Over 50 artists including Tracey Emin, Susan Hiller and Yinka Shonibare MBE are donating artwork to raise money for DACS Foundation, a new charitable organisation for the visual arts. The works will be auctioned by Christie’s and Paddle8 in September 2015.
Grass-roots support for UK artists and their estates
DACS Foundation was established with the help of DACS to offer vital grass-roots support for artists and artists’ estates in the UK. Through grants, education, public programmes and research, it will help artists to produce and exhibit new work, protect their cultural legacy, and make their work more accessible to the public.
Over 50 major artists have pledged their support to the Foundation and are donating artworks for a fundraising auction this autumn. They include Charles Avery, Tracey Emin, Ryan Gander, Mona Hatoum, Susan Hiller (pictured), Liliane Lijn, Tim Noble & Sue Webster and Yinka Shonibare MBE among others.
Susan Hiller said: “I've been very happy to support the DACS Foundation from its beginning. The artistic path is precarious and the cuts in public funding we've seen over the past few years have made it increasingly difficult for many artists to sustain their practice. Artists need DACS Foundation, a charitable organisation dedicated to supporting the creation of new work and conserving existing artwork for future generations.”
Artworks to be auctioned by Christie’s and Paddle8
A selection of donated works will be sold at Christie’s on 23 September, as a dedicated section of their FIRST OPEN auction, an accessible global series for both young and established collectors. Dedicated to post-war and contemporary art, it will include artists Billy Childish, Angela de la Cruz, Tracey Emin and Chantal Joffe.
The majority of artworks will be auctioned on
Paddle8.com – the online auction platform for art and objects. The Paddle8 auction will be live from 10 September until 9.30pm, 24 September 2015. The closing hours will be marked with an auction party at the Londonewcastle Project Space in Shoreditch, London.
What will the auction proceeds support?
The proceeds of the auction will fund a number DACS Foundation initiatives which will support artists and artists’ estates in the following areas:
-
legacy planning and archive management
-
education helping artists to safeguard their rights
-
a programme of debates, symposia and publications to engage a public discourse on the value of artists to society
In addition to the work of DACS Foundation, the auction will also support the Artists’ Fund, a new scheme providing small-scale but transformative funding for artists, set up by DACS, a-n and Artquest.
Find out more about the auction and the artists involved on
DACS Foundation's website.
Image: Study for Rough Dawn, 2012, Susan Hiller © Susan Hiller 2015