The bidding started at 7 p.m. but the fun lasted all night as the Ad Hoc Art Gallery in East Williamsburg auctioned off 28 pieces from noted graffiti artists including Swoon, Judith Supine and Skewville to celebrate the launch of Brooklyn Street Art, a photography book by Jaime Rojo and Steven P. Harrington.
“We thought what better way to celebrate the launch of this book than to bring a bunch of our favorite artists together and hold a silent auction.” said Andrew Ford, gallery director at Ad Hoc.
Artists donated their works for the auction last Friday, which raised over $15,000 to benefit Free Arts NYC, an organization that provides mentoring and arts therapy programs for at-risk children throughout New York City.
Gallery co-founder Ray Cross was excited about the book’s launch and the opportunity to support an organization that provides arts education to children.
“The book is a good document of street art,” Cross said of Brooklyn Street Art, which photographed graffiti found in Williamsburg from the past year or two, some of which is no longer there.
“A lot of the graffiti has been destroyed,” said Cross. “I saw [contractors] rolling a building on Metropolitan Avenue over this beautiful mural that was there. It happens sometimes.”
For more information about Ad Hoc Art, visit www.adhocart.org.
