Ludwig Puck from A Midsummer Night’s Dream by artist Raqib Shaw will be on sale at Central Saint Martins annual auction. Shaw’s work went for £50,000 at a Sotheby’s auction last month. All images courtesy of Central Saint Martins
The work of internationally acclaimed artists is being sold alongside finished pieces from Central Saint Martins (CSM) postgraduate art students in the tenth edition of the school’s annual auction, an opportunity for a new generation of creatives to get real world experience.The auction boasts both live and silent elements, where buyers can take home the next Turner Prize winner for as little as £50, or from a contemporary giant, like Raqib Shaw or Grayson Perry, for well below auction house prices. 17 of the approximate have been donated by celebrated artists and recent grads, while the rest, numbers 18 through 82, are by current students from the CSM Fine Art, Art and Science, and Photography Masters programs.
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Grayson Perry. 01, from Six Snapshots of Julie. 2015.“It’s a massive deal for them,” says CSM’s Fine Art Program Leader and auction curator Alex Schady. “Not only do they get their work sold but they get to show alongside Yinka Shonibare, Cathy de Monchaux or Antony Gormley, within that big international art context.”Money raised goes directly back to CSM students, either into the pockets of those selling their work, or to help with organizing the final degree show for students in the year below. Established artists on the auction block have all donated their work, usually as CSM alumni wanting to continue supporting the University’s strong tradition of producing outstanding talent.“Everyone remembers what it’s like to be a student and not have any money or funds to put things on,” says Schady. “So the idea that they might feed back into that ecosystem and provide funds for those students is appealing.”
British-Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare, who studied Fine Art at CSM and has contributed his piece Bunch of Migrants at this year’s sale, agrees.“I feel it's important to support a new generation of artists by participating in the fund raising auction,” he says. “I have always been a strong advocate for art education, without which, I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing now.”
Cathy de Monchaux’s Unicorn Forest (Migration) Photo: Richard Hubert Smith
Financial concerns and uncertain navigation through the sometimes cruel world of art makes supporting young artists crucial, but the CSM auction also provides an interesting snapshot into the contemporary scene at all ends of the spectrum.
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“In the live auction there is no theme that we’ve constructed as such, however, a number of works this year, and perhaps it’s not surprising, have quite a sort of political bend,” says Schady. “There’s work that deals with immigration, one about Brexit, another one with internationalism, so there is this sort of politicized agenda that is coming through, which matches very nicely with our students concerns that also tend to be quite politicized.”
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Grayson Perry. 01, from Six Snapshots of Julie. 2015.“It’s a massive deal for them,” says CSM’s Fine Art Program Leader and auction curator Alex Schady. “Not only do they get their work sold but they get to show alongside Yinka Shonibare, Cathy de Monchaux or Antony Gormley, within that big international art context.”Money raised goes directly back to CSM students, either into the pockets of those selling their work, or to help with organizing the final degree show for students in the year below. Established artists on the auction block have all donated their work, usually as CSM alumni wanting to continue supporting the University’s strong tradition of producing outstanding talent.“Everyone remembers what it’s like to be a student and not have any money or funds to put things on,” says Schady. “So the idea that they might feed back into that ecosystem and provide funds for those students is appealing.”
British-Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare, who studied Fine Art at CSM and has contributed his piece Bunch of Migrants at this year’s sale, agrees.“I feel it's important to support a new generation of artists by participating in the fund raising auction,” he says. “I have always been a strong advocate for art education, without which, I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing now.”
