Sustainable art makes way on to auction blocks

Conscious of its environmental impact, the art world is increasingly pondering how artistic creation can be reconciled with eco-responsibility.

Christie’s is playing its part in the process by organising the first sustainable art auction on 28 May.

The initiative was launched in partnership with the nonprofit ChangeNOW Communities.

This new kind of auction forms part of the “Art for Change” programme of the forthcoming edition of the ChangeNOW summit, from 27 to 29 May in Paris.

The sale will feature 16 works by French and international artists, including Caroline Venet, Linda Sanchez, Rachel Marks and Jordane Saget.

As well as being resolutely modern, the artworks have all been shaped using “already there” materials.

The media and techniques chosen by the artists minimise the environmental impact of their creations, whether by limiting the use of toxic materials or by using recycled or upcycled materials.

Street artist Tim Zdey, for example, recovered the door of a Citroen ZX from a scrapyard in the Paris suburbs to create On the Road Again, while Jesu Moratiel incorporated dead bees into an artwork titled Look, They are Fairies.

“This new sale presents sober and strong works of artists who shape the ‘already there’, who create with the created,” explains Ronan de la Croix, exhibition curator at ChangeNOW.

“The abandoned material is diverted, reshaped, sublimated, resourced.

“The works are neither ‘green’ nor activist, they do not necessarily address ecology as a theme, but integrate it into the creative process.”

The artworks are estimated to fetch between €3 000 and €20 000 (about R52 000 to R346 000).

Proceeds will be shared between the artists, their galleries and the nonprofit ChangeNOW Communities to promote and encourage low-carbon artistic creation.

Christie’s has pledged to become a “net zero” business by 2030 – a first for a major auction house. –