Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, artists have been stepping up and raising money to help those adversely affected by it, from creating NHS-supporting slogans in ceramics to raise money for PPE, to livestreaming the painting of near identical red canvases, priced from £1 to £100, to aid The Soup Kitchen London. Collectives and organisations have also been getting together to launch online exhibitions of reasonably priced works aimed at budding art collectors. Many are open editions and only available for a limited time, such as the online show titled Photographs for the Trussell Trust, which has already raised more than £480,000 but ends at midnight tonight.
So, if you fancy yourself a modern-day Medici or the next Charles Saatchi, and want to help some good causes, here is where you can buy art and raise money to aid people affected by the coronavirus pandemic. (NB. Please make sure you are well stocked up on food and have paid the rent before branching out into the wild world of art collecting).
Hannah Starkey's Untitled (October 1998) © Hannah Starkey
Photographs for the Trussell Trust
You will have to be quick to snap up one of the works on sale for £100 at Photographs for the Trussell Trust, as the sale period ends today at midnight BST. The works are unsigned, “time-frame” editions, which means they will only be on sale for the duration of the online show. The project includes works by 200 artists and photographers, such as Martin Parr, Hannah Starkey, Jeremy Deller, John Stezaker and Juergen Teller. All proceeds from the sales go to the Trussell Trust, which is supporting food banks across the UK that have seen a spike in demand following the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. The fundraiser was inspired by Italy’s 100 Fotografi Per Bergamo and Pictures for Elmhurst in the US.
Tomma Abts's Ohne Titel/Untitled (2020) © Tomma Abts
2020 Solidarity
The German artist and photographer Wolfgang Tillmans set up 2020 Solidarity to support several cultural organisations and charities affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, inviting more than 40 artists to contribute A2-sized posters that can be offered as rewards on crowdfunding sites . The posters cost €50, £50 or $50, depending on the location of the organisation and will be produced and sent out by Tillman’s charitable organisation Between Bridges. “In a way this works like brokering, connecting causes with artist posters that not every single cause would have the access to,” Tillmans says. “I think there are many places that don’t get help or won’t get bailed out because they are informal places in cultural and nightlife […] But we also want to support initiatives that are helping people in need locally within their communities or that are raising funds for hospitals or health organisations.” Artists who have designed posters include Marlene Dumas, Mark Leckey, Anne Imhof, Luc Tuymans, Carrie Mae Weems and Tillmans himself.
Vanessa Winship's Untitled from the series she dances on Jackson (2012) © Vanessa Winship
Trace Covid-19 Portfolio
More than 50 photographers have donated works to the collective Trace’s Covid-19 Portfolio, including Martin Parr, Vanessa Winship, Siân Davey and Jem Southam. The A4-sized digital prints are on sale for £50 each, in an open edition, until 30 May (midnight BST). All proceeds from the sales will go the homelessness charity Shelter and the domestic abuse charity Refuge.
Tracey Emin's No Time For Love (2020) © Tracey Emin; Courtesy of Counter Editions
Counter Editions
Margate-based Counter Editions is producing a three-colour lithograph print by Tracey Emin, who grew up in the seaside town and now has a studio there. The work titled No Time For Love (2020) will be available from 14 May and is an edition of 75, with prices starting at £3,600 and rising as it sells out. A quarter of the proceeds will go to the Oasis women’s refuge in Margate.
Theo Niderost's Untitled (Arashiyama), from the series In the gaze of the Kutabuk (2012) © Theo Niderost
Hauser & Wirth’s Homegrown
Hauser & Wirth is launching Homegrown, a bi-weekly online exhibition of works made by gallery staff and their immediate family, as well freelancers. The shows will start on 9 May (until 18 July) with work made in a range of media on sale for between $100 to $20,000. A tenth of the proceeds from the sales will go to the World Health Organization’s Covid-19 Solidarity Response Fund, with the remainder going to the makers, including artists such as Theo Niderost and Lola Bunting.