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Leading British artist sells latest creations on eBay to benefit Mind
Posted Thursday 10 December 2009
From 3rd of December 2009, leading British artist Stuart Semple will auction ten brand new works via eBay with a starting bid of just £2 and no reserve.
Semple’s works regularly fetch five figures at major auction houses, reflecting the top sales prices and critical acclaim he has received in recent solo shows in New York, London, Milan and Hong Kong.
100 per cent of the sale price for the 10 works offered will go directly to leading mental health charity Mind. Mind relies entirely on voluntary donations to fund its work to improve the lives of everyone who experiences mental distress.
With 180 local Mind associations around the country, Mind provides crucial local services from drop in sessions and sheltered housing to therapies such as counselling. Appropriately, artistic expression can be highly beneficial for people with mental health problems, and art therapy is available at some local Minds to help people express their thoughts and feelings through creative activities.
Before Stuart’s creations were owned by the likes of Debbie Harry, Johnny Depp, Philip Niarchos and Sienna Miller, and long before his Happy Cloud installation from Tate Modern in London, Stuart used to paint in his spare bedroom under the alias of Nancyboy, selling his originals via eBay to hungry fan base of collectors around the world. Visually it pre-empting what would become the urban art movement. Stuart’s return to his ‘Nancyboy’ roots comes almost a decade after his eBay beginnings.
Paul Farmer, Mind Chief Executive said:
Art can be a fantastic way to aid recovery for people that experience mental distress. Stuart’s success is an unprecedented example of the huge and positive impact that devoting yourself to a new hobby can have on your life. Stuart's donation is hugely appreciated by Mind and we'd like to thank him for his extraordinary generosity and for showing his support to mental health. We’ll be watching his future work with interest.