Hackney is about to make way for a new wave of diverse artists who will be funded by the sale of STIK’s ‘Holding Hands’ maquette this Friday at Christie’s auction house. The bronze maquette of the recently placed 4-metre sculpture in Hoxton Square, hopes to fetch around £120,000.
The arrival of ‘Holding Hands’ in September has created a new local landmark and has sparked flocks of visitors from local residents to influential figures. Many have posted social media pics of themselves with the artwork using with the hashtag #HoldingHands.
‘Holding Hands’ had its genesis in 2016 when Hackney Council asked STIK to design the official Hackney banner for the London Pride Parade featuring two non-gender specific figures. In 2017, STIK began working with Hackney Council to find a permanent home for ‘Holding Hands’, his first public sculpture.
Now, the unique, one-off, working maquette of ‘Holding Hands’ is being offered at Christie’s ‘Post-War and Contemporary Art’ sale on Friday 23 October in London.
Artist STIK said: ‘This project is intended to empower artists in East London to celebrate the diverse communities who live here.’
Mayor of Hackney Philip Glanville said: “I’d like to thank STIK for his record of activism, collaborating with the borough and this generous donation. We’re proud in Hackney to be able to support and share the creativity of our residents. This represents a longstanding commitment to inclusive public art that can be enjoyed by everyone in our parks and public spaces and I can’t wait to see the creativity that STIK is helping us to showcase and unlock.”
