Phillips’ London New Now Auction on 13 July to be led by Andy Warhol’s Flowers
LONDON.-Phillips announced highlights ahead of the New Now sale in London. The sale will be led by Andy Warhol, Gerhard Richter, KAWS, Banksy, Josh Smith, Kehinde Wiley, Lynn Chadwick, Alex Katz, and Kudzanai-Violet Hwami. Further highlights include works by younger stars Salman Toor, Erik Parker, Genieve Figgis, Jonas Wood, and Eddie Martinez. A group of 12 works chosen by Stella McCartney from her McCartney A to Z Manifesto will be offered in the sale, with proceeds going to charities chosen by the artists to feature, included amongst which are Joanna Vasconcelos, Sam Taylor-Johnson, and Cindy Sherman. For the first time, Phillips will offer an NFT in London, titled Phytocene by musician Agoria, Oscar-winning sound designer Nicolas Becker and bio-physicist Nicolas Desprat. Also on offer is a selection of works from contemporary African artists including Amani Lewis and Wonder Buhle Mbambo whose work has been donated by Africa First in order to benefit the Africa First Artist Residency Program. The New Now sale is comprised of over 230 lots and will take place on 13 July at 2pm.
Simon Tovey, Specialist, Head of New Now, said, “In true New Now fashion this vibrant contemporary curation presents blue-chip artists such as Andy Warhol and Gerhard Richter alongside younger artists with rising markets such as Salman Toor and Genieve Figgis. We are delighted to feature 12 works by contemporary artists chosen by Stella for her McCartney A to Z Manifesto, with the proceeds going to charities chosen by the artist of each work. Another exciting group is a selection of works donated by Africa First to raise funds for their Artist Residency Program which provides essential support for emerging artists from Africa and the African diaspora. We are thrilled to present to both established collectors and those starting out with our sale this July and look forward to welcoming visitors to the preview exhibition in person at our galleries on Berkeley Square and online on Phillips.com from 7 to 12 July.”
Stella McCartney, said, “During lockdown, I reached out to 26 artists asking if they’d collaborate by picking a letter from my A to Z and visualising it with free rein. Many have been intimate friends for years while others I’ve met organically on my travels through fashion; some I just connected with because I’ve always admired them.
I was astonished when each of them kindly agreed to create a piece, and it has been a huge privilege and joy to work with them. My gratitude is boundless. Each artist’s letter is essential to our guiding alphabet, spelling out the conscious intentions we live by every day we go to work. I am honoured to see these works in the Philips New Now Sale alongside so many other incredible artists from around the world, helping to create a better future by raising funds for so many important causes.”
Leading the New Now sale is Andy Warhol’s Flower’s. A pioneering exponent of the Pop Art movement in the U.S. in the 1960’s, Andy Warhol found the inspiration for his iconic hibiscus silkscreen Flowers in the 1964 issue of Modern Photography. Painted in different colourways between 1964-1965, Flowers went on to debut at Leo Castelli Gallery. The present work is one of the original signed examples.
Key highlights of the sale include Gerhard Richter’s Zwei Kerzen, 1993, a uniquely executed Cibachrome, reminiscent of the artist’s highly regarded series of paintings of Candles from the 1980s. Other notable works include KAWS’s UNTITLED (C3PO), with a cartoon-like skull, each eye socket marked with an X, painted atop the robotic torso of the android C-3PO, an iconic character from the Star Wars franchise. The two crossed bones and ‘X’ eyes reimagine the universal symbol of the skull using the unmistakable iconography of Brooklyn-based artist, KAWS.
