Banksy’s bullet-proof Union flag vest on sale for £300,000

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A bullet-proof vest emblazoned with a Union flag by Banksy has been put up for sale with an estimate of £200,000 to £300,000.

Sotheby’s said it is the “first” Banksy vest to be auctioned from the collection, which the anonymous Bristol street artist began displaying in a shop window in Croydon in south London in 2019.

Five years ago, Stormzy wore a similar stab-proof vest, made by Banksy, to draw attention to knife crime as he headlined Glastonbury.

Emma Baker, head of contemporary evening sale at Sotheby’s, said: “Given an iconic stature by Stormzy during his legendary Glastonbury performance, this reinterpretation of a classic piece of modern-day police-issue armour is Banksy at his best.

“In a way only Banksy can, he manages to powerfully condense a complex social issue through one redolent object.

“There is no doubt this artwork is more pertinent now than when the first vest debuted at Glastonbury – an event that saw it become the symbol of a defining cultural moment.”

In 2020, Banksy’s Stormzy vest was nominated for a Beazley Design of the Year prize, and was subsequently donated to the Design Museum in London by the rapper.

Another work from the series was featured in Banksy’s most recent exhibition, Cut And Run, which took place at the Gallery of Modern Art in Glasgow – his first solo show in 14 years.

The vest listed for sale, one in a series of five, will be shown during Frieze Week before it is offered in Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Evening Auction and will be displayed at the company’s New Bond Street Galleries from October 3 to 9.

On October 5 2018, Sotheby’s auctioned Banksy’s Girl With Balloon, which was then destroyed.

Retitled Love Is In The Bin, the work returned to auction in 2021, and was sold for a record £18.6 million.