More than a dozen artists are auctioning off works from next week in aid of a magazine written by women jailed in British prisons.
Anish Kapoor, Conrad Shawcross and Fiona Graham-Mackay are some of the artists who have donated their works to raise funds for The View.
Turner Prize winning Kapoor is one of the country’s most highly respected artists, whose artworks can sell for tens or hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Shawcross has produced a number of well known public sculptures and Graham-Mackay is known for her portraits of the Royal Family.
The works up for auction can be viewed on The View’s website from 7 May, with bids taking place from 14 May to 31 May.
The magazine, which features written pieces and artwork by prisoners and those on licence, was launched in March this year.
The second issue focuses on the COVID-19 outbreak and how it has affected women’s prisons.
It also contains recipes by Great British Bake Off star and author Ruby Tandoh, who has created dish ideas using ingredients that women can buy from prison canteens.
There is also help for women to write a grounds of appeal against a sentence.
Claire Simms, editor of The View, said the idea for the auction came about when artists were asked if they could offer any financial help towards the second issue.
She told Sky News: “Our partnerships director, Simon Burgess, received a response from Bob and Roberta Smith, who said he wasn’t able to donate but offered a painting instead that we could sell.
“We then went back to the artists and asked if they could donate works that we could auction off instead.”
She added: “We’re completely overwhelmed by the artists’ generosity. The pictures are beautiful – they’ve given us really important, lovely and thoughtful works that haven’t just been lying around a studio.
“The pieces are very relevant to what we do and what The View is about. They’ve given The View hope for us to continue.”
The auction is being jointly curated by Fru Tholstrup and Jane Neal, who previously curated art for the Hotel de Crillon in Paris.
Artistic programme manager at the National Justice Museum, Andrea Hadley Johnson, is writing the monograph for the auction’s catalogue.
The other artists involved in the online auction are: Johan Andersson, Richard Spare, Jake Tilson, Frances Aviva Blane, Julie Brook, Nasser Azam, Sarah Maple, Maryam Hashemi, Carolina Mazzolari, Hipkiss, Lya Nagado, Carolina Mazzolari and Rachel Ara.
Azam, who is donating his 2010 Ice Desert V piece, said it was his “great pleasure” to support the magazine.
He said: “The artwork I am donating was inspired by my artistic mission in Antarctica, whose objective was finding the most extreme conditions in which to be creative.
“I am particularly supportive of The View Magazine’s innovative approaches – including meditation, mindfulness, writing and art therapy – which will enable these gifted, powerful women to get through the challenging times, equipped with self-confidence and awareness of their abilities, rights and opportunities.”
Sky News
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