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An exhibition and auction of works donated by British & international artists to raise funds for the
Helen Bamber Foundation.
5 - 7 May 2009, Maddox Arts, 52 Brook's Mews, London W1K 4ED.
'The sleep of reason brings forth monsters' - Goya
The Helen Bamber Foundation (HBF) is a UK-based human rights organisation, formed in April 2005 to help rebuild lives and inspire a new self-esteem in survivors of gross human rights violations. It is a collective of human rights specialists who respond with compassion and creativity to the legacy of cruelty.
Art, artist and art therapy play an important role in key areas of the Foundation's work and many members of the art community are committed supporters of the Foundation's work.
A charity, the HBF is obliged to seek donations to carry out our vital work. We were therefore delighted when Edward Cutler and Mario Palencia of the Maddox Gallery together with the artist Peter Griffin suggested they organise an exhibition and auction of works donated by leading artists as well as a number of pieces produced by the Foundation's clients, to raise funds for Foundation.
Conceived as a show of between 30 to 40 works we have had generous donations from a diverse and respected group of British and international artists reflecting the wide level of support for the Foundation's work across the art world.
As John Berger wrote to Helen when sending in his donated work: “I'm sending you a drawing, a portrait, I made one year ago, in the Chiapas south-east Mexico, of the Sub Commandante Marcos of the Zapatistas. I
believe he would do the same thing if the drawing was his. Not because he's concerned with his own image, but because we both know that in face of pain it is acts that count, acts that recognise, and this is what your Foundation is committed to. Thank you”.
To date the following artists have agreed to donate work: Yasser Alwan, John Berger, Willard Boepple, Sir Anthony Caro, Gordon Cheung,
Rosemary Clunie, Paul Coldwell, Anthony Frost, The Terry Frost Foundation, Sheila
Girling Peter Griffin, Marcelle Hanselaar, Christine Hatt, the estate of Josef Herman,
Cahrlotte Hodes, John
Hoyland, Patrick Hughes, Anish Kapoor, John Keane, James Mackinnon, Jacqueline Morreau, Frances Newman, The estate of Philip Pank, Paula Rego,
Eric Rimmington, Andrew Stahl and Nick Veasey.
With an on-line auction catalogue that is to be published in early April, which will allow website visitors to leave bids on exhibits up until the day of the live auction, we hope to maximise the ability of supporters to view the show and leave commission bids on the donated work.
The 'live' auction will take place at the end of the three day exhibition, on Thursday 7th May at 7pm in the Maddox Gallery where we hope the show will attract large numbers of buyers.
We will also be producing and sending out an attractive illustrated six sided brochure that will give details of the works to be auctioned and outlining the aims of the Foundation and how people can help us continue our work.
We will of course issue further press releases as the project develops, in the meantime we would be grateful if you would consider covering this event in your publication as we feel it may be of interest to your readers. We can supply further background information on participating artists, the Foundation and a number of high resolution images of works included in the exhibition.
The support and enthusiasm of the artists who have agreed to take part will ensure that this will be an interesting and high quality exhibition, the support and enthusiasm of editors and journalists is no less important to ensure that as wide an audience as possible are aware of the event.
Please contact us on either 020 7275 0383 or 020 7495 3101, email us at info@helenbamber.org
, or visit the website at www.theartofsurvival.org |
