LONDON.- Contemporary art from the collection of one of London’s oldest charities forms part of
Lyon & Turnbull’s Contemporary & Post War Art // Prints & Multiples auction on January 11. Eleven works are being sold to raise funds for The House of St Barnabas.
Based at a Grade I-listed townhouse in Soho, The House of St Barnabas has helped Londoners affected by homelessness since 1862. In 2013 the building became a private members club with a difference; combining a not-for-profit creative and cultural space at No. 1 Greek Street with an Employment Academy for people affected by homelessness. Participants learn their craft in front of house, in the kitchen or in the charity’s offices: since opening, 254 participants have graduated from the 12-week programme, many of which have secured lasting employment after graduation.
Music, cultural events and the generosity of members are key to the success of The House of St Barnabas, but the building also showcases work by both established and emerging contemporary artists. The permanent collection of visual art includes works by Banksy, Tracey Emin, The Chapman Brothers and Damien Hirst alongside a programme of rotating exhibitions. Most of the pieces have been donated by the artists themselves or by the galleries who represent them. Lyon & Turnbull conducted a similar sale on behalf of the charity five years ago.
The artwork for sale in the New Year include pieces by both established and up-and-coming names on the British art scene.
Chris Levine (b.1960) is best known for his portraits of the rich and famous - including Lightness of Being, his seminal portrait of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II with eyes closed as if in meditation. The 8000-plus photographs taken during the sitting in 2004 spawned a number of prints but it is this fresh depiction of the monarch, taken during a ‘break’ in the sitting that proved the most memorable. The silkscreen printed Lightness of Being God Edition offered here is a 2019 limited edition version printed with 24ct gold leaf. The estimate is £2000-3000.
The Connor Brothers first entered the contemporary art scene as Brooklyn-based escapees from a Californian cult - their paintings apparently an attempt to make sense of the world to which they were recently exposed. The reality was just as intriguing. The Conners were in fact two urban art dealers from London - Mike Snelle and James Golding - who finally broke cover after an 18-month ruse in October 2014. Their intelligence, humour and creativity based around retro style imagery continues to give their work enormous appeal. The 2021 hand-coloured pigment print I Tried To Drown My Sorrows based on the graphics of a pulp fiction novel is guided at £2000-3000.
Ian Davenport, a graduate of Goldsmiths College in 1988 and the Frieze exhibition curated by fellow Young British Artist Damien Hirst, is best known for his colourful “puddle” paintings. They are made by dripping hundreds of thin acrylic lines down a canvas. Lift 2021, with technicolour lines of paint that twist and pool, was produced in a printed edition of just 5. Number one from the edition is expected to sell for £3000-5000.
Another of the YBAs, Julian Opie, is renowned for his highly stylised Pop Art figures, portraits and landscapes. However, offered for sale is one of a new series of sculptural works made using 3D printing technology.
Bastide 1, produced in 2021 in an edition of 20 plus 5 artist proofs, reduces the towers, windows and rooftops of a medieval fortified town into a series of complex interlocking forms. The estimate is £2500-5000.
Another sculptural work that will doubtless prove popular is a moulded stoneware wall mount in the form of a pineapple by Kate Malone. This trademark model with a crystalline glaze by one of Britain’s best-known ceramic artists is pitched at £700-900.
