Prior to the Covid-19 outbreak masks were reserved for superheroes and the cast of Phantom of the Opera. Now, as much an object of health and safety as an item of fashion, Frieze London and the Contemporary Art Society have come together to commission artists to design four different masks.
David Shrigley, who, according to The Guardian, is “one of the UK’s most consistently funny and perceptive visual artists”, is one of the artists who has been commissioned, creating a mask covered in black and white lines, with the word “emotions” in the corner.
Of the work, he says: “The fund will provide incredible support to emerging artists at a time when the art world entirely ground to a halt, but also the technicians, the assistants, the small galleries that do so much to support younger artists in turn.”
The CAS and Frieze London hope to raise £20,000 through the sale of the masks, in addition to the existing £100,000 they have raised since the outbreak of the pandemic. The money will be used as part of the rapid response fund, used to allow museums and galleries to purchase items for their collections by UK-based artists.
The masks can be purchased as part of the three-week long crowdfunding campaign, priced at £35 for one mask, or £120 for the complete collection.
CAS has allowed for the collection of contemporary arts for over a century. According to director, Caroline Douglas: “support is of critical importance right now, injecting investment directly where it is needed whilst helping museums become more active centres of our communities as we slowly recover from this period of lockdown.”
