Wolfgang Tillmans is selling poster art for £50 to support art spaces, music venues, and nightclubs that are at risk of shuttering due to coronavirus lockdown.
Called Solidarity 2020, the fundraising campaign is hosted by Tillman’s nonprofit exhibition space Between Bridges in Berlin and will include the work of 50 fellow artists Mark Leckey, Andreas Gursky, Betty Tompkins, and more. The limited edition posters are billed at £50 to make the art affordable. “It’s a price that is a serious donation and is a similar amount of money that you might have spent at one of these spaces on a night out,” Tillmans told the Guardian.
He added: “There are many places that may not get help or bailed out because they are informal places, in culture, nightlife, and music. I feel an urgency to do something so they don’t have to close down permanently.”
Posters available to buy include Mark Leckey’s print “A Changeling Can Change” with proceeds going towards multi-purpose art space ACUD MACHT NEU in Berlin; Marlene Dumas’s portrait of James Baldwin, helping out Siegessäule magazine; and Gillian Wearing’s “All I Ever Wanted Was Love” print, which supports the nightclub, Renate.
Tillmans is currently in discussion with other venues, including The Cause events space in Tottenham, with the aim to include venues from across the world. His own contribution to the project is a still life photograph from his studio, which was the last image printed in the space before it was forced to close because of the pandemic.
The project, which you can check out here, has been described as having an “unlimited edition for a limited period of time”, but an end date has not been specified. Tillmans is paying for the printing and shipping of the posters so that 100 per cent of the proceeds can be used by venues.
The artist has also designed a bespoke poster for Dazed’s #AloneTogether art project – launched this week – which sees 34 creatives create poster art imagining a post-pandemic future. The majority of the work has been donated to a prize draw. For an opportunity to win, you have to donate £10 to Barts Charity, in aid of NHS frontline staff. And even if you don’t win, your money will have gone to an urgent cause.