The spirit of cooperation of the finalists of the last Turner Prize had left its mark. Sharing, earning less, but winning together, is an attitude which was also put forward by the young artist Jérémy Gobé during the roundtable “Does art warm the climate?” organized by Art of Change 21: “We are placed in a competitive position, and never cooperate”, he complained.

Solidarity multiplies with caregivers (through a number of auctions like Piasa – Laurent Dumas), artists (through dedicated support funds and auctions by Warhol Foundation or Antoine de Galbert Foundation), and also galleries (through the “Platform” initiative; David Zwirner, for example).

Even more striking, cooperation and solidarity between artists is also advancing with this crisis. English artist Matthew Burrows launched the global Artist Support Pledge initiative in March, based on mutual aid among emerging artists. The principle is simple: an artist sells works at a maximum price of £ $ € 200, – when the sum reaches £ $ € 1,000, the first artist will buy a work for £ $ € 200 from another artist. According to the founder, the project has already generated £20 million in revenue for artists.

In France, a similar action was put online last March 25th by the collective Les Amis des Artistes (The artists friends) co-founded by Isabelle de Maison Rouge: the artist is selling a chosen selection of works, including at least one for less than 500€. The buyer pays 70% of the price directly to the artist and the remaining 30% for the benefit of an association ensuring their distribution to other artists.

Find all the articles from Impact Art News n°18 – April 2020