More than 100 artists and estates are donating works for a fundraiser supporting Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.
Pieces by Jeff Koons, Kehinde Wiley, and Carmen Herrera are among those that will be available in an exclusive online “Artists for Biden” sale next month, with the proceeds benefitting the Biden Victory Fund, the official Biden presidential fundraising committee.
“The campaign was excited to do an art-world fundraiser,” art dealer David Zwirner, who is spearheading the sale, told Artnet News. “This is a historic election, nobody will argue with that. Artists are extremely excited by this, hence the very generous outpouring of donations.”
Eleven Zwirner artists are partaking in the sale, including Carol Bove, Marcel Dzama, Alice Neel, and Richard Serra.
Carrie Mae Weems, Remember to Dream (2020). Photo courtesy the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York
“Jeff Koons made an incredible print of an American flag,” Zwirner said. “Incredibly generously, he has made the entire edition of 40 available for the sale.”
The main focus, however, isn’t the individual artists taking part, but the joint effort to defeat Donald Trump on November 3. “Nobody is in the limelight here—it’s really the art world that’s featured, and how generous it can be and how united it can be,” Zwirner said.
Jeff Koons, Flag (2020). Photo courtesy the artist and David Zwirner, ©Jeff Koons.
The hope is to attract a wide swath of Biden supporters, with works priced between $2,500 and $350,000, appealing to both deep-pocketed collectors, and those just starting out.
Biden’s team approached Zwirner to put the fundraiser together because the gallery had extensive experience in online art sales, having launched its first online viewing room in January 2017. During lockdown, the model evolved into Platform, a online space that hosted 49 galleries from five cities that sold works through Zwirner’s website.
Sam Gilliam, Untitled (2020). Photo courtesy of the artist and David Kordansky Gallery, Los Angeles
Now, with the launch of “Artists for Biden,” Zwirner is unveiling a new Platform.art website.
“When Platform was routed through the David Zwirner website, that of course worked beautifully with younger colleagues who were excited to get to know our clients,” Zwirner said. “We realized right away if we wanted to stage a successful fundraiser, it would be very difficult to ask other gallerists who were so generously participating to have their clients log onto our website.”
The Biden campaign was in charge of facilitating donations from artists, aided by volunteers who work in the art world. Galleries that pitched in to make the sale a reality include Gladstone, Lehmann Maupin, and Marian Goodman Gallery, among others.
Ed Ruscha, We (#1) (2020). Photo courtesy of the artist, ©Ed Ruscha.
“It’s the who’s who of galleries… there was no hesitation here from anybody to help out,” Zwirner said. “It’s an extremely collegial project—extremely heartwarming in this difficult year to see how everybody comes together. I’ve rarely ever seen the arts community as united as it is right now in the need and wish for a change in direction.”
And although the election is controversial, the dealer isn’t afraid that this foray into campaigning could hurt the Zwirner brand.
“Should galleries be political? I think they have to be at certain points, because artists are political,” he said. “I have a lot of great collectors who are certainly Republican, and I hope they won’t hold this against me!”
Carol Bove, Coy Satanism (2020). Photo courtesy the artist and David Zwirner, ©Carol Bove.
The sale runs from October 2 through 8, with a preview day on October 1.
See the full list of participating artists below.
Marina Adams
Doug Aitken
Richard Aldrich
John Baldessari (donated by Gemini G.E.L.)
Alvin Baltrop
Walead Beshty
McArthur Binion
Dike Blair
Sebastian Blanck
Carol Bove
Cecily Brown
George Condo
Patricia Cronin
Sarah Crowner
N. Dash
Tara Donovan
Carroll Dunham
Marcel Dzama
William Eggleston
rafa esparza
Shepard Fairey
Rochelle Feinstein
Radamés “Juni” Figueroa
Spencer Finch
Suzan Frecon
Charles Gaines
Jerrell Gibbs
Sam Gilliam
Joanne Greenbaum
Isca Greenfield-Sanders
Thomas Hager
Trenton Doyle Hancock
Tyler Haughey
Michael Heizer
Carmen Herrera
Lynn Hershman Leeson
Jenny Holzer
Ridley Howard
Alex Hubbard
John Huggins
Ayana V. Jackson
Rashid Johnson
Deborah Kass
KAWS
Ellsworth Kelly
Jon Kessler
Toba Khedoori
Christine Sun Kim
Jeff Koons
Doron Langberg
Liz Larner
Bonnie Lautenberg
An-My Lê
Roy Lichtenstein
Maya Lin
Robert Longo
Emmanuel Lubezki
Brice Marden (one work donated by the artist, the other by Gemini G.E.L.)
Julie Mehretu
Marilyn Minter
Ivan Morley
Rebecca Morris
Vik Muniz
Wangechi Mutu
Jordan Nassar
Alice Neel
Shirin Neshat
Catherine Opie
Angel Otero
Jack Pierson
Lari Pittman
Martin Puryear
Christina Quarles
Robert Rauschenberg (donated by Gemini G.E.L.)
Alexis Rockman
Ugo Rondinone
Victoria Roth
Ed Ruscha
Alison Saar
Betye Saar
Fred Sandback
Fanny Sanín
Kenny Scharf
Richard Serra
Cindy Sherman
Amy Sillman
Gary Simmons
Laurie Simmons
Xaviera Simmons
Vaughn Spann
Tavares Strachan
Sarah Sze
Mika Tajima
Kyle Thurman
Fred Tomaselli
Leo Villareal
Charline von Heyl
Carrie Mae Weems
Lawrence Weiner
James Welling
Stanley Whitney
Kehinde Wiley
Chloe Wise
Christopher Wool
Rob Wynne
Lisa Yuskavage
Andrea Zittel