To aid humanitarian relief in Ukraine, artist Marina Abramović and the Sean Kelly Gallery are working with the leading online art marketplace, Artsy, to host a benefit auction from March 17 until March 25.
Artsy’s chief executive officer, Mike Steib, said the company is proud to partner with Kelly and Abramović as a way to use the marketplace as host of the auction, saying they will “raise much-needed funds to support the Ukrainian people. Notably, 100 percent of the proceeds from the auction will go to Direct Relief’s emergency response to aid Ukraine.”
Abramović who has in the past had her works installed in Ukraine, recently voiced her support of Ukraine in a video stating she has “full solidarity with [the Ukrainian people] on this impossible day. An attack on Ukraine is an attack on all of us. It’s an attack on humanity and has to be stopped.”
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The artist is known for her work as a performance artist who employs duration, pain, danger, exhaustion and viewer participation while working at extremes she has shown the complicated relationship between artist and audience.
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In October 2021, Abramović’s work “The Crystal Wall of Crying,” an interactive wall of healing was unveiled at the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center in Kyiv, Ukraine. The structure runs 40 meters long and is made of coal with crystals protruding from it to commemorate the Jews who were killed during a massacre in the country’s capital.
During the auction on Artsy, people will be able to bid on two lots for the opportunity to be photographed by Marco Anelli sitting with Abramović as part of her installation of “The Artist Is Present” on April 16 for the final day of her current exhibition called “Performative.”
“The Artist Is Present” project will be a six-projection film documenting her 2010 performance at MoMA when she sat silently in a chair as the museum’s visitors took turns sitting across from her for eight hours a day over the course of three months.
In a statement, Sean Kelly said he is honored to be collaborating with Abramović, Anelli, Artsy and Baobab Frames in raising funds to support the People of Ukraine.
“Marina has made work in Ukraine and has many ties to the area,” said Kelly. “We stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine and are deeply concerned by Putin’s invasion and the unspeakable suffering it has unleashed on the Ukrainian people. We condemn this act of aggression and support Direct Relief’s humanitarian efforts.”
To show even more support the Sean Kelly Gallery will be making additional donations to Direct Relief through a GoFundMe page.
Later this month, Artsy will be hosting an additional benefit auction in celebration of Women’s History Month. The “Artists Who Code” auction of generative NFTs by women and nonbinary artists will support Girls Who Code. The auction will be live starting on March 22 and goes through April 5.
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