On Valentine’s Day, 2008, a Sotheby art auction opened in New York. U2 musician created this auction Bono along with artist Damien Hirst. The purpose of this auction was for artists to donate their work where the proceeds would be given to an organization called Product which helps fund research in help curing AIDS in Africa, as well as funding antivirus medication that helps those who have been contracted with AIDS live longer. It is called “The Lazarus Effect”.
Bono and Hirst raked in about 60 contemporary artists who contributed to this event. Artists like Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, Chuck Close, Tracey Emin, Matthew Barney, Georg Baselitz, Rachel Whiteread, Anish Kapoor, Anselm Kiefer, Sir Peter Blake, Jeff Koons, Jake and Dinos Chapman, Takashi Murakami, Richard Prince, Ed Ruscha and Banksy.
The opening day seemed to be a success being that 17 of the artists sold work for prices higher than they had ever sold at an auction before. Damien Hirst sold art work for 1 million dollars or more each. During the auction Bono was heard repeating “what is the price of love”, which seemed to help patrons lighten their pockets even more. Over all the RED auction raised over 58 million dollars for the Global fund on the first night.
Cathedral Print, St. Paul
Damien Hirst
20,950.00 pounds
Though some would say that is a success others challenged this event in that it cost more than it raised. However, it is still an ongoing auction. A website displays all of the work that still can be purchased and the money will still be sent to the AIDS funds.
The fallowing links are promotional videos and the actual Valentine’s Day event the year 2008.
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