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February 15th 2008

Bono Makes History With Valentine’s Day Charity Auction

Warms the heart

Filed under: campaigns — michael @ 12:58 pm

Some people love him, others can’t stand him. But whatever your take on the guy, you have to admit he’s a powerful force in raising money for charity.

Yesterday, an auction organized by Bono and artist Damien Hirst raised more than $42.5 million towards the fight against AIDS. Auctioneers Sotheby’s have hailed the total as one of the biggest single charity events in history. From the article,

Hirst donated seven of his works to the art sale in New York, including a cabinet filled with drugs to treat HIV, which fetched $7.15m (£3.6m). The auction broke records for 17 artists, including Banksy, whose Keep It Spotless work made $1.8m (£950,300). The price reached was more than six times its pre-sale estimate.

Said Bono of the event: “Tonight we got serious about love, and not just the love of art, but the love of our brothers and sisters suffering from Aids in the poorest places on the planet.”

The money raised will go towards the United Nations Foundation to support HIV/Aids relief programs in Africa, organized by the Global Fund to fight Aids, tuberculosis and malaria. Among those that attended and/or purchased items were Christy Turlington and her husband Ed Burns, tennis legend John McEnroe, supermodel Helena Christensen, and actor/director Dennis Hopper. Since last year, Bono’s (RED) organization has raised more than $100 million dollars. Incredible.

December 6th 2007

Bono And Sotheby’s Team Up For Night Of Fine Art

Filed under: art, events, events: nyc, green and famous — parrish @ 8:50 pm

When I think of two peas in a pod, the names Bono and Sotheby’s aren’t exactly the first two that pop in my head, but it looks like two peas they shall be. Sotheby’s, the famous New York auction house, has joined forces with the Gagosian Gallery in Chelsea, U2’s Bono and Damien Hirst in organizing a charity auction at the well known auction house on Valentines Day. The auction will feature more than 100 artworks, all inspired by the color red, and go to the United Nations Foundation to help various HIV/AIDS relief programs in Africa.

Some of the artists featured will be Hirst, Jeff Koons, Jasper Johns, Matthew Barney, Georg Baselitz, Cecily Brown and Douglas Gordon. The auction is estimated to bring in plenty of art aficionados and close to 40 million dollars.

WOW!