20
October
2020
|
18:50
Europe/London

STIK to fund new wave of outdoor artworks by diverse artists

Proceeds from the sale of STIK's ‘Holding Hands’ maquette will be donated to Hackney Council to fund a series of sculptures by diverse artists. The bronze maquette will be auctioned this Friday at Christie’s auction house and hopes to fetch around £120,000. 

The news comes after last month’s unveiling of STIK’s 4-metre-high, bronze sculpture called ‘Holding Hands’ landed in Hoxton Square. The permanent sculpture was a culmination of a four-year collaboration between STIK and Hackney Council and was solely funded by the artist. 

The arrival of ‘Holding Hands’ has created a new local landmark and has sparked flocks of visitors from local residents to influential figures. Many have posted social media pics of themselves with the artwork with the hashtag #HoldingHands. 

Now, the unique, one-off, working maquette of ‘Holding Hands’ is being offered at Christie’s ‘Post-War and Contemporary Art’ sale on Friday 23 October in London. 

Artist STIK said: ‘This project is intended to empower artists in East London to celebrate the diverse communities who live here.’ 

Mayor of Hackney, Philip Glanville
Mayor of Hackney Philip Glanville said: “I’d like to thank STIK for his record of activism, collaborating with the borough and this generous donation. We’re proud in Hackney to be able to support and share the creativity of our residents. This represents a longstanding commitment to inclusive public art that can be enjoyed by everyone in our parks and public spaces and I can’t wait to see the creativity that STIK is helping us to showcase and unlock.”

 
Mayor of Hackney, Philip Glanville

Notes for editors 

For more information about the unveiling of ‘Holding Hands’ read our September press release. 

Details of the Christie’s auction are on the Christie's website. 

Details of the new outdoor artworks and how to apply will be released in the coming months. 

‘Holding Hands’ had its genesis in 2016 when Hackney Council asked STIK to design the official Hackney banner for the London Pride Parade featuring two non-gender specific figures. In 2017, STIK began working with the Council to find a permanent home in one of Hackney’s many green-flagged parks with ‘Holding Hands’, his first public sculpture. 

About the artist: 

STIK has lived and worked in Hackney for 20 years, seeing the borough from many different perspectives and has painted numerous murals in Hackney, many as a way to give voice to the various communities in the borough. He has had successful exhibitions of his paintings around the world. His work has sold at major auction houses and his monumental public artworks can be found in the streets of cities such as New York and Tokyo. STIK still continues to live and work in Hackney, where he has a studio. 

For more information on Hackney’s Cultural Development department visit

https://hackney.gov.uk/culture/ 

Previous press releases with information on STIK’s work within Hackney are available on the Hackney.gov news room

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