Sotheby’s engages in partnerships, collaborations, and content creation to promote its international auction business. Recent projects feature Black artists and organizations, including a pop-up redesign of its London café
Pride is Within My Story: Artist and Designer Yinka IIori at his Sotheby’s Cafe Pop Up. | Photo by Credit Chris McAndrew, Courtesy Sotheby’s
Cafe Design Reflects Yinka Ilori’s Story
In London, Yinka Ilori transformed Sotheby’s Café on Bond Street. The British Nigerian artist and designer produces furniture and focuses on public spaces. His Sotheby’s project is titled “Pride is Within My Story.” Employing a bright blue and white palette, he infused the space with a graphic design that reflects his culture and family narrative. His vision celebrates the indigo-dyed fabrics worn by Yoruba women and references the symbolic Adire motifs and patterns that adorn the fabrics. The colorway also pays homage to the ceramic chinoiserie-patterned Willow plates his parents collected when he was growing up in council estates, British public housing.
“The stories in my work that I’m telling are centered around community, immigration, love, hope, affirmation. These stories are very personal stories reflected within my work, whether it’s in the public space or through an object,” Ilori said in a video about the project. “I love the way products or objects can connect with people. I love how people can collect objects, and objects can tell stories. Whether it’s a plate or a vase, anything that is tangible. These objects can sort of allow you to kind of create pockets of joy and happiness in your home.”
Ilori also designed a ceramic trophy in collaboration with 1882 Ltd., that is on display in the café. The project coincided with Modern & Contemporary African Art auction at Sotheby’s London on Sept. 27. Ilori’s installation on view through Oct. 31.
Sports agent Rich Paul “curated” Sotheby’s Contemporary Curated sale held on Sept. 27, 2024. His picks included works by Frank Bowling, Mark Bradford, Derek Fordjour, and Sam Gilliam. | Video by Sotheby’s
Sotheby’s Tapped Rich Paul as Guest Curator
SOTHEBY’S TAPPED sports agent Rich Paul as “guest curator” of its recent Contemporary Curated auction. Over the past decade, major auction houses have regularly enlisted high-profile figures in sports, fashion, film, and music to introduce and promote sales, a strategy designed to bring attention to the auctions and artworks of particular interest to the famous collectors. Conversely, the arrangement is attractive to the collectors because it provides a prestigious platform situating them as influential tastemakers in the blue-chip art world.
The founder and CEO of Clutch Sports, Paul is the latest prominent collector to step into the role of auction curator. Paul sits on the board of trustees at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, where he is a member of the acquisitions and education committees. The sports agent encourages the athletes he works with to invest in art, rather than spending their money on flashy depreciating assets, such as cars. In the video above, Paul shared his favorite Contemporary Curated picks, including works by Frank Bowling, Mark Bradford, Derek Fordjour, and Sam Gilliam. Alma Thomas, Mickalene Thomas, Thornton Dial, and Kwesi Botchway, were also among the artists represented in the auction. The 122-lot sale was held on Sept. 27 in New York.
Sotheby’s Magazine, September/October 2024. | Artist Titus Kaphar with Pearl, his Rottweiler, and “Boombox for Malcolm,” (circa 1978) by Marc Clark. In the background, “Do You Remember Douglas Street” (2024), which features in the artist film, “Exhibiting Forgiveness.” | Photograph by Zora J Murff
Artist Titus Kaphar Covers Sotheby’s Magazine
A NEW FEATURE FILM by artist Titus Kaphar is opening in theaters on Oct. 18. Kaphar appears on the cover of the fall edition of Sotheby’s magazine promoting “Exhibiting Forgiveness.” Highly personal, the film is based on the artist’s real experience, reconnecting on his own terms with his estranged father and centers large-scale paintings he produced specifically for the project. Andre Holland portrayed Kaphar’s character. The artist taught the actor how to paint, an important element Kaphar felt would be essential to the success of the film.
Writer Roxane Gay visited with Kaphar in his New Haven, Conn., studio and penned a profile of the artist and his film in the new bi-monthly magazine. The article is titled “Titus Kaphar is Taking his Art to the Big Screen.” Kaphar told Gay: “Watching what André did as an artist, to be able to embody someone else’s feelings so wholly, that made me have a sympathy for Tarrell I never really had for myself. I made this movie because I had to make this movie.”
New York recipients of ARTNOIR’s 2024 Jar of Love grants at Sotheby’s New York before BOB THOMPSON’s “Nativity Scene” (1964), which was offered in the Art Without Boundaries: The Abrams Family Collection Sale on Sept. 27, 2024. | Courtesy ARTNOIR
ARTNOIR Giving Love to American and British Artists
ARTNOIR’s 2024 JAR OF LOVE microgrant initiative is supporting artists in New York and London in partnership with Sotheby’s. A nonprofit global collective, ARTNOIR supports and empowers artists in a variety of disciplines through grants, mentorship, and programming with a “mission to celebrate and highlight the work of creatives of color, while catalyzing cultural equity across the arts and culture industries.”
ARTNOIR and Sotheby’s announced six Jar of Love grantees on Sept. 26. Each received an unrestricted grant of $5,000. The New York cohort included Daria Harper, co-founder with Camille G. Bacon of Jupiter magazine; Zalika Abdul-Azim, interdisciplinary artist and cultural producer; Dominique Petit-Frere, spatial designer and the founder of Limbo Accra; Danielle Berger, graphic designer; Samantha Hopkins, artist, curator, and cultural producer; and Emmanuel Massillon, conceptual artist.
“Congratulations to this year’s extraordinary Jar of Love Fund New York grantees. Their bold creativity and distinct perspectives embody the richness and diversity of New York’s creative community,” ARTNOIR Co-Founder Larry Ossei-Mensah said in a statement. “We’re excited to support these talented creatives as they push boundaries and make meaningful contributions to the arts.”
This fall, British artists will benefit from ARTNOIR’s Jar of Love fund for the first time. ARTNOIR and Sotheby’s collaborated with Samuel Ross MBE and The Black British Artist Grants Programme by SR_A to make it happen. The inaugural cohort will be announced next month, timed to Frieze London (Oct. 9-13). Grants are awarded through an application process. For more information visit or contact [email protected]
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FIND MORE Earlier this year, on the occasion of Sotheby’s Modern & Contemporary African Art Sale in London on March 21, 2024, the auction house called on British actor, filmmaker and musician Idris Elba to share his experiences with African art
FIND MORE Over the past month, news reports published by the Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, artnet News, ARTnews, and The Art Newspaper have detailed Sotheby’s financial woes, sharp earnings drop, and wider downtrend in the art auction market
BOOKSHELF
The publication “Titus Kaphar: Exhibiting Forgiveness” charts the development of the artist’s film project from script to screen and is forthcoming in February 2025. “Pricegore & Yinka Ilori―Dulwich Pavilion” documents the second edition of the Dulwich Pavilion at Dulwich Picture Gallery in South London. The 2019 commission was awarded to London-based architects Dingle Price and Alex Gore in collaboration with British artist and designer Yinka Ilori. Rich Paul’s recently published memoir, “Lucky Me: A Memoir of Changing the Odds,” is a New York Times bestseller. ARTNOIR co-founder Larry Ossei-Mensah has edited and contributed to a selection of catalogs, including “Amoako Boafo: Soul of Black Folks,” “Tomashi Jackson: Across the Universe,” and “Coffee, Rhum, Sugar & Gold: A Postcolonial Paradox.”
