Art / News
Abandoned note inspiration for piece of art raising money for homeless
An abandoned note found on a bridge during lockdown was the inspiration behind a piece of art that will be used to raise money for a homeless charity.
Bristol artist Andy Price hopes to create a lasting legacy to the homeless author of the note that he found on Pero’s Bridge.
Andy says that he since been haunted by what might have happened to the woman who wrote it, signed only by her first name.
is needed now More than ever
Taking out her name, he surrounded the note with images reflecting the time he found the note, with BLM and Extinction Rebellion protests joining social distancing messages and NHS staff in facemasks.
The original was on display in View Art Gallery in Hotwells and is now hanging in the Royal Academy in London as part of its Summer Exhibition.
Artist Andy Price says he “mused how my design might clash with the currently fashionable procession of crafted imagery, all colliding online with computer controlled pageants of the bright and weirdly accomplished, projecting a happy branded world at peace and not as it happens, an unequal planet on the verge of ecological extinction”
A crowdfunder has now been launched to raise money for the Help Bristol’s Homeless, with people donating £50 or more receiving a signed print of the work. Framed or unframed prints are also available in the gallery.
The target is to sell 300 prints and raise £15,000 to convert a container into living accommodation.
Andy said: “I wanted to make a work that was wholly uncommercial but would be a medium to support a diminished class often represented in painting but rarely helped.
“At first I naively planned to use the work to help the person on the note by publicising it and hoping she may come forward.
“But it soon became apparent that there was sensitivity around identifying her. She may not want to be helped. We don’t know her situation now.
“So I redacted the name and changed the title of the banner directly above it to ‘I Used to be Someone’.”
View Art Gallery owner Nick Waugh added: “When Andy came to me with this work of art it was reflective of so much of last year and the challenges many of us faced, not least the homeless. To me, the author of that note is a symbolic ‘everyman’ in that situation.
“The city council has stated that the number of single people in Bristol requiring temporary housing more than tripled during the pandemic with the biggest rise after the third lockdown as the pandemic took its toll on families and relationships.
“Andy and I will be happy with whatever we can raise to help mitigate against this statistic.”
To donate to the crowdfunder, visit www.crowdfunder.co.uk/i-used-to-be-someone
Andy Price has already raised more than £11,000 from sales of the print – photo: Andy Price
Main image taken from film by Patch de Salis
Read more: Transformation of empty Bedminster site for homeless
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