Statues of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor are set to be auctioned off in order to benefit charities founded in their honor. Sotheby’s and Confront Art are partnering for the auction and the proceeds will be given to We Are Floyd and the Breonna Taylor Foundation. The charities were founded by the families of the two victims of police violence in an effort to raise awareness and fight social justice according to WABC.
Busts of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and John Lewis were created by artist Chris Carnabuci and placed in Union Square Park on Sept. 30 as part of Confront Art’s “SEEINJUSTICE” exhibition. Each statue weighs nearly 1,000 pounds, is skillfully crafted of 200 thinly-cut slices of African Mahogany and topped with a coat of bronze paint. LÁOLÚ NYC covered the Breonna Taylor sculpture with design as a collaborative effort as well.
“I think it’s very important that we as artists create work that speaks about actions. I’m a Black person living in America. And I mean, this reality is not far-fetched. It’s something that I’ve experienced, you know, I’ve experienced racism, and he has all sorts of things, you know, that deals with it and the repercussions of it so, I mean, if I didn’t make art about it, then what am I doing.” LÁOLÚ NYC, told the news outlet.
In October, actor Micah Beals, who is best known for his role in “CSI: NY,” was arrested and charged with criminal mischief for vandalizing the George Floyd statue which has since been restored. The sculptures will go up for auction in Sotheby’s Contemporary Art auction running online from Dec. 9 through Dec. 17. Currently, they’re on view at Sotheby’s York Avenue galleries and will be until Dec. 15.
