Art for Life's Sake
"Fragments", November 1-17, 5 Pall Mall, London
A sculpture exhibition with a difference is set to open in London - the artist who's spent the past decade putting it together is now giving it away. Canadian-born sculptor Blake is donating the proceeds of his UK debut show to a landmine charity.
Fragments, a collection of 20 quarter life-size bronzes, will raise funds for mine clearance and support of landmine victims by The No More Landmines Trust when it opens in London, from November 1-17 at The Galleria, 5 Pall Mall.
The shocking, yet strangely beautiful sculptures, have been donated by the artist as a result of his experiences in Vietnam where he witnessed the on-going tragedy of landmines. It is believed there are up to 100 million landmines in the ground in one-third of the world's nations, killing or maiming 15,000 to 20,000 innocent civilians every year and affecting millions more with the threat of their presence.
The exhibition's broken bodies tell of the tragedy of war, but also man's enduring instinct for survival. Entry to the Pall Mall exhibition is free. In 2008, the Fragments collection moves on to New York.
Fragments is the first rallying cry of a new social responsibility movement for artists, called Motive. ( www.motive-art.org). Blake has launched Motive to encourage other artists to help with charitable fund-raising by donating time and work to registered charities helping the victims of war, poverty and disease around the world.
Blake said: "The exhibition is called Fragments because that's what landmines create. They shatter people's lives. In the time it takes to look around the exhibition, two more people will have been killed or maimed by a landmine - but just £1 would clear a square metre of land. It's so easy to help. And that's why we're now urging other artists to join us in the Motive movement and help create a better world by selling their own work for charity - whether they're a writer, poet, musician or painter. It's all about art for life's sake."
Ends
For further information, please contact Randall Kehrig at randall@motive-art.org or
Becky Maynard at becky@landmines.org.uk tel 44 (0)207 471 5580
The Kensington Charity Centre,
4th Floor, Charles House,
375 Kensington High Street,
London W14 8QH
UK
Notes to editors
• For further information on Motive and Fragments, visit www.motive-art.org
• For further information on The No More Landmines Trust, visit www.landmines.org.uk
Art for good
This web site recognizes and showcases the work of artists who donate their work to benefit registered charities. If you know of an artist who you believe should be featured on this site, please email us with a short summary (250 words) followed by written biography of the artist, several j-peg images of their work, a description of the charity including its registered address and registration number, and a link to their website where the artist is described. While we applaud all artists who use their talent to benefit charities, we showcase artists who donate at least 30% of the proceeds from the sale of an item to a registered charity. We encourage all visitors to this site to support the artists listed here. For more information on how to register as a featured artist or to purchase Motive-art, please contact Randall by email on randall[at]motive-art.org.