Britain’s tallest mural ‘Big Mother’ a protest by artist STIK against the destruction of social (public) housing has finally come to the end of its life when the 14-storey social housing block it was painted on was demolished this autumn. STIK says that its destruction has immortalised the meaning behind the mural.
Meanwhile, locals were quick to recognise the potential value of the smaller mother and child figure painted at the base of the mural and salvaged the life-size artwork before works began and, with the help of the artist, the piece was stabilised and encased in a sturdy steel frame.
Stik and Rachel Pepper from ARTification at Phillips auction (photo LDNgraffiti).
The artwork, painted painted on half a ton of brickwork was placed in Phillips auction where it sold for a record £193,750 ($247,500). Proceeds from the artwork, with the second highest price achieved in the sale, has gone to ARTification, a local community arts and cultural charity.
“’Big Mother’ is about the importance of social housing to those who live there, it’s demolition has immortalised this message. Rachel Pepper and the ARTification team helped me create the original ‘Big Mother’ mural and I hope that the sale of this piece will help them to continue their ground-breaking work in the community.”
-STIK
“The sale of ‘Big Mother’ is a life-line for our charity and has secured our future as a cultural hub. This will help us to continue working with displaced and marginalised people to deliver community-led art and cultural projects, creating a happier, stronger community for years to come. “
-Rachel pepper, ARTification
We’re especially pleased to have set a new world auction record for Stik’s 'Big Mother', which sold for over seven times its pre-sale estimate, selling for £193,750 with proceeds going to a very worthy cause.”
-Simon Tovey, Head of the New Now Sale in London
Miniature STIK artwork at base of Mural
LINKS
STIK: www.stik.org
NEW NOW: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooCgtCnhGOo
Big Mother: https://vimeo.com/303359178
Phillips: https://www.phillips.com/detail/STIK/UK010818/14
Artification:https://www.artification.org.uk