A DECENT PROPOSAL
As lockdown began, artists across the country saw their shows cancelled and their teaching and curating jobs slashed. Being part of the gig economy, and dependent on part time work and sales, their prospects looked bleak. The artist Matthew Burrows saw this impending hardship and set up the brilliant initiative #artistsupportpledge. The concept is a simple one: an artist will post an image on Instagram of a work they are willing to sell for no more than £200 each (not including shipping), anyone can then buy the work, and each time an artist reaches £1000 of sales they then pledge to buy another artist's work for £200. In this way artists support artists and a small, supportive, parallel economy develops.
For collectors, the possibilities for creating a great collection of smaller works is extraordinary. The problem now is that there have been over 200,000 submissions to the pledge, and so to go through all these posts and find really collectable work has become almost impossible for someone not thoroughly immersed in the art world. One of my collectors recently asked me to spend £2000 on pledge work and we were able to buy 12 incredible pieces from established and emerging artists - some of those I selected are below.
In normal circumstances the work selected would have sold for 2 or three times as much, so if you’d like to spend hundreds, or thousands, then please get in touch and we can discuss what kind of work you’d like me to select for you. I also commit to using my commission to buy more work from the pledge in order to continue spreading the sustainability and generosity.
Paul Morrison, Untitled 3 2/3, Inkjet on 265g/m2 photo paper, 29.7 x 21cm
Ian Monroe, Aviary, 2020, Vinyl collage on paper, Edition of 3, 29.7 x 21cm
Bernadette Kerrigan, Ever Hopeful, 2020, Oil and acrylic on board, 25 x 18cm
Russel Herron, Small Cardboard Portrait 16, Pencil on paper, Drawing 12 x 12.5cm, Paper 29.7 x 21cm
Holly Mills, Decending Sun (2018), Mixed media on paper, A5