LONDON, ENGLAND.- A group of works by cutting-edge European and British artists commissioned by The World Health Organization in Europe in 1999, for a pioneering project called ArtWorks, will be offered in a sale of Contemporary Art at Sotheby’s, Olympia, London on Wednesday, June 26, 2002.
ArtWorks was started by the World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe to raise awareness of the health risks of smoking. The World Health Organization (WHO) enlisted the creative talents of 20 contemporary artists from across Europe and each artist was given unlimited scope - any medium, subject or approach – to challenge the viewer and to motivate smokers to consider the gains involved in quitting. WHO was keen to involve artists from as many European countries as possible and as a result, 12 countries from across Europe are represented in this selection. The organisation also felt that it was equally important to find artists who had already established a foothold in the contemporary art world, as it would be these artists who would have the greatest impact for the initiative.
Artists represented in Sotheby’s sale include Gavin Turk, Milena Dopitova, Not Vital, Thomas Ruff and Lisa Milroy. Monkey Business is an ironic image of a Victorian toy monkey smoking a cigarette by the London-based artist Gavin Turk (b. 1967); the monkey acts as a finale to an accompanying 10 minute DVD film in which Turk searches for a real life monkey addicted to cigarettes in a remote Thai village (estimate: £5,000-7,000).
A seven-foot high sculpture of human lungs made of blue velvet with satin embroidery by Prague artist Milena Dopitova (b. 1963), titled Outsize, is estimated at £3,000-4,000, while a two-metre tall pipe in plaster of Paris by Swiss artist Not Vital (b. 1948) is estimated at £4,000-6,000.
A photographic image by German artist Thomas Ruff (b. 1958) of a little boy; proud, confident and forthright in his best lederhosen, boasting “My Dad Quit Smoking” is estimated at £5,000-7,000, while Still Life by Lisa Milroy (b. 1959), which incorporates familiar smoking paraphernalia, such as ashes and cigarette butts, made in clay and painted with oil paint is estimated at £1,000-1,500.
Elsewhere in Sotheby’s sale are works by Andy Warhol, Douglas Thomson, Ian Davenport, Jean Fautrier, Roberto Matta, Helen Chadwick, Damien Hirst, Sam Taylor-Wood, Tracey Emin and Andy Goldsworthy. Estimates range from £200 through to £15,000.
