For immediate release, 9.12.13
Announcing the Contemporary Art Society Annual Fundraiser 2014
RE- RE-juvenate. RE-claim. RE-imagine. RE-create. RE-cycle. RE-load. RE-visit. RE-invent. RE-style.
11 March 2014
Tobacco Dock, London E1W 2SF
Honorary Chair: Livia Firth
Event Ambassadors: Jeremy Deller, Fiona Rae, Bob and Roberta Smith, John Stezaker and Gavin Turk
Auctioneer: Harry Dalmeny, Chairman, Sotheby’s UK
Each year the Contemporary Art Society organises a major fundraising gala, which is one of the highlights of the art world calendar and a major press event. The gala raises vital funds to purchase new works of contemporary art for UK museums.
Reinforced by the Contemporary Art Society’s reputation for identifying the art stars of the future, the gala auction allows guests to purchase new works by internationally renowned artists and by more emerging names known only by art world insiders. These works have been specially created for the event.
Already confirmed for inclusion in the auction are works by Caroline Achaintre, David Austen, Charles Avery, Alice Channer, Angela de la Cruz, Haris Epaminoda, Roger Hiorns, Tania Kovats, Michael Landy, Haroon Mirza, Toby Patterson, Mick Peter, Olivia Plender, Michal Rovner, Samara Scott, Daniel Silver, Caragh Thuring and Rose Wylie. The selected artists will create new works along the theme of RE-, some RE-using materials in dynamic ways and some RE-interpreting previously explored ideas.
Previous attendees include celebrities Sir Bob Geldof, Jerry Hall, Barry Humphries and Bianca Jagger; leading city figures such as Lord Myners, Franck Petitgas and Sir Stuart Rose; art world figures including Grayson Perry, Mark Wallinger, Gavin Turk, Julia Peyton-Jones, Sir Nicholas Serota and Hans Ulrich Obrist; and contemporary collectors Tiqui Atencio Demirdjian and Anita Zabludowicz.
For all press enquiries, contact:
Jenny Prytherch, Communications Manager
jenny@contemporaryartsociety.org
+44 (0)20 7017 8412
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Notes to Editors:
1. ABOUT RE-
THE THEME: RE-juvenate. RE-claim. RE-imagine. RE-create. RE-cycle. RE-load. RE-visit. RE-invent. RE-style.
There is no doubt that we are living in extraordinary times. Old certainties have fallen away. Can our future be found by repurposing materials, reimagining the past and redesigning systems? RE- explores new and dynamic ways that emerging and internationally renowned artists are looking to the past in anticipation of the dawn of a new era. www.contemporaryartsociety.org/support/annual-fundraiser
ABOUT THE HONORARY CHAIR, LIVIA FIRTH:
Livia Firth
Livia Firth is Creative Director of Eco-Age, a brand consultancy enabling global enterprises to attain growth and add value through sustainability. As co-founder of the project, Green Carpet Challenge, Firth lobbies to raise the profile of sustainable style by working with the Fashion Industry’s pioneering designers and brands. Formerly a documentary Producer, Firth produced the award winning In Prison My Whole Life, which won the student and planet awards at the International Human Right Films Festival in Paris. Firth is now a Global Ambassador for Oxfam.
ABOUT THE AMBASSADORS:
Jeremy Deller
As the 2004 Turner Prize winner, Jeremy Deller is a major conceptual artist whose artworks span a variety of media, from posters, processions and installations to documentary film. Amongst his best known works are Acid Brass (1997), and The Battle of Orgreave (2001). Deller was chosen to represent Britain at this year’s Venice Biennale.
Gavin Turk
A ‘Young British Artist’ (YBA), Gavin Turk gained notoriety for his non- conformist MA degree presentation at the Royal College of Art, 1991. This set the tone for the artist’s subsequent work, critiquing the construction of artistic myths of authorship, creativity and genius. Turk’s work has been exhibited in Sensations: Young British Artists from the Saatchi Collection (1995), the Venice and Istanbul biennials and Gavin Turk Oeuvre at the Tate Britain Sculpture Court Display, London.
Fiona Rae
Royal Academician and British painter, Fiona Rae is a recognised figure within the Britart Movement and as a member of the ‘Young British Artists’. Rae’s accessible abstract painting came to prominence thanks to iconic shows such as Freeze (1988), curated by Fellow Young British Artist Damien Hirst, and Sensations: Young British Artists from the Saatchi Collection (1995).
Bob and Roberta Smith
Working under the pseudonym name ‘Bob and Roberta Smith’, Patrick Brill is a British contemporary artist recognised for his sculptures often made from found objects and decorated by his trade-mark bright colours and witty slogans. As a social activist, Bob campaigns to keep art taught in schools and is a Tate Trustee.
John Stezaker
The work of British Artist John Stezaker re-examines the various relationships within the photographic image. In his collages, Stezaker appropriates images found in books, magazines and postcards and uses them as ‘ready-mades’. In September 2012, he was awarded the Deutsche Börse photography prize. Stezaker currently teaches at the Royal College of Art in London and recently won acclaim for his solo show at The Whitechapel Gallery, London.
THE RE- COMMITTEE: Heidi Baravalle, Elizabeth Bauza, Philippa Bradley, Daniela Colaiacovo, Caroline Douglas (Director, Contemporary Art Society), Sarah Elson, Antje Géczy, Kira Heuer, Paula Lent, Linda Keyte, Michael King, Audrey Klein, Martina Klemmer, Suling Mead, Valeria Napoleone, Flavia Nespatti, Midge Palley, Veronique Parke, Françoise Sarre Rapp, Dasha Shenkman, Mark Stephens, Cathy Wills, Dina Wulfsohn, Anita Zabludowicz, Jill Zarzycki.
THE VENUE: Built in the early 19th century as a secure bonded warehouse for the receipt and storage of tobacco from the New World, Tobacco Dock was designed to offer complete security for precious and highly desirable goods. Its new owners have developed this incredible space (comprising over 16,000m2 over two floors) to create London’s newest and most flexible conference and exhibition facility. www.tobaccodocklondon.com
2. ABOUT CONTEMPORARY ART SOCIETY
The Contemporary Art Society is a national charity that encourages an appreciation and understanding of contemporary art in the UK. With the help of our members and supporters we raise funds to purchase works by new artists which we give to museums and public galleries where they are enjoyed by a national audience; we broker significant and rare works of art by important artists of the twentieth century for public collections through our networks of patrons and private collectors; we establish relationships to commission artworks and promote contemporary art in public spaces; and we devise programmes of displays, artist talks and educational events. Since 1910 we have donated over 8,000 works to museums and public galleries – from Bacon, Freud, Hepworth and Moore in their day through to the influential artists of our own times – championing new talent, supporting curators, and encouraging philanthropy and collecting in the UK. www.contemporaryartsociety.org