Phillips New Now Sale to include works by Eddie Martinez, Oscar Murillo, Anish Kapoor, and Amoako Boafo
LONDON.-Phillips announced highlights ahead of the New Now auction in London on 15 July 2020. Featuring 235 lots, New Now will offer works by established artists including leading highlights by Eddie Martinez, Oscar Murillo, and Anish Kapoor. The sale also presents a strong selection of works by young and emerging artists including Amoako Boafo and Nina Chanel Abney, among others. Further New Now highlights include property two important private Belgian collections; the Estate of the Family Geirlandt and the Estate of Jan Hoet. Collectors will be able to view the highlights at Phillips’ Berkeley Square galleries and online via the virtual exhibition from 9 July until the auction which will take place on 15 July at 2pm.
Simon Tovey, Head of New Now, said: “Following the success of our New York New Now sale in March which, at $7.9 million, realized the highest total for a Spring midseason auction, we are excited to present our London New Now sale. During this period of change and reflection we have seen consistent results achieved in our online sales, the depth of bidding has shown that collectors are enthusiastic about our offering and feel supported by our ever-increasing digital capabilities which fast accelerated during the lockdown. Collectors’ confidence in the middle market is stronger than ever and we look forward to presenting collectors with the London New Now sale and continuing the momentum in the season ahead. We are delighted that our Berkeley Square galleries are now open and we are able to offer clients the opportunity to view the sale in person and via the virtual exhibition online.”
Leading the sale is You Come Up Short, painted in 2016 by Eddie Martinez, which comes to auction this July following the record Phillips set in April during the online-only auction, Desktop, where Martinez’s Bay Area became the highest achieving work to sell in a London online sale. You Come Up Short is emblematic of the artist’s scrawled and colourful style and energetic graffiti-like imagery. The unfiltered frenetic mark making is contrasted with carefully thought out and implemented composition and use of colour and paint, influenced by popular urban culture, Abstract Expressionism and Surrealism.
A further highlight of the sale is Oscar Murillo’s Untitled (Yuca). Executed in 2011, this work is a classic interpretation of urgency, chaos and movement undeniably linked to the artist’s biographical experiences of displacement and community. Murillo explores themes of movement and change in location as well as physical activity, as shown in the present work. The artist’s work has been exhibited at major galleries and fairs around the world including Art Basel, the Rubell Family Collection, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, and Serpentine Gallery, London.
Anish Kapoor’s 2008 work on paper, Untitled, is a significant example of the artist’s vivid colour palette. Tendrils of maroon-red and earthy black overlap in a richly textured manner, illustrating the artist’s understanding that colour has the ability to transform feelings and provoke emotions. The present work recalls Kapoor’s monumental 2009 solo exhibition at the Royal Academy in London, where red pigment exploded into the gallery confronting viewers with an intense sensory experience.
Following the success of Amoako Boafo’s Lemon Bathing Suit, which achieved a world auction record in the London 20th Century & Contemporary Evening Sale in February, Phillips will present two works by the artist in the New Now sale. Joy and Untitled, both painted in 2019, are exceptional examples of Boafo’s work. An additional highlight in the selection of work by young and emerging popular artists is Nina Chanel Abney’s Untitled (Black Love). Painted in 2016, the present lot is engaging, colourful and characteristic of the artist’s pop-surrealist style.
Phillips continues to bring to market works from the Golden Ratio project, an initiative started in 2018 between Phillips and ARTinD which invited ten architects to explore the intersection between architecture and art by creating a one-off silk carpet inspired by the Golden Ratio concept. Previous Golden Ratio works offered at Phillips have included designs from Norman Foster, Peter Eisenman, Thou Mayne, Piero and Nathalie Sartogo, and Alessandro Mendini. The present lot was designed by architect Peter Zumthor between 2019-2020.
Genesis Belanger’s 2018 work, Made-man, is a further highlight of the sale. Coming to auction for this first time in July, Made-man presents an outstretched hand created from stoneware and enamel with a signet ring sitting on the pinkie finger. The watch on the wrist reads eight minutes to seven o’clock. Represented by Galerie Perrotin, François Ghebaly and Rodolphe Janssen, Belanger’s body of works often appear dreamy and child-like. Upon closer examination however, it is a far cry from the innocence masked by matte pastels and the shape of everyday objects. Made-man attests to this as the opened hand seems timed in motion with the strapped watch.
Additional New Now highlights come to auction from the Estate of the Family Geirlandt and the Estate of Jan Hoet. These two prominent Belgian Collections include works by Eugène Leroy, Daan van Golden, Raoul de Keyser, and Karel Appel, among others.
