LONDON.- Migrate Art has today announced details of ‘Scorched Earth’ a charity auction and exhibition of new works by leading artists, organised in direct response to the widespread deliberate destruction of crop fields in Iraq. The participating artists have created new works using paint pigmented with ash collected by Migrate Art from land scorched by these fires.
The full list of fourteen artists creating original works for auction will include Antony Gormley, Anish Kapoor, Conor Harrington, Jason Martin, Jules de Balincourt, Loie Hollowell, Mona Hatoum, Nathalie du Pasquier, Rachel Whiteread, Raqib Shaw, Richard Deacon, Richard Long, Walid Siti and Yahon Chang. Also as a part of the initiative, Shepard Fairey has designed two limited-edition screen prints using ink pigmented with the ash, which will be available for sale through Migrate Art from October for £650 each.
The works created for auction will be exhibited at Cork Street Galleries, Mayfair from 19-27 September 2020, before being sold as part of Christie’s Post-War and Contemporary Day Sale on 23 October 2020. The exhibition will also feature a new drawing by Piers Secunda made with ink produced by grinding down charcoal Secunda collected in 2018 from the interior of the Mosul Museum in Iraq, which was partially destroyed by ISIS during their occupation of the city. Charcoal drawings on paper made by children living in an Iraqi refugee camp during art workshops hosted by Migrate Art, will also be on display. All funds raised will be divided between Migrate Art and their three charity partners – RefuAid, Refugee Community Kitchen and The Lotus Flower – whose work supports those affected by the global refugee crisis
Migrate Art has worked with Jackson’s Art Supplies to create the high quality oil and acrylic ash paint used by the artists. Tubes of these limited edition paints will be available for sale from 2 October via Jackson’s website for £20 per tube.
Since 2016, Migrate Art has worked with major contemporary artists in support of projects which aid refugees around the world. In 2019 founder Simon Butler visited refugee camps in Iraq with one of the organisation’s charity partners The Lotus Flower, which provides support to women and children displaced by war. The region has faced the deliberate destruction of hundreds of thousands of acres of crops, amounting to tens of millions of US Dollars in lost revenue and threatening food security. These destructive fires have been attributed to organised militia groups who are using them as an intimidation tactic – most likely ISIS. In response to the crisis, Simon collected ash from the burnt crop fields with the intention of using it to produce paint to be given to artists to use to create original artworks.
