The (RED) Auction raises millions to support the fight against AIDS

The third edition of the (RED) Auction brought together exciting contemporary art and design centred around the theme of light and the colour red. Coinciding with Art Basel Miami Beach and Design Miami, the (Red) Auction was held the evening of Wednesday 5 December at the Moore Building in Miami's famous Design District. The event, organised by Sotheby’s and Gagosian gallery, drew celebrities as well as renowned art world people, including Naomi Campbell, Karolina Kurkova, Christian Louboutin, Bono, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Jeffrey Deitch, and Larry Gagosian.

Lots included works by Jeff Koons, Ai Weiwei, Christo, Frank Gehry, Guillermo Kuitca, and Wangechi Mutu, among other leading contemporary artists and designers. Architect Sir David Adjaye and artist Theaster Gates joined forces with Bono to curate the auction to support the fight against AIDS. 

Gander & White, the Official Shipping Partner of the (RED) Auction, led the logistical operation, transporting works of art across the US and internationally, as well as  installing them at the Moore Building in advance of the public exhibition, launched on 1 December, World AIDS Day. Resources from Gander & White’s global facilities in both the US and Europe were used to support this brilliant initiative.

Contemporary Art and Design collectors bidding at the auction helped achieve $5.5 million. Among the top lots, A Flag for the Least of Them by Theaster Gates sold for $807,000 setting an auction record for Gates; Susanna by Jenny Saville sold for $735,000; Red by Sean Scully sold for $591,000; and Energy of Love (Painted Universe Mandala SF #4F, Red, Natural, Ground) by Jennifer Guidi sold for $375,000, also an auction record for the artist. The evening's total was raised to $10.5 million thanks to a match from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Proceeds from this year’s auction will go to community-based programs in Africa through the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, while also providing assistance to the HIV fight through community-strengthening programs in Chicago with the Rebuild Foundation – an organisation championed by Theaster Gates. The auction continued online with bidding open through 7 December.

 

Theaster Gates, A Flag for the Least of Them (2018). Courtesy the artist and Sotheby’s.

Jennifer Guidi, Energy of Love (Painted Universe Mandala SF #4F, Red, Natural Ground) (2018).
Courtesy of Sotheby’s