Artist Selling £50 for £1 At Harris Open Art Exhibition

WHAT: Artist Selling £50 for £1 At Harris Open Art Exhibition

WHERE: Harris Museum, Art Gallery & Library, Market Square, Preston PR1 2PP.

WHEN: 14th December 2019 - 26th January 2020

14 December – 26 January 2020

Preview night - Friday 13 December 6pm - 8pm.

CONTACT: Anthony Padgett 0790 2342448 anthonydpadgett@yahoo.co.uk

Harris Open Exhibition 2019

Preston, Lancashire.

www.harrismuseum.org.uk

"The Harris Open" is a diverse show of artists from around the Preston area and runs from 14th December 2019 - 26th January 2020 and award winning artist Anthony Padgett is exhibiting an artwork he can guarantee almost everyone would like to own.

It is a £50 note that he is selling for £1. The work is titled "£50 for £1 email anthonydpadgett@yahoo.co.uk and the buyer will be randomly selected".

Said Anthony "The work can mean whatever you want it to mean. And I assume most people will think I am daft. But I hope the work helps people sympathise with artists. Most of us artists spend days and weeks on work that sells for a fraction of the cost in time that it takes to make."

The work is certainly original. Said Anthony "taking everyday objects and turning them into art to sell for lots of money has been done many times. I wanted to do something different."

"Art is not a job, its a vocation and how much money you make is not the only thing. But when you tell people you are an artist they usually ask how much you make, do you make a living, do you sell much work or are you famous. Perhaps better questions are what kind of work do you make, what is your work about, or what inspires you.

A small number of artists make a living from art, yet without all the other competing artists the small number wouldn't exist and there would be no artistic development.

Anthony (who has an MA in Contemporary Art) added "Art has a bad press because it has become all about money and is chosen by people who as Oscar Wilde said, "know the price of everything and the value of nothing." It is often bought by people who don't understand what they are buying, sold by people who don't understand what they are selling and made by artists who don't understand what they are making. And the rest of us in society are then told we should believe it is art, whether we understand it or not."

And perhaps £1 is all the work is worth as a piece of art, or maybe by decreasing the value of £50 paradoxically increases the value over £50 by making it an original piece of "art".

Anthony is a Lancashire Representative for the Artists Union of Enlgand, a union campaigning for the rights of artists.

And if you aren't lucky enough to buy the note then check if ever you have a £50, the number of the note is AJ09 713959

Anthony adds "The piece has its benefits. I will be able to tell people that I've sold work at the Harris."

Anthony's studio is at The Birley Artists Studios next to the Harris Museum.

https://www.thebirley.com/anth...