Created on the back of a standard-sized envelope, works by Crouch End and Muswell Hill artists have been donated to The National Brain Appeal’s A Letter in Mind exhibition.
The annual fundraiser runs this week at Gallery Different in Fitzrovia with online bids for the 775 artworks going live on Thursday. (November 3)
This year's theme is ‘A Sense of Movement,' and Mark Entwisle, Sarah Barker Brown, Julie Held, Anita Mangan, Craig Barnard, Lisa-Marie Price and Russell Herron have all donated original artworks on sale anymously for just £85.
Other celebrities taking part this year include West Hampstead actor Greg Wise, musician Terry Hall, Primrose Hill TV presenter Andrew Marr, director Lindy Heymann, and comic Kevin Eldon.
The identity of the artist is revealed at the end of the exhibition, once the piece has sold with all proceeds supporting vital projects at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in Queen Square, Bloomsbury.
Several artists have very personal reasons to support The National Brain Appeal. Mark Entwisle is a patient at the National Hospital after treatment for a brain tumour in 2019, and continues to be monitored by neurosurgeons.
Mark, who was The Sunday Times Watercolour Competition 2020 winner, said: “My most recent scan showed that my tumour had shrunk which was such a relief to hear. I owe so much to the fantastic staff at the National Hospital and taking part in A Letter in Mind is the perfect way to show my gratitude.”
Graphic designer and illustrator, Anita Mangan has taken part in the fundraiser every year since it started in 2014. Anita, sister Lisa, and brother - Camden-based actor and presenter Stephen Mangan - lost their father, James, to brain cancer in 2005 and their good friend Paul to the same disease in 2019.
The Muswell Hill artist, who has collaborated with brother Stephen on two children’s books, said: “I love getting involved in ‘A Letter in Mind’. It's a great way to challenge me creatively whilst raising money for an essential and brilliant charity.”
Painter Julie Held lost her brother, the distinguished political scientist Professor David Held, to brain cancer in 2019. Her two sisters, Veronica Held and Susan Usiskin MBE, have both had surgery at The National Hospital; Veronica to remove a spinal tumour, and Susan had awake brain surgery for epilepsy. Susan went on to become an epilepsy counsellor at hospital.
Julie said: “Taking part in the exhibition is so important and personal to me. The National Hospital and neurological issues have played such a central role in the lives of my family. We were utterly devastated to lose our beloved brother David to brain cancer. The charity not only raises vital funds for the hospital where both my sisters have had treatment and where Susan worked for many years, they are also funding the first immunotherapy clinical trial for patients with glioblastoma brain cancer, the disease that David had. New treatments for this dreadful disease are desperately needed.”
Figurative painter Sarah Barker Brown is taking part in A Letter in Mind for the first time this year. Both her uncle and aunt on her father’s side had different types of brain tumours, apparently unconnected.
“It's been a pleasure to create a painting for The National Brain Appeal," she said. "I’m looking forward to visiting Gallery Different to see how all the other artists have responded to the brief.”
Other artists taking part include Islington-based Morag and Ishbel Myerscough, conceptual artist Jeremy Deller and children's illustrator Polly Dunbar.
A Letter in Mind previews online and in Gallery Different, 14 Percy Street, London on November 2 at 11am, with online sales from 11am on November 3 at https://alim.nationalbrainappeal.org/ The exhibition runs until November 6. 10am to 6pm.
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