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Oct 17, 2024

Banksy's bullet-proof Union flag vest to be auctioned at Sotheby's - BBC News

Image source, PA Media A bullet-proof vest emblazoned with a Union flag by Banksy could sell for up to £300,000 at auction. Sotheby’s said it will be the first item to be auctioned from a collection

Image source, PA Media

A bullet-proof vest emblazoned with a Union flag by Banksy could sell for up to £300,000 at auction.

Sotheby’s said it will be the first item to be auctioned from a collection of five artworks, which Bristol's elusive street artist displayed in a shop window in Croydon, London, in 2019.

Five years ago, Stormzy wore a similar vest while headlining Glastonbury Festival.

Head of contemporary evening sale at Sotheby’s Emma Baker said: “In a way only Banksy can, he manages to powerfully condense a complex social issue through one redolent object."

The stab-proof vest, which was made from a former police issue garment, features an image of the Union Jack flag and alludes to the high levels of knife crime and gang violence across UK cities.

Image source, Yui Mok/PA Wire

Ms Baker continued: “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.

“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.”

The artwork will be shown during Frieze Festival, a high-end contemporary art exhibition in London, before it is sold at auction.

It will then be displayed at the company’s New Bond Street Galleries from 3 to 9 October.

Image source, Haydon Perrior

On 5 October 2018, Sotheby’s auctioned off Banksy’s 'Girl With Balloon', one of the artist's best known works made in 2006.

Moments after the piece was sold for £1.042m, the canvas of a girl reaching for a heart-shaped balloon shredded itself through the frame.

Later re-named 'Love Is In The Bin', the work returned to auction in 2021 and was sold for a record £18.6m.

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