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A poignant and provocative work, Banksy’s Vest from 2019 fuses patriotism with the realities of violence sweeping a nation, rendering it an unforgettable reflection on the fractured state of British identity. One of only five in existence, Vest belongs to Banksy's Gross Domestic Product homewares line, which was first displayed in a shopfront in Croydon in South London in 2019, to comment on the impending commercialisation of the Banksy brand. Addressing the stark realities of the United Kingdom’s surge in knife crime, the present work is a striking reinterpretation of the traditional John Bull gentleman’s waistcoat – an item long associated with British society, from the working class to the elite. Vest is a piece of armour incorporating a genuine, former police-issue bullet proof vest capable of stopping rounds from a gun. An object associated with law and order, or worn from fear and paranoia, Vest is adorned with a black, white, and blue Union Jack, however, the iconographic sombre tones are disrupted by a rusty red hue suggestive of dried blood. This subtle yet powerful insinuation of threat to life evokes a sense of mourning, marking Vest as a chilling emblem of Britain’s present moment.

Ever the anti-establishment artist, Banksy chose one of the biggest platforms in music to disseminate his message: Glastonbury Festival. During his historic 2019 Pyramid Stage headline performance, British grime musician, singer-songwriter, and multi-award-winning artist Stormzy donned one of Banksy’s Vests, injecting a potent layer of visual tension into his electrifying set. Like Banksy, Stormzy used his platform to highlight systemic injustices, particularly the targeting of young Black men by a biased judicial system, as well as endemic surges in knife crime and widespread political unrest. His performance was visually punctuated by the stark imagery of the words "knife crime" projected behind him, alongside an excerpt from a speech by MP David Lammy, emphasising the pressing issues plaguing the nation. In Stormzy’s hands, Banksy’s Vest transcended its utilitarian function, becoming a charged statement criticising the fractured state of Britain. Amid the spectacle of his performance, Vest encapsulated the tension between strength and vulnerability, hope and despair, standing as a banner of a divided nation, where national identity is both celebrated and contested. A testament to its gravitas as a piece of cultural history, Stormzy’s vest is today housed in and displayed at the London Design Museum.

Here lies the central paradox of Banksy’s work: it operates both inside and outside of the establishment, it skirts the boundary between good and bad taste, and courts mass appeal whilst commenting on potentially marginalising political and cultural issues. Utilising a mainstream framework, such as Glastonbury, that employs an ironic critical distance, Banksy is able to effectively approach a complicated and multifaceted discussion that prompts us to rethink our assumptions and, perhaps, even resist them. To quote James Brassett who focuses on the work of Banksy in his analysis of ‘British Irony and Global Justice’: “Central to Banksy’s work is an attempt to re-frame global issues through the use of irony, and ironic inversion. His work interrupts mainstream narratives of global ethics, of an unfair world that needs reform, by juxtaposing familiar icons of western capitalism (for example Disney, Ronald McDonald) with icons of western imperialism (for example bombed villagers in Vietnam)… Banksy may not provide ready solutions to some of the problems he identifies, but he certainly provides credible pointers as to the kinds of power structures and hypocrisy that global ethical agendas must contend with” (James Brassett, “British Irony, Global Justice: A Pragmatic Reading of Chris Brown, Banksy and Ricky Gervais,” Review of International Studies, Vol. 35, No. 1, January 2009, pp. 232-33).