A Community of Hope Artists for Dublin Simon

Famous artists donate their pieces for charity. Make a bid and help Dublin Simon open doors this Christmas

Dublin Simon Community is inviting everyone to support its life-saving services through ‘A Community of Hope: Artists for Dublin Simon’. With over 70 unique works from renowned Irish artists, there’s something for every budget.

Whether you’re an art enthusiast or simply looking for a meaningful piece, this auction offers a chance to own a work by your favourite artist while helping those in need. Bidding opens on 28th November at Gormley’s Fine Art and runs until December 10th.

In Person Viewing Times

Location

Gormleys, 27 South Frederick Street, Dublin 2

Visit Site

Online Auction Date

Tuesday 10th December at 7 pm (online viewing and bidding available from 28th November).

Opening Times

Official Opening: Thursday 28th November
6 – 8 pm

Friday 29th November: 10am – 5:30pm
Saturday 30th November: 10am – 5:30pm
Sunday: Closed
Monday: 10am – 5:30pm

Irish icons such as Guggi, The Corrs, Imelda May, Liam Ó Maonlaí, Angeline Ball, Mary Coughlan, and Gavin Friday have all pledged their support by donating pieces to the auction, standing united in their commitment to help the most vulnerable in society.

Creating artwork is intrinsic to my beliefs and hopes for a more positive world. I’m primarily a painter, and the act of making an image and a physical object with permanence like a painting, from seemingly nothing more than canvas, pools of paint and imagination still feels surprising to me just like a magic trick and it is this unexpectedness that motivates me to make artworks.
My work is influenced by my research into the past works of Surrealism and how they exploited the redundant and dusty nature of old bourgeois paintings and re-invented them.
Themes include adopting the mysterious and uncanny, alternative views of nature where hybridity thrives.
Artworks are also triggered by my own personal life experiences and what it is to be a female artist in the 21c. There’s also a critical commentary that reflects the effects on the human psyche of today’s hyper-modern world with the seemingly overwhelming endless plentitude of consumerism and the technocratic element of today’s society.
My aim is to give notice and meaning through the unexpectedness of imagery to the viewer and in some way a reflection and pause for thought on our own values and how we exist today.

Melissa O'Donnell 'Punk Rock' Oil on Canvas

I’m interested in process and materiality in printmaking, I’ve previously worked in letterpress, but returned to screen printing in 2017. You can find me applying or adapting an image-making technique, and then discovering ways to undermine, abuse, and subvert it. I love a happy accident, and the hands-on nature of manual screenprinting means that accidents are all too common. I’m disinterested in rigorous adherence to consistency in a world of perfect reproduction. Which is convenient. I screenprint everything personally – which makes for a bit more variability than a master printer would produce, but I come from a background where everything I created has been precisely identical, so the human charm of the unique holds much more appeal.

I’m particularly drawn to special finishes – gilding, bronzing, pigment and diamond dusting. I’m also interested in combining processes and crafts that generally don’t get to hang out together. Typically my work involves a computer somewhere along the line, and then that gets dragged over some old-school manual coals.

Alastair Keady ‘Bolstar’ Screen Print and Gild on Artist Wood Panels

I began painting full-time five years ago, deciding to solely focus on this passion. Designing clothes had begun to feel repetitive and the helping profession had never been my primary interest. But this collective experience developed my artistic focus, my paintings now a relationship between what I interpret during brief encounters, and a curiosity of what others might see if I put that encounter in paint. They're literally the footpath of my life, depictions of where I've traveled and who I've met along the way, a crafted record of interesting people caught in fleeting moments, sometimes a glimpse into their psyche for the viewer to analyze or relate. My art represents collective connectedness, which seems a current deficit in the world. I want my art to serve as a reminder of the responsibility we have to each other. We need to slow down and pay attention to each other, to catch the tiny details that make each of us unique and worth knowing.

Carmen Havens 'Young Buskers on a break’ Oil on Canvas

Over my time as an artist the work I have produced has been structured into groups or series of paintings. The series I’m currently working on is mostly geometric in nature and has an overall landscape structure to it. My work generally tends to be suggestive, I feel it absorbs places I’ve been to, experiences I’ve had and ideas and images I come across. My process of painting embraces both logic and reason but also chance and accident.

I allow myself to be guided by each individual piece. The work itself exists on the borderline between abstraction and representation but also between real and spirit worlds. It allows for magic to have a role its creation. I want my work to operate as a doorway, to invite the viewer into a new space, to offer an invitation to journey.”

Tom Climent ‘Aura’ Oil, Plaster, Collage on Board

Artwork from over 70 artists to be auctioned in support of essential homelessness services.

The inaugural event in 2023 garnered overwhelming support, with over €40,000 raised.

Preview and bid on the artwork at Gormley’s Fine Art from November 28th until December 10th.

Art Auction Founder John O'Donnell

A Dubliner who spent 30 years in South Africa before returning to Ireland, felt compelled to take action upon witnessing the increasing number of people sleeping rough in Dublin. Each day on his way to work, he began engaging with those he encountered, learning about their personal stories and struggles. Through these conversations, he frequently heard about the support provided by Dublin Simon, which led him to attend their Christmas Eve busk in 2022. There, he discovered that Dublin Simon’s work extends far beyond street outreach, encompassing vital detox, recovery, healthcare services, counselling, and both supported and independent housing options aimed at combating homelessness. Motivated by this insight, John decided to leverage his skills and network to raise funds, which culminated in a major auction of art and memorabilia. The inaugural auction, held last November, successfully raised €40,000 for the Dublin Simon Community.