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Lot Essay
Across our 20th/21st Century: London Evening Sale and Post-War and Contemporary Art Day Sale this October, Christie’s is honoured to present a selection of lots sold to benefit the South London Gallery, generously donated by artists Alvaro Barrington, Bridget Riley CH CBE, Sir Michael Craig-Martin and Federico Herrero.
About the South London Gallery
The South London Gallery (SLG) is one of London’s leading contemporary art spaces, known for its international exhibitions programme and long term engagement with its local community. Founded as an artist-led charity more than 130 years ago, today the SLG spans multiple gallery spaces across two Victorian buildings, a unique garden designed by Gabriel Orozco, and a drop-in creative space for local children and families on a neighbouring housing estate.
The SLG’s exhibitions programme showcases new work by British and international artists, often by those who have rarely or never had a solo show in a London institution. Michael Armitage, Alvaro Barrington, Katharina Grosse, Rashid Johnson, Oscar Murillo, Christina Quarles, Danh Vo, Lawrence Weiner and Haegue Yang are among the many artists who’ve had significant solo shows at the SLG. The Gallery also presents ambitious group exhibitions, film and performance, often commissioning new work and supporting emerging artists. Thousands of children, young people and adults take part in the SLG’s extensive education programme which is widely acknowledged to be exemplary.
The South London Gallery receives a third of its annual funding from Arts Council England but the challenge to raise sufficient funds from elsewhere has never been greater. Alvaro Barrington, Sir Michael Craig-Martin, Federico Herrero and Bridget Riley CH CBE have generously donated works to be auctioned at Christie’s with all proceeds going directly to the South London Gallery. Alvaro Barrington had a major solo exhibition at the SLG in 2021; Sir Michael Craig-Martin is a supporter of the SLG and long-standing friend of the Director; Federico Herrero was in ‘Under the Same Sun, Art from Latin America Today’, 2016, which was the Guggenheim’s first ever collaboration with a UK institution; and in 2018 Bridget Riley CH CBE generously supported the SLG’s expansion into a former Fire Station through the Bridget Riley Art Foundation. The ground floor gallery of the award-winning building is the Bridget Riley Gallery.
20th/21st Century: London Evening Sale, 13 October 2023
Lot 1 in our 20th/21st Century London Evening Sale is Welcome (2023) by Alvaro Barrington. Barrington is an artist based in London and New York. Born in Venezuela to Grenadian and Haitian parents, he was raised between the Caribbean and Brooklyn, New York. An unwavering commitment to community informs his wide-ranging practice. While he considers himself primarily a painter, his artistic collaborations encompass exhibitions, performances, concerts, fashion and contributions to the Notting Hill Carnival in London. Welcome, a joyful composition executed in oil, enamel and acrylic on a ground of polyester laundry bags, exemplifies the vibrant colour and mixed-media bricolage that define Barrington’s paintings.
Barrington’s work is part of institutional collections, including The Hepworth Wakefield, Wakefield; ICA, Miami; K11 Art Foundation, Hong Kong; Loewe Foundation, Madrid; X Museum, Beijing and Tate, London, among others. Recent solo exhibitions and projects include: They Got Time: You Belong to the City, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac Pantin, Paris (upcoming, 2023); Grandma’s Land, Sadie Coles HQ (2023); Notting Hill Carnival, London (2023, 2022, 2019); SPIDER THE PIG, PIG THE SPIDER, South London Gallery, London (2019); and MoMA PS1, Queens, NY, USA (2017).
About the South London Gallery
The South London Gallery (SLG) is one of London’s leading contemporary art spaces, known for its international exhibitions programme and long term engagement with its local community. Founded as an artist-led charity more than 130 years ago, today the SLG spans multiple gallery spaces across two Victorian buildings, a unique garden designed by Gabriel Orozco, and a drop-in creative space for local children and families on a neighbouring housing estate.
The SLG’s exhibitions programme showcases new work by British and international artists, often by those who have rarely or never had a solo show in a London institution. Michael Armitage, Alvaro Barrington, Katharina Grosse, Rashid Johnson, Oscar Murillo, Christina Quarles, Danh Vo, Lawrence Weiner and Haegue Yang are among the many artists who’ve had significant solo shows at the SLG. The Gallery also presents ambitious group exhibitions, film and performance, often commissioning new work and supporting emerging artists. Thousands of children, young people and adults take part in the SLG’s extensive education programme which is widely acknowledged to be exemplary.
The South London Gallery receives a third of its annual funding from Arts Council England but the challenge to raise sufficient funds from elsewhere has never been greater. Alvaro Barrington, Sir Michael Craig-Martin, Federico Herrero and Bridget Riley CH CBE have generously donated works to be auctioned at Christie’s with all proceeds going directly to the South London Gallery. Alvaro Barrington had a major solo exhibition at the SLG in 2021; Sir Michael Craig-Martin is a supporter of the SLG and long-standing friend of the Director; Federico Herrero was in ‘Under the Same Sun, Art from Latin America Today’, 2016, which was the Guggenheim’s first ever collaboration with a UK institution; and in 2018 Bridget Riley CH CBE generously supported the SLG’s expansion into a former Fire Station through the Bridget Riley Art Foundation. The ground floor gallery of the award-winning building is the Bridget Riley Gallery.
20th/21st Century: London Evening Sale, 13 October 2023
Lot 1 in our 20th/21st Century London Evening Sale is Welcome (2023) by Alvaro Barrington. Barrington is an artist based in London and New York. Born in Venezuela to Grenadian and Haitian parents, he was raised between the Caribbean and Brooklyn, New York. An unwavering commitment to community informs his wide-ranging practice. While he considers himself primarily a painter, his artistic collaborations encompass exhibitions, performances, concerts, fashion and contributions to the Notting Hill Carnival in London. Welcome, a joyful composition executed in oil, enamel and acrylic on a ground of polyester laundry bags, exemplifies the vibrant colour and mixed-media bricolage that define Barrington’s paintings.
Barrington’s work is part of institutional collections, including The Hepworth Wakefield, Wakefield; ICA, Miami; K11 Art Foundation, Hong Kong; Loewe Foundation, Madrid; X Museum, Beijing and Tate, London, among others. Recent solo exhibitions and projects include: They Got Time: You Belong to the City, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac Pantin, Paris (upcoming, 2023); Grandma’s Land, Sadie Coles HQ (2023); Notting Hill Carnival, London (2023, 2022, 2019); SPIDER THE PIG, PIG THE SPIDER, South London Gallery, London (2019); and MoMA PS1, Queens, NY, USA (2017).