Council orders Banksy art removal
Banksy's CCTV mural on Newman Street
The mural will be removed once the owner of the wall is established

An artwork by street artist Banksy in central London will be removed to send a message to graffiti artists in the city, a council has decided.

Westminster City Council has ordered a 23ft-high (7m) mural, entitled One Nation Under CCTV, to be removed from a building on Newman Street. The artist's sketches have sold for thousands of pounds at auctions. But deputy leader of the council Robert Davis said keeping the mural would mean "condoning" graffiti.

The mural has the words "One Nation Under CCTV" stencilled above two painted people. ne appears to be a child in a red hooded top apparently painting the words, while a police officer holding a camera and a brown dog look on. The mural is painted on the wall of a building shared by Royal Mail and another business.

Of course he is not going to fill in a form and apply for permission. Notoriety is what makes Banksy exist.
Rupert Maas, art critic

The council said the artist did not gain the necessary permission and, once it has established who owns the painted wall, the artwork will be removed by the owner. Mr Davis, who is also chairman of the council's planning sub committee, said: "I take the view that this is graffiti and if you condone this then what is the difference between this and all the other graffiti you see scrawled across the city? "If you condone this then you condone graffiti all over London." Mr Davis said the building's owner had "every right" to sell or exhibit the Banksy graffiti - as long as it was removed from the wall. "What we are against is people coming around without proper permission or consent and exhibiting their work without permission."

'Vibrant and interesting' Art critic Rupert Maas defended Banksy's graffiti, saying it made the city "vibrant and interesting". "He is doing something that is quite valid," Mr Maas said. "Here he is making a point that we are increasingly governed by CCTV cameras. I think it's great - good for him." Mr Maas added: "Of course he is not going to fill in a form and apply for permission. Notoriety is what makes Banksy exist." Banksy has created at least one other artwork in the borough, in an underpass in Marble Arch. But that mural has not been removed as the whole area is being redeveloped, the council said. "One option would be to remove it and sell it and invest that money into council services," Mr Davis said. On Thursday a Banksy oil canvas, entitled Tesco Value Tomato Soup, was sold for £117,600 by auction house Bonhams.

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Council wants Banksy mural removed

PA | Friday, 24 October 20

A council wants to take down a mural by street artist Banksy but admits the work "has value in the right location". Westminster Council, which has voted to remove the 23ft high piece entitled One Nation Under CCTV from a wall in Newman Street, London, said it did not want to see the art destroyed, but was trying to take a stand against graffiti. The mural depicts a red-hooded figure painting the words "ONE NATION UNDER CCTV" on the wall, while a US-style police officer holding a camera and a brown dog look on. Deputy council leader Robert Davis said: "We are not saying the owners need to paint over this mural as we can see it has value in the right location, such as an art gallery.

"We simply want it removed from this wall and the owner is perfectly entitled to remove it and sell it if they wish. "I take the view that this is graffiti and if you condone this then what is the difference between this and all the other graffiti you see scrawled across the city? "If you condone this then you condone graffiti all over London."

The price of works by the elusive street artist have soared as his popularity has increased.
Jude Law, Angelina Jolie and Christina Aguilera are among those who have been prepared to pay high prices for one of his works. Last night, a Banksy oil canvas, entitled Tesco Value Tomato Soup, was sold for £117,600 - smashing its £80,000 estimate at auction house Bonhams' Urban Art sale. Last year a drawing sprayed onto steel by the street artist sold for 20 times its estimate at £288,000. Westminster Council said it was considering removing another Banksy mural to help fund council services.

The slogan "What are you looking at?" appeared overnight opposite a CCTV camera in an underpass at Marble Arch. "We are currently considering what to do with another Banksy in an underpass at Marble Arch," Mr Davies said. "One option would be to remove it and sell it and invest that money into council services."

But not everyone has been happy to find Banksy's work adorning their property. Transport for London sparked a furore when it ordered its workers to paint over a piece by the artist which had appeared outside Old Street Tube station. The image, showing a scene from Quentin Tarantino's film Pulp Fiction, with Samuel L Jackson and John Travolta holding bananas instead of guns, was thought to have been worth £300,000. Speaking at the time the company said the work created a "general atmosphere of neglect and social decay which in turn encourages crime".