Food For London Now: World’s top artists throw in their lots for Felix Project auction

Artworks by Ai Weiwei, Tracey Emin and Anish Kapoor are among those to be featured in a Sotheby’s auction to be held next week to back the Evening Standard’s Food For London Now campaign.

The sale, part of the Sotheby’s contemporary art day auction that runs from July 20 to 30, includes leading artists Bridget Riley, Mark Wallinger and Bob and Roberta Smith.

All money raised from the auction will go to the Standard’s appeal partner, The Felix Project, London’s largest food surplus distribution charity.

Our campaign has so far raised £7.5 million towards our £10 million goal, which includes a pledge to open London’s largest community kitchen to tackle food poverty.

Highlights from the Sotheby’s Help The Hungry auction include a drawing by Emin, a series of three etchings by Kapoor, Wallinger’s Ghost, and Bob and Roberta Smith’s We Have Only Got Each Other placard.

British-Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare also joins the catalogue with his Unstructured Icons — Aristocrat I alongside a pair of polished steel reliefs by Sir Michael Craig-Martin and a floral plate by Chinese artist Ai.

Sotheby’s senior director Oliver Barker said: “We are grateful to the artists who have generously contributed their works and we’re looking forward to channelling part of the excitement of our major sales in London this month into a cause which will provide food and comfort to the capital’s most vulnerable.”

Evgeny Lebedev, proprietor of the Evening Standard, said: “We are delighted to be raising money with Sotheby’s and some of the world’s leading contemporary artists to help create London’s biggest community kitchen that will continue to feed those in need for years to come.”

The Felix Project distributes nutritious food that would otherwise go to waste to 350 frontline charities, schools and holiday programmes in London.

Founder Justin Byam Shaw said: “Although our food is surplus and donated to us and we have over 1,500 volunteers, our costs are still spiralling. The coming unemployment crisis means we are in this for the long term.

“This new community kitchen will provide a high-quality meal for homeless Londoners, cooked by great chefs.”

Turner Prize-winning artist Wallinger said: “I am delighted to help raise funds for The Felix Project, which does such vital work in providing food for vulnerable people in London, work that is ever more necessary.”

Sotheby’s Help The Hungry Auction will go live on July 20 and will run until July 30.