Spy Booth Explained

Spy Booth was an 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

• List of works by Banksy

External links

• Banksy, Spy Booth Photo: Jules Annan/Barcroft Media 14 April 2014

51.8996°N -2.0661°W

Notes and References

1. News: Fears Banksy Cheltenham 'spies' artwork will be removed. BBC News Online. 26 June 2014. 26 June 2014.
2. Web site: Steven Morris. Banksy confirms he is creator of Spy Booth wall art near GCHQ . The Guardian. June 10, 2014. 26 June 2014.
3. News: Cheltenham Banksy: Deal to save it 'close to agreement'. BBC News Online. 29 June 2014. 29 June 2014.
4. News: Banksy artwork removed from Cheltenham house. BBC News. 21 August 2016.
5. Web site: Smith . Hannah . Banksy's "Destroyed" Spy Booth Auctioned as NFT . Art Business News . 22 July 2022 . 1 October 2021.
6. Web site: Banksy's Spy Booth Brick + NFT Auction Crashes Servers with Overwhelmingly Heavy Web Traffic . 4StateNews . 22 July 2022 . 5 October 2021.
7. Web site: Bid on the actual bricks and NFT . Banksy Spy Booth NFT . 22 July 2022 . 11 September 2021.
8. Web site: Thought Lost, Banksy's "Spy Booth" Returns ... As Bricks . InsideHook . 22 July 2022.
9. Web site: What we do . 15 March 2015 . 15 March 2015 . . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150429095503/http://www.gchq.gov.uk/what_we_do/Pages/index.aspx . 2015-04-29 .