Leading contemporary artists are donating works to the Democracy Matters Benefit Auction, an online and in person auction launching on Artspace September 24 and running until midnight October 1.
The auction features work by a diverse group of artists including Jeff Koons, Ed Ruscha, Barbara Kruger, Jenny Holzer, Cindy Sherman, Lawrence Weiner, Alexis Rockman, Hank Willis Thomas, Jeffrey Gibson, Walter Robinson, Christine Sun Kim, Fred Tomaselli, Glenn Ligon, Sarah Sze, Ross Bleckner, and more. Proceeds from the auction will benefit Democracy Matters, a community of pro-democracy donors and activists. If you want to join in the bidding you should register here now. There is no buyer's premium for this auction.
Since its inception, Democracy Matters has hosted over a dozen conferences, nearly 200 weekly webinars, and has united more than 1,500 donors and activists who are committed to strengthening and protecting our democracy. The Democracy Matters Benefit Auction will help fill the critical funding gaps of American Bridge, Media Matters, The American Independent, and other progressive organizations.
Three new limited edition prints have been commissioned and created for this auction by Jeff Koons, Walter Robinson, and Fred Tomaselli. These are already available to buy NOW.
A new Ed Ruscha drawing, One Reason, 2024, which was made specially for the auction, will be available for online pre-bidding and transferred to live bidding on the evening of October 1st. Interest in bidding on this work during the live auction should be submitted via email to advisor@artspace.com, and our team will be delighted to assist.
Collector and philanthropist Agnes Gund, who has founded many art world initiatives, including Art for Justice and Studio in a School, is co-chair of the auction, alongside the renowned activist Cecile Richards. Gund told Artspace:
“I believe that art is a powerful tool for the promotion of social justice. I’ve been a witness to that fact time and time again over the years. It makes sense to me that so many artists and collectors would be willing to showcase and donate their work to promote democracy and support the Harris Walz ticket.”
Phaidon and Artspace CEO Keith Fox said: “Artspace is proud to partner with Democracy Matters and the extraordinary group of participating artists. The Democracy Matters Auction spotlights the profound role artists have in shaping our public life.” Remember, to join in the bidding you should register here now.
Flag II was commissioned and created as a limited edition of 40 prints specially for the Democracy Matters auction.
Koons has said, "My work is a support system for people to feel good about themselves and have confidence in themselves, enjoy life, to have their life be as enriching as possible, to make them feel secure - a confidence in their own past history so that they can move on to achieve whatever they want."
Ed Ruscha’s One Reason, 2024, was created by the artist to support the Democracy Matters auction. Through his use of words, Ruscha confronts the paradox that a word can be both definitive and ambiguous. In One Reason, 2024 his use of language serves as a prescient call to action. This work will be available for online pre-bidding and transferred to live bidding on the evening of October 1st. Interest in bidding on this work during the live auction should be submitted via email to advisor@artspace.com.
Other artists participating in the auction include: Barbara Kruger, Jenny Holzer, Cindy Sherman, Lawrence Weiner, Rashid Johnson, Glenn Ligon, Sarah Sze, Alexis Rockman, Hank Willis Thomas, Jeffrey Gibson, Walter Robinson, Christine Sun Kim, Fred Tomaselli, Ross Bleckner, José Parlá, and Analia Saban. You can see all the featured work on the Democracy Matters Auction landing page here, and to register to bid go here.
Galleries represented include: Hauser & Wirth, Gagosian, Victoria Miro, Sprüth Magers, Pace, Petzel Gallery, Stephen Friedman Gallery, Jack Shainman Gallery, James Cohan, François Ghebaly Gallery, Ben Brown Fine Arts, Turner Carroll Gallery, Sperone Westwater, Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, Gladstone Gallery, and more.
We asked Agnes Gund some questions about her involvement in the auction.
Can you tell us a little about your personal involvement in Democracy Matters, and how that came about? I first learned about the Democracy Matters art auction from Cecile Richards. I was so pleased to hear that friends of mine including Jeff Koons, Ed Ruscha, Sarah Sze to name a few, were involved and was honored to join as Co-Chair. I am grateful to all the artists for their participation.
You’ve made a habit of creating philanthropic initiatives from out of nowhere, such as Art for Justice Fund, Studio in a School, to name but two - how does Democracy Matters sit with and enhance your other work? I believe that art is a powerful tool for the promotion of social justice. I’ve been a witness to that fact time and time again over the years. It makes sense to me that so many artists and collectors would be willing to showcase and donate their work to promote democracy and support the Harris Walz ticket.
Holding onto democracy is a nebulous and never-ending struggle. How does your role in this auction relate to some of the other projects (with very visible outcomes such as restoring voting rights, and instigating teaching programs) with which you’ve been involved? I can’t approach something as large as saving democracy, no one can. I can just continue to do my part and hope to make a small impact. But often, the best way to effect change is to empower and support the people and the groups already in place. We did this with Art for Justice. A4J believed those with lived experience with the criminal legal system were often best positioned to imagine an accountable system that treats people with dignity and compassion. In my experience, the projects I have been involved with that had the most beneficial outcomes, involved grassroots efforts.
How has philanthropy changed since you have been actively involved in it over the years, and why is an auction like this important? The incredible late philanthropist Irene Diamond told me: ‘Be generous during your lifetime, rather than creating an endowment,’ and it’s something I have tried to live by. I have tried to stay flexible, and respond to injustices, whether it is ensuring the accessibility of arts education, ending mass incarceration, or protecting reproductive rights. Regarding the art market, there has been momentum building as people continue to embrace the transformative power of art - art changes minds, creating the compassion and empathy necessary to drive social change.
Can you define a link between art and democracy? Democracy, like art, is the inclusion of the whole population. Through Studio in a School, I’ve often said that art is not an option, it’s a necessity and a right. I hold the same beliefs about democracy.
Below you’ll find a curated selection of the works included in the auction. For the full inventory go to our dedicated Democracy Matters Auction page.
BARBARA KRUGER - Untitled (Don't...), 2023
Untitled (Don't...), 2023, exemplifies Kruger’s continued innovation and boldness. The piece features an illustration of a face appearing to suffocate or cough, with crossed eyes and a tongue lolling from its open mouth. This imagery echoes the figure displayed above a doorway in Thinking of You. I Mean Me. I Mean You. (2022-2023), Kruger's monumental site-specific installation at The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Overlaying the face with the inscription "DON'T AGREE / DON'T REPLY / DON'T SETTLE / DON'T SUBMIT," Kruger uses vertical black stripes that resemble jail bars, further emphasizing her critical message. This work, notable for its use of illustrated rather than photographic imagery, represents a new direction in Kruger’s oeuvre, incorporating elements from technology and mass media — such as comics, television cartoons, and digital clip art — to deliver her incisive commentary on contemporary existence.
JENNY HOLZER - Selection from Truisms: Words tend to…, 2020 (text from Truisms, 1977–79)
Holzer began making stone benches in the mid-1980s, initially seeing them as artifacts of her process, but over time recognizing their greater potential, revisiting them decades later. Functioning similarly to benches in city parks or cemeteries, they serve both communal and commemorative purposes, offering spaces for contemplation or group discussion. Adorned with her variously insightful, aggressive, or comic Truisms, Holzer hopes Words tend to… will provoke diverse responses.
Eliciting questions about authorship, origin, and ultimate meaning, the Truisms invite viewers to question their beliefs and values. As the artist noted in 1990, “I think that the Truisms act as a warning of how things are dangerously reduced to a one-liner or a tiny bit of information. They were sincere but they were also a warning.”
FRED TOMASELLI - Flaco, February 25, 2024, 2024
Since 2005, Fred Tomaselli has engaged in an ongoing body of works on paper that transforms the front page of The New York Times. Like his resin paintings–with which they have become increasingly intertwined–the Times collages are the product of a friction between the escapist impulse of artmaking and the crises of the world beyond the studio walls. The surreal compositions are ruminations on the absurdity of news cycles and provide the artist a space to respond to a variety of issues, from political squabbles to a global pandemic or a story of local heroism. As Tomaselli notes, “I think that maybe the Times collages are quietly political, in that I can riff on anything I want, while the horrors of the world become the background buzz. Maybe I’m saying that the world may be going to hell, but I still keep painting.”
Tomaselli said of his newest print, "watching Flaco flying free in Central Park was extra thrilling, coming as it did, not long after covid lockdowns were lifted. Somehow a crazy story of a “liberated” owl became the embodiment of a sense of regained freedom. But more than that, Flaco was beautiful and alert. We thought we were looking at him, but he was also looking at us.”
WALTER ROBINSON - Vote Blue, 2024
Walter Robinson's paintings serve as a keen reflection of the American art world’s shifting attitudes toward consumerism and mass culture. His work, primarily figurative, frequently appropriates commercial imagery, exposing the underlying impulses within social, political, religious, and capitalist systems. The painting Vote Blue, 2024 was specially commissioned for the Democracy Matters auction on the occasion of the 2024 presidential election. You can bid on it here. And it is also available in a print edition which you can buy NOW here.
CHRISTINE SUN KIM - Echo Trap, 2022
Christine Sun Kim's Echo drawing series reflects on her linguistic experiences as a Deaf American living in Germany. “My life is full of echoes,” she notes. “Almost everything is repeated to me, whether it is through captions, through body language, or through interpreters.” Messages bounce from German into English into American Sign Language, delaying and distorting as an echo against a surface. Kim takes this as a multi-level metaphor, also exploring the idea of social echo chambers. As a relatively small and close-knit social network, the Deaf community can be a kind of enclosed space, where ideas ricochet around, echoing back and forth. In each "Echo Trap" drawing, graphic charcoal compositions represent the ASL sign for the word echo, in which one hand strikes the palm of the other, then rebounds the other way.
CINDY SHERMAN - Untitled, 1993-2023
Continuing her practice of photographing herself in various guises to examine women’s roles in history and contemporary society, Cindy Sherman shot this image 30 years ago while working on some fashion photos, when it was set aside as an outtake. Years later, the artist rediscovered the image and it reminded her of a new series underway featuring aging silent film stars. Given the image’s resemblance to a silent movie film still, Sherman was inspired to revisit the work with a fresh perspective. In this print, Sherman’s choice to forego a strict black-and-white approach—but drain the image of most of its color—creates an ambiguous feeling, placing the image in an atemporal context that is neither past nor present.
GLENN LIGON - Untitled (I/America), 2023
Throughout his career, Ligon has undertaken a sharp examination of American history, literature, and society through bodies of work that critically engage with the traditions of modern painting and conceptual art. Untitled (I/America), 2023 is a limited edition print featuring hand-drawn elements. The print displays an image of Ligon’s iconic neon piece, America (2008), with most of the letters crossed out, leaving only the word “I” visible, offering a commentary on the conceptual complexities of citizenship and the Black experience in the US.
SARAH SZE - Skipping Stone, 2023
Sarah Sze has developed a well-recognized visual language that challenges the static nature of art with a dynamic body of work spanning sculpture, painting, drawing, printmaking, video, and installation. Rooted in Sze’s multidisciplinary practice and inspired by sources from both the physical and digital worlds, features intricate layered techniques including blind embossment, collage, and silkscreen.
HANK WILLIS THOMAS - ALL LI ES MATTER, 2019
Hank Willis Thomas' conceptual works focus on themes relating to perspective, identity, commodity, media, and popular culture. ALL LI ES MATTER, 2019, modifies the phrase "All Lives Matter" that is used to undermine the Black Lives Matter movement. By removing one letter from the phrase, the artist creates an entirely different and counter poignancy, tackling centuries of lies and misrepresentations of Black people in America.
JEFFREY GIBSON - I want to make you feel free, 2024
A member of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and half-Cherokee, Gibson incorporates various real and conceptual representations of Native American culture into his sculpture and collage works. Gibson’s work is also highly informed by his identity as a queer, urban, Western-trained artist, and he often navigates the space between formal abstract language and Native American totems. His exploration of intertwined cultural and material themes persists in , a new work created for the Democracy Matters auction. Gibson represented the United States at the 2024 Venice Biennale, making him the first Indigenous artist ever to do the pavilion.
JOSÉ PARLÁ - Hopeful Always, 2024
José Parlá's work lies at the boundary between abstraction and script. He draws inspiration from various mediums including music, dance, and the decay of urban architecture and advertisements. His intricately layered works poetically challenge ideas about language, politics, identity, and how we define places and spaces. In Hopeful Always, 2024 he blends curvy gestures, calligraphic linework, and personal inscriptions with blurred color fields.
ROSS BLECKNER - 6 Tulips, 2019
In 6 Tulips 2019, Bleckner depicts flowers that are profuse and brightly colored, deliquesced, scraped away, and abstracted until they become blurs of paint. Whether featuring abstract patterns of stripes and dots or more representational imagery like birds and flowers, Bleckner’s work evokes the optical illusions of Op Art and the enigmatic luminosity found in Yayoi Kusama’s Polka-dot paintings. To this day, Bleckner is the youngest artist to receive a midcareer retrospective at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, at the age of 45. His paintings can be found in several major museums, such as the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, among others.
ALEXIS ROCKMAN - Nepenthes, 2022
Alexis Rockman is a contemporary American painter renowned for his imaginative depictions of dystopian natural landscapes. As one of the pioneers in using art to address environmental concerns, including climate change and species extinction, he combines artistic practice with activism. Rockman directly engages with urgent social issues through his detailed paintings and works on paper of animals and their rapidly changing habitats, as seen in Nepenthes, 2022.
ANALIA SABAN - Woven Radial Gradient as Weft (Center, Cadmium Red Medium), 2024
Analia Saban’s work utilizes elements of painting, sculpture, and mixed media to deconstruct and reimagine the art-making process. Dealing with issues of fragility, balance, technique, and experimentation, Saban's connection with everyday objects is at the forefront of her investigation of tangible materials and the metaphysical properties of artworks. In Woven Radial Gradient as Weft (Center, Cadmium Red Medium), 2024, she interlaces acrylic paint and linen thread, creating a piece where these materials are intricately fused. This work exemplifies her innovative approach to integrating and transcending traditional artistic boundaries.
LAWRENCE WEINER - & ACROSS THE GREAT DIVIDE, 1991
A major figure in the development of the Conceptual art movement of the 1960s, Weiner was deeply interested in communication and reception. Renowned for his radical embrace of language as an artistic medium, he is celebrated for creating thought-provoking works that present innovative approaches to creating and engaging with art. & ACROSS THE GREAT DIVIDE, 1991, is the complete set of three screenprints with baked enamel, on steel.
Seen something you like? Then head to the Democracy Matters Benefit Auction page now, and if you want to register to bid you can do that here now.
