Help the Hungry: Sculptor Sir Antony Gormley donates £400,000 artwork to campaign

‘It can’t be right that people go hungry in the capital city of such a rich country as the UK,’ artist tells Arjun Neil Alim

Sir Antony donated the artwork, titled Attend, which sold to a private buyer for £400,000 (Antony Gormley)

World-acclaimed sculptor Sir Antony Gormley has endorsed The Independent’s Help the Hungry campaign and donated a £400,000 sculpture to support our social kitchen.

The Turner Prize winner said: “It can’t be right that people go hungry in the capital city of such a rich country as the UK.”

Sir Antony donated an artwork, titled Attend, which sold to a private buyer for £400,000. He said of the wooden sculpture: “My work looks out and notices, even though made of brutal blocks.”

His donation is the latest in an unprecedented display of support for vulnerable people in the UK shown throughout our appeal by British and global artists. Since we launched in March, the leading lights of the industry have come together to apply their creativity to helping those hit hardest by the pandemic.

Last month, contemporary artist Henry Hudson announced he would sell prints of digital sketches he drew of recipients and volunteers linked to our Help the Hungry campaign, which can be bought online until 18 December.

Other artists that have made a sizeable contribution to our appeal include Damien Hirst, the acclaimed British contemporary artist and sculptor. Hirst, who in May donated the design of a rainbow heart to The Independent to sell in a time-limited print run, sold 4,866 editions through art platform Heni to raise £1.5m for our campaign with The Felix Project.

The artist previously told The Independent: “It’s amazing to see how people have pulled together and helped each other during this crisis. I am so grateful to everyone who has helped me do my little bit and bought a butterfly heart edition.”

Sir Peter Blake, whose London Stands Together illustration illuminated Trafalgar Square as a message of hope back in May, also saw his 100-face mural Our Fans auctioned to support our appeal. Faces from the mural, which was the size of 38 double decker buses and draped over the London Mandarin Oriental hotel in Knightsbridge, included Dames Helen Mirren and Maggie Smith.

Since March, the support of artists and creatives for our Help the Hungry campaign has raised more than £2m to tackle hunger brought on by the effects of the pandemic.

Meanwhile, our appeal has also gained the support of private equity firm Apex Partners, which pledged a sizeable donation to support The Independent’s social kitchen. The site aims to produce 1.5m meals per year as a lasting legacy to tackle food poverty.