Bournemouth MP Tobias Ellwood slams suicide vest artwork

Mr Ellwood, whose brother was killed in a terrorist attack in Bali in 2002, has spoken out over the work of Jake and Dinos Chapman, which has been on display at GIANT in Bobby’s since early August.

The artwork includes a series of mounted bronze-cast suicide vests the form of which was based on YouTube clips of suicide bombers.

The installation, part of the inaugural GIANT exhibition which closes on Sunday, October 31, also includes vests which have had the explosives replaced by paint brushes and pens.

The work of Jake and Dinos Chapman on display at GIANT in Bournemouth. Picture: GIANT

The founder of the gallery, Stuart Semple, said the Chapman brothers produced “anti-terror and anti-war works”.

The response came after Conservative MP Mr Ellwood, who is also chair of the defence select committee, made comments in interviews calling for the exhibit to be pulled.

"My brother was killed by a terrorist wearing one of these jackets,” said Mr Ellwood.

"I strongly urge this insensitive exhibition to be removed immediately.

Tobias Ellwood MP

"It is tasteless, offensive and irresponsible and I hope the exhibitors will act swiftly in taking it down.

"As the (recent) loss of a colleague in Parliament (Sir David Amess) illustrates, the threat of extremism is very real with individuals radicalised by what they read and see."

Titled 'Monuments to Immortality', the vest artwork has been described by curators as a 'dialogue between death and beauty'.

At the launch of the exhibition, a release from GIANT described them as follows: “The works, whilst reminiscent of Jeff Koons ‘Aqualung’ (1985), are hand painted in bright colours, featuring art materials where one would expect explosives.

“As one would expect from the brothers, a dialogue with death ensues, in which the risk and danger of being an artist is pitched against the power of the artist's conviction to fight for belief.”

The Chapman brothers have attracted attention in the past for some of their work, including a crazy golf ornament of Hitler saluting and when they painted hippie motifs on 13 water colours originally produced by the Fuhrer.

The exhibit includes vests with the explosives replaced with art tools and materials

In an interview with Sky News on Thursday morning, Mr Ellwood said he was “shocked” when he became aware of the artwork in Bournemouth.

Referencing the death of Sir David Amess MP, Mr Ellwood said “it was not the time to be showcasing suicide vests”, adding that “to sensationalise art in this way out of context I don’t think is the right thing to do”.

“It is synonymous with radicalisation and of course the series of extremist attacks that began in 9/11 two decades ago and actually continue today, including here in the UK,” said Mr Ellwood.

“Yes, we live in a free country but with those freedoms of expression come I think a sense of responsibility, a sense of duty to be sensible and sensitive about the context in which you use those freedoms.

“It is my personal view, I make it very clear, to display a suicide vest in this way and label it a ‘monument to mortality’ (sic) is pretty sick but I will go further than that and say it is the wider issue of self-radicalisation that I would urge the gallery to consider.”