fairview Road) and the council prevented it from being removed, giving it retrospective listed building consent in 2015 and affording it some protection from removal. Despite this, the artwork was removed, destroying it in August 2016.[4] Spy Booth was auctioned as nine stucco-faced brick fragments sawed from the wall and as an NFT.[5][6][7][8]

The GCHQ has used the picture, as a symbolic image for "How does an analyst catch a terrorist?", on its "what we do" page, on its website.[9]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Fears Banksy Cheltenham 'spies' artwork will be removed". BBC News Online. 26 June 2014. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
  2. ^ Steven Morris (10 June 2014). "Banksy confirms he is creator of Spy Booth wall art near GCHQ". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
  3. ^ "Cheltenham Banksy: Deal to save it 'close to agreement'". BBC News Online. 29 June 2014. Retrieved 29 June 2014.
  4. ^ "Banksy artwork removed from Cheltenham house". BBC News. 21 August 2016.
  5. ^ Smith, Hannah (1 October 2021). "Banksy's "Destroyed" Spy Booth Auctioned as NFT". Art Business News. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  6. ^ "Banksy's Spy Booth Brick + NFT Auction Crashes Servers with Overwhelmingly Heavy Web Traffic". 4StateNews. 5 October 2021. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  7. ^ "Bid on the actual bricks and NFT". Banksy Spy Booth NFT. 11 September 2021. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  8. ^ "Thought Lost, Banksy's "Spy Booth" Returns ... As Bricks". InsideHook. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  9. ^ "What we do". GCHQ. 15 March 2015. Archived from the original on 29 April 2015. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
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  • Banksy, Spy Booth Photo: Jules Annan/Barcroft Media 14 April 2014

51°53′59″N 2°03′58″W / 51.8996°N 2.0661°W / 51.8996; -2.0661


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