Artists’ ‘life and death vests’ made from images online, apart from one based on prop used in Jackie Chan film

Jake and Dinos Chapman, known for their pessimistic ruminations on human violence and barbarity, have filled a London gallery space with seven bronzes of suicide vests.

The “life and death vests” are horrifyingly detailed and real, made from images found online, apart from one which was made from a Hollywood film prop.

They were challenging works but also things of great beauty, said Craig Burnett, director of exhibitions at the BlainSouthern gallery. “When they came in, part of the surprise was how beautiful they are as objects, as sculptures,” he said.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The bronze vests were inspired by artist Jeff Koons’ Aqualung from 1985. Photograph: Martin Godwin/The Guardian

“I think the surface is beautiful, the form is beautiful – there is a kind of mundanity to the object itself … but, of course, there is an implied violence: it is an explosive device.

“Beauty is a difficult word, it means a lot of different things … the way I’m using it now is in terms of a quality that is seductive; you want to look at it, you want to analyse it, you want to engage with it as an object.”

The bronzes clearly address world events but the artists have declined to speak about the new works.

Each bronze is being sold as a one-off, apart from the one based on a prop used in the Jackie Chan film Rush Hour, which the brothers bought from a movie props website. That comes in an edition of six.

The Chapmans’ work is often a response to the work of other artists. In this case, they were inspired by Jeff Koons’ Aqualung from 1985, a buoyancy device which had been uselessly cast in bronze.

Burnett said the suicide vests reminded him of walking into the Imperial War Museum. “There is always an engagement with violence and politics in [the Chapman brothers’] work, and I think when you walk in here there is a real sense of a memorial with the objects.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Jake and Dinos Chapman are known for their provocative work. Photograph: Nic Serpell-Rand

The vests are the brothers’ first work for BlainSouthern, having previously been with White Cube. Also on display are works that continue the Chapmans’ fascination with Francisco de Goya. Prints from Goya’s Disasters of War have been dramatically, sometimes hilariously, reworked by the brothers in collage, watercolour and glitter.

• Jake and Dinos Chapman, the Disasters of Everyday Life, is at BlainSoutthern from 4 October until 11 November.