Centered on the theme of light and the color red, the collection of contemporary art and design will be exhibited and auctioned during Art Basel in Miami Beach and Design Miami/. Sotheby's will conduct a live auction on the evening of 5 December 2018 at the Moore Building in the Miami Design District, with international bidding available in real-time on sothebys.com. Sotheby's will also hold a complementary online auction, open for bidding from 12 November – 7 December.

Beginning on World AIDS Day (1 December), the 50+ works on offer across the (RED) Auctions will be exhibited publicly by Gagosian at the Moore Building. The viewing will extend through 7 December.

To date, (RED) has generated more than $500 million for the Global Fund to support lifesaving HIV/AIDS programs in Africa. Proceeds from this year’s auction will continue to support community-based programs in Africa through the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, while also providing assistance to the HIV fight through community-strengthening programs in Chicago with the Rebuild Foundation – an organization championed by Theaster Gates.

Oliver Barker, Chairman of Sotheby’s Europe and the auctioneer for the (RED) Auctions, said: “We are honored to work with Bono, David and Theaster to continue the successful tradition of (RED) Auctions at Sotheby’s. The 2008 sale was a groundbreaking event in the history of charitable auctions, and the second sale in 2013 upheld that legacy. We look forward to furthering this tradition in December, and raising much-needed funds for the fight against AIDS."

CONTEMPORARY ART HIGHLIGHTS

SEAN SCULLYRed2018Estimate $350/450,000

Sean Scully’s work draws on the traditions of European painting while being invigorated with the distinct character of American abstraction. Scully’s varied practice encompasses printmaking, sculpture, watercolors and pastels, but he is best known for rich, largescale abstract paintings – including Red – in which stripes or blocks of layered color are a prevailing motif.

THEASTER GATESA Flag for the Least of Them2018Estimate $450/500,000

Theaster Gates creates work that focuses on space theory and land development, sculpture and performance. Drawing on his interest and training in urban planning and preservation, he redeems spaces that have been left behind. Known for his recirculation of art-world capital, Gates creates works that focus on the possibility of the “life within things.” In all aspects of his work, he contends with the notion of Black space as a formal exercise – one defined by collective desire, artistic agency, and the tactics of a pragmatist.

JENNIFER GUIDIEnergy of Love (Painted Universe Mandala SF #4F, Red, Natural Ground)2018Estimate $120/150,000

The technique for Jennifer Guidi’s Universe Mandala series begins with the application of a drawing to a flat surface of sand derived from various sources such as maps, constellations, ancient depictions, and the artist’s imagination. The drawing is then covered with an oil paint mandala, leaving a trace to be detected underneath, allowing the drawing in the sand to come in and out of focus and prompting the viewer to explore the pure sensory experience of color, texture, luminosity, and form. Guidi provokes a contemporary version of the sublime, one in which the smallest details are of no less consequence than the totality of the big picture.

MARC QUINN(RED) Eclipse2018Estimate $150/200,000

Marc Quinn's circular Anthropocene paintings of eclipses relate to his earlier series of iris paintings (We Share Our Chemistry with the Stars) and similarly use forms found within nature. These works derive their compositions from scientific photographs of various total and partial solar eclipses around the world. They are also taken at different times throughout the past 100 years, the earliest being from 1907. By using such a diverse timescale the artist shows the seeming immutability of cosmic cycles in comparison to the finite nature of human time. (RED) Eclipse was especially created to reflect the theme of this year’s auction: (RED) and Light.

YINKA SHONIBARE MBERed Lantern Kid2018Estimate $100/150,000

Yinka Shonibare MBE’s interdisciplinary practice uses citations of Western art history and literature to question the validity of contemporary cultural and national identities within the context of globalization. In Red Lantern Kid, the child figure – dressed in the artist’s signature Dutch wax fabric – represents the hope and optimism for future generations, while the lantern symbolizes hope in the wake of advancing medical research. The featured names on the globe are prominent activists, performers or supporters who agitated for the rights of AIDS sufferers at the height of the epidemic in the 1980s.

LEO VILLAREALLiminal Gradient for (RED)2018Estimate $40/60,000

Liminal Gradient for (RED) is an array of 1,024 LEDs and custom electronics contained within an acrylic diffuser. Custom software empowers the electronics to emit randomized gradients of red light. The work emphasizes Leo Villareal’s interest in creating preconceived environments from lowest common denominators including pixels or the zeroes used in binary code.

CONTEMPORARY DESIGN HIGHLIGHTS

SIR JONY IVE AND MARC NEWSONThe (RED) Diamond RingA Diamond Foundry® created diamondThis bespoke ring, created exclusively for the (RED) Auction, will be made to fit the buyer (up to a size 5)Estimate $150/250,000

Sir Jony Ive, Apple’s Chief Design Officer, and renowned industrial designer Marc Newson – co-curators of the most recent (RED) Auction in 2013 – have designed this year a unique ring made exclusively for (RED) by Diamond Foundry®. Consistent with their mutual obsession with transforming raw material into objects of value, Ive & Newson’s design is singular, clear and un-compromised by the traditional metal settings and bands that have previously been required to create ‘diamond rings’. Theirs will be created by removing material rather than adding – an ambition made possible by the extraordinary scale of the stone which will enable the ring to be completely made of this material. 

Creating a ring-shaped diamond is no small feat; the diamond block will be faceted with several thousand facets, some of which are as small as several hundred micrometers. The interior ring will be cylindrically cut out for the desired smoothness using a micrometer thick water jet inside which a laser beam is cast. The finished ring will have between 2000-3000 facets, which has never been seen before on a single piece. The gemstone will be created by Diamond Foundry®, the certified carbon neutral diamond producer who has pioneered and developed the proprietary technology to form diamonds safely and sustainably.

SIR DAVID ADJAYEWashington Skeleton™ (RED) Side Chair[Set of Four]Estimate $20/30,000&Washington Corona™ (RED) Coffee TableEstimate $40/60,000

These unique metallic red versions of the Washington Corona Coffee Table and Skeleton Chairs were designed by Sir David Adjaye for Knoll, Inc. exclusively for the (RED) Auction and have been donated to the sale by Knoll, Inc. Both the table and chairs reflect the designer’s distinctive architectural and sculptural vision, translated into furniture form. Of the collection, Adjaye states “The Washington Collection is an investigation into form, materials, balance and weight. I wanted to create furniture that is playful and beautiful – appearing light yet also expressing monumentality.” The collection further draws on many elements of Adjaye’s design for The Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.

ZAHA HADIDCoffee Table Liquid Glacial Colour2012Estimate $100/150,000

Zaha Hadid’s Liquid Glacial design embeds surface complexity and refraction within a startling fluid dynamic. The elementary geometry of the flat table top appears transformed from static to fluid by the subtle waves and ripples evident below the surface, while the table’s legs seem to pour from the horizontal in an intense vortex of water frozen in time. Together, pieces from the collection have been featured in exhibitions at: Serpentine Gallery, Tokyo Opera City Gallery, Seoul Design Foundation, Museum of Arts and Design, the Wilhelm Wagenfeld Foundation, and the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, Australia.

Executed in 2012, this work is a unique red version from an edition of 8, plus 2 printer's proofs and 2 artist's proofs.

ABOUT (RED)®(RED) was founded in 2006 to engage businesses and people in the fight against AIDS. (RED) partners with the world’s most iconic brands that contribute proceeds from (RED)-branded goods and services to the Global Fund. (RED) Proud Partners include: Amazon, Apple, Bank of America, Beats by Dr. Dre, Belvedere, Claro, The Coca-Cola Company, Durex, MCM, Salesforce, SAP, Starbucks and Telcel. (RED) Special Edition partners include: aden+anais, Alessi, ALEX AND ANI, Andaz, Baxter of California, Bombas, Fatboy USA, Girl Skateboards, Mophie, S’well, Wanderlust and Vespa.

To date, (RED) has generated more than $500 million for the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, to support HIV/AIDS grants in Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Rwanda, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania and Zambia. 100 percent of that money goes to work on the ground – no overhead is taken. Global Fund grants that (RED) supports have impacted nearly 110 million people with prevention, treatment, counseling, HIV testing and care services.              ABOUT THE GLOBAL FUNDThe Global Fund is a 21st-century partnership organization designed to accelerate the end of AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria as epidemics. Founded in 2002, the Global Fund is a partnership between governments, civil society, the private sector and people affected by the diseases. The Global Fund raises and invests nearly US $4 billion a year to support programs run by local experts in countries and communities most in need.

Working together, we have saved millions of lives and provided prevention, treatment and care services to hundreds of millions of people, helping to revitalize entire communities, strengthen local health systems and improve economies.

ABOUT REBUILD FOUNDATIONRebuild Foundation is an arts, education and cultural development organization committed to transforming urban communities. Founded by artist Theaster Gates, the organization supports artists and strengthens communities by providing free arts programming, creating new cultural amenities and developing affordable housing, studio and live-work spaces. Rebuild Foundation also serves as a platform for other mission-aligned organizations by providing space, support and partnership around common goals.

ABOUT GAGOSIANGagosian is a leading international gallery for modern and contemporary art, with sixteen exhibition spaces in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, London, Paris, Rome, Geneva, Athens and Hong Kong.  Founded by Larry Gagosian in the early 1980s, the gallery has presented an unparalleled program of exhibitions by legendary figures such as Francis Bacon, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Constantin Brancusi, Alexander Calder, John Chamberlain, Willem de Kooning, Walter de Maria, Alberto Giacometti, Helen Frankenthaler, Roy Lichtenstein, Claude Monet, Henry Moore, Pablo Picasso, Jackson Pollock, Robert Rauschenberg, Cy Twombly, and Andy Warhol.  Together with its distinguished historical program, the gallery presents a roster of ambitious exhibitions by the world’s most acclaimed living artists, including Georg Baselitz, John Currin, Rachel Feinstein, Urs Fischer, Ellen Gallagher, Mark Grotjahn, Andreas Gursky, Jasper Johns, Anselm Kiefer, Jeff Koons, Brice Marden, Takashi Murakami, Ed Ruscha, Jenny Saville, Richard Serra, Cindy Sherman, Taryn Simon, Rudolf Stingel, Mark Tansey, Adriana Varejão, Mary Weatherford, Rachel Whiteread and Christopher Wool. These exhibitions, which have placed Gagosian at the forefront of contemporary art, are accompanied by beautifully designed, scholarly catalogues and monographs.

ABOUT SOTHEBY’SSotheby’s has been uniting collectors with world-class works of art since 1744. Sotheby’s became the first international auction house when it expanded from London to New York (1955), the first to conduct sales in Hong Kong (1973), India (1992) and France (2001), and the first international fine art auction house in China (2012). Today, Sotheby’s presents auctions in 10 different salesrooms, including New York, London, Hong Kong and Paris, and Sotheby’s BidNow program allows visitors to view all auctions live online and place bids from anywhere in the world. Sotheby’s offers collectors the resources of Sotheby’s Financial Services, the world’s only full-service art financing company, as well as the collection, artist, estate & foundation advisory services of its subsidiary, Art Agency, Partners. Sotheby’s presents private sale opportunities in more than 70 categories, including S|2, the gallery arm of Sotheby's Global Fine Art Division, and three retail businesses: Sotheby’s Wine, Sotheby’s Diamonds, and Viyet, the online marketplace for interior design. Sotheby’s has a global network of 80 offices in 40 countries and is the oldest company listed on the New York Stock Exchange (BID).

*Estimates do not include buyer’s premium. Prices achieved include the hammer price plus buyer’s premium and are net of any fees paid to the purchaser where the purchaser provided an irrevocable bid.