To mark the end of its exhibition Debt Machine (The Battle for Static), Liverpool gallery and project space Static is offering for sale its entire collection in what it is billing as a ‘clearance sale’. The sale takes place today (Friday 28 September) from 11am-8pm.
“There’ll be a range of pieces priced from £5-£50 and then other pieces up to £900,” says Static director Paul Sullivan. “There’ll also be a few pieces in the tens of thousands.”
Sullivan describes the sale as being presented like a market, “a mish-mash of different things”. Items available to buy on the day include the ‘infamous’ Damien Hirst: One Night Only original and works by Northern Art Prize winner Leo Fitzmaurice, Frederic Pradeau and Sullivan himself. There’ll also be original signed posters from Static’s music programme from 2005-2012, plus T-shirts, clothes, books and DVD players. Also for sale are 60 old-style TVs that were used as part of a Douglas Gordon installation in 2011.
While Static’s debt is real and pressing (according to the tally at the entrance to Debt Machine, pictured, it stands at £22,000), Sullivan says that the sale is about more than just generating revenue:
“After Ceri Hand Gallery left the city, we’re exploring if there is the possibility of an art market in Liverpool. We want to start identifying people who might buy contemporary art in the region and we’ve invited a number of collectors and institutions. We’re also interested in the idea of what constitutes value in art.”
Sullivan says that Static’s financial situation has been made worse due to a Liverpool City Council decision to issue it with a Noise Abatement Notice last November, banning any loud amplified music at the venue and halting revenue from gigs. He also cites the more recent decision in August to refuse to grant the gallery discretionary rates relief, which Static has received since 2003.
Yet despite these financial issues, Sullivan says the sale doesn’t represent a defining point for Static and its future: “Debt Machine has talked about and visualised debt, which is not a usual step. The sale is part of that – the outcome of it won’t define what happens next with Static.”
