House of Vans London and The Auction Collective are set to combine fine art and skate culture by holding a virtual 360° exhibition in House of Vans London’s gallery space, followed by a live fundraising auction, collectively titled ‘Objects of Art | The Skateboards’.
‘Objects of Art | The Skateboards’ comprises of 19 customised skateboards from a curated selection of established and emerging artists. Through each artist’s unique and creative touch, the skateboards have been transformed into works of fine art that will be showcased digitally in House of Vans London’s gallery space and sold in a live stream auction to raise funds for leading youth homelessness charity: Centrepoint.
With the coronavirus pandemic causing the cancellation of fundraising events this year, Centrepoint needs help now more than ever. Between January and March 2019, an estimated 24,455 young people approached their local council in England because they were homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. Since the start of the pandemic, 78% of councils have seen an increase in homelessness, and Centrepoint is now seeing an increase of around 50% in calls to the Helpline from young people facing homelessness.
74% of councils now foresee an increase in homelessness in the coming months.
The exhibition and subsequent auction feature customised skateboards from an eclectic mix of artists including street artists, emerging artists and Royal Academicians. Namely, contemporary artist: Grayson Perry, graphic and interior designer: Camille Walala, LA-based street artist: Mr Brainwash, urban artist: D*Face, Royal Academician: Yinka Shonibare and up and coming painters Charley Peters and Rene Gonzalez. Young homeless people have also been designing their own decks to win the chance to feature in the exhibition.
The virtual 360° exhibition is now open and the live stream auction kicks off on November 18 to draw the exhibition to a close. For more details on the auction and to register to bid, please visit: http://www.theauctioncollective.com/auctions/objet-dart-the-skateboard-decks/
There will also be a treasure hunt integrated into the virtual exhibition. The aim of the game is to locate a hidden image of Vans’ legend Tony Alva. House of Vans will reward ten lucky winners at random. Follow both House of Vans London (@houseofvansldn) and The Auction collective’s (@theauctioncollective) Instagram accounts to find out more.
Charley Peters, Contemporary Artist, said:
“Centrepoint is an important charity that does life-changing work to support young people during the most difficult of circumstances. I’m very pleased to have been able to support them through this project with The Auction Collective by painting a skate deck, it means a lot to me to create artwork that can make a difference to people’s lives.”
