Drawn Together - Online Show

About

This June, Unit London will be staging an expansive online exhibition of Works on Paper. 'Drawn Together' will feature the work of over one-hundred artists from all over the world in order to raise funds for both Medecins Sans Frontières and World Vision.

In recent times, many of our lives have been simplified by the restrictive presence of Covid-19, the nuanced intricacies and anxieties of our day to day existence have been belittled by something much greater. In many instances this has caused us - or rather forced us - to slow down, take stock and turn our focus back to the basics, to address the fundamental components of what it is to live a life; even at a time of unprecedented technological advancement we find ourselves longing for primordial values, sensations like physicality and face-to-face communication are the things we miss the most. Drawn Together aims to tap into this new found sensibility for the benefit of many vulnerable individuals around the world, and for those that work so hard to help them.

 In presenting an array of drawings from some of the most revered figures in the international artistic community, we aim to instigate a process of translation whereby our ongoing societal shifts are captured in the most rudimentary of artistic processes. All artists, more or less, have the same origin story, it is one of pencil and paper - it is a relationship that usually continues throughout their careers in the form of sketches and studies and, in asking artists to share these works, we’re asking for an insight not just into their process but into their past. We’re asking them to reveal the bare bones of what they do, to fall in love with the line again, to reconnect with light and shadow, and to show the driving force of their talent. In asking artists for their drawings we're asking them to exhibit the basic but beautiful skill that started their artistic journey.

The Drawn Together proceeds will be split between the Medicins Sans Frontières Coronavirus Crisis Appeal (MSF) and the Coronavirus response campaign of the internationally renown charity World Vision. MSF is currently providing urgent international medical care and support in more than seventy countries in order to help eliminate coronavirus. With nearly fifty years experience fighting epidemics, saving lives and protecting the most vulnerable members of society, MSF is a truly commendable institution that is fully deserving of your support.

Since their inception in 1950, World Vision has operated in one-hundred countries around the world, collaborating with local communities to help support children and those that are most vulnerable. Bringing together people all of faiths and races, World Vision improves children’s health, education, water, protection and sources of family income to build brighter futures. 

 100% of gallery profits will be donated to these charities, while a minimum of 50% profit will be donated by each and every artist. There are ten spaces open for drawings submitted by our followers so make sure you send us your work. A collective artistic effort on such a scale is a wonderful demonstration of morality and unity within the art world, as well as proof that art can have a transformative effect on people all over the world. Art is fundamentally about artists’ gestures, it’s about what the artist wants to say to the world; Drawn Together is no different, this online exhibition is a gesture like no other from a community like no other, we hope that you take part and find the piece U love.