British artist Stuart Semple announces major public art project commissioned by The Fertility Partnership.
“SOMETHING AMAZING” takes place Thursday 1st September, live and simultaneously in six locations across the UK: London, Glasgow, Chelmsford, Southampton, Oxford and Nottingham.
Popping up in well-known sites yet to be revealed, these large scale installations will brighten even the most mundane of mornings, encouraging people from all walks of life to stop, look and discover.
Raising awareness of the essential work of The Fertility Partnership, and to increase egg donations at their clinics, the campaign invites all women to consider how it might feel to be infertile, or unable to conceive, and the amazing gift they could potentially give. Fertility treatment has transformed the lives of thousands of women. Every year, around 2,000 children are born in the UK as a result of donated eggs, sperm or embryos. The problem is, the UK just doesn’t have enough egg donors – and a woman can wait up to two years for an egg.
“I’m really excited to be creating these new pieces and to be bringing them to streets throughout England and Scotland. It’s amazing to be able to lend my art to a cause as important as egg donation.
I see art as a really generous thing and the idea that art can link so directly to life is wonderful.” – Stuart Semple
Exhibited globally, most recently in his solo show ‘My Sonic Youth’ at Fabien Castanier, Los Angeles, Stuart Semple is perceived as one of the UK’s most significant post YBA artists, with work owned by some of the most important and high profile collectors worldwide. His artworks, worth from £300 for limited edition prints to £300,000 for large original painting, are highly collectable. So an exciting dimension to the project, and one reflective of the generous act of egg donation, is the 1,000 limited edition signed and numbered artworks, created by Semple especially for the project and to be given away on the day. Members of the public will be permitted to take an artwork with them – as a gift of generosity from the artist – but may also be inspired to continue in this altruistic vein, to share something amazing by giving the artwork to somebody else.
Thousands of fertility treatments are only possible because a woman like you donates an egg. The balloon you’re holding is precious – a rare, collectable artwork by Stuart Semple. We’re asking you to give it away.
Stuart Semple is famous for his positive public art projects. In 2009, the artist came to public attention with ‘Happy Cloud’, in which he released thousands of smiley faced clouds created from soap and helium. Launching them from Tate Modern, the clouds were seen across the London skyline as they moved towards the City. Its universally enthusiastic reception compelled Semple to repeat the project in Milan during Salone De Mobile, followed by Moscow and Dublin. Other public artworks have included ‘JUMP’, a 100 metre squared inflatable interactive sculpture in Melbourne’s Federation Square in 2013 and, last year, ‘My Happy Place’, a city-wide event in association with Coventry Centre of Contemporary Art on the occasion of World Mental Health Day.
On this occasion, he invites us to explore what it means to change another woman’s life by sharing something amazing – public art that can create life. The women who engage with the project on the day, and with the entire concept of egg donation, could ultimately positively affect the family of a stranger through one of the greatest gifts they could possibly give. Thousands of fertility treatments are only possible because a woman like you donates an egg. This is the fundamental message.
“Hopefully the project will be uplifting, bringing a little unexpected happiness to people’s mornings! But importantly, I’m also hoping of course that these temporary public sculptures, and the art pieces that we are giving away, will encourage some important discussions about egg donation and fertility.” – Semple
For more information, visit sharesomethingamazin
