13 November 2020, London: This Autumn, Sotheby’s and Fai Khadra [@yourboyfai], creative director, multi-disciplinary artist, model and collector team up for this season’s ‘Contemporary Curated’, an online sale of artworks from the most established to the emerging generation of artists. Born in Los Angeles and raised between London and Dubai, Fai brings a fresh perspective to the ninth edition of this series in London.

With a degree in architecture, Fai bridges his own love for art and design with music and fashion, creating mesmeric stage design for the likes of Drake, Syd, Summer Walker, A$AP Ferg and Buddy, and collaborating with fashion houses including, Dior, Alexander Wang, Moncler and Louis Vuitton. A musician in his own right, Fai has also been featured on projects by Blood Orange.

The son of an art collector, Fai was exposed to the arts from a young age, always drawn to creators who have broken, merged and pushed the boundaries in some way – from Bruce Nauman to Kara Walker, Shigeko Kubota and Joseph Beuys, the latter of whom’s work will be offered as part of this auction. Describing himself as a “minimalist at heart”, artists like Donald Judd and Dan Flavin have taught Fai to be clear and concise both in his own work and life more broadly.

With the ‘Contemporary Curated’ auction, Fai hopes to open the door – even just a little bit – to a new and younger audience for whom, he has felt, the artworld can often feel exclusive, and urges them to view these works though his eyes. Looking to the artists presented in this sale, Fai highlights Ed Ruscha, Sam Francis, Bill Viola, Louise Bourgeois, Cindy Sherman, Andy Warhol and Gerhard Richter among those that are most influential to him. Free-spirited, playful and provocative, for Fai, these artists have helped sculpt the way we view and we think about art across history.

Speaking about the project and his passion for the arts, Fai said: “My love for art is something that came into my life at an early age. Having travelled and lived in different countries, I’ve been exposed to a multitude of artists, genres, mediums, you name it: from Islamic art to traditional Western art and finally contemporary art, which, for me, encompasses all the universes into one. I have always admired artworks and artists that challenge boundaries or provoke strong feelings. Artists that push me to reconsider the world it reflects or engages with, and I hope these pieces will similarly speak to all those who stand in front of them.

Great collections reflect the personality and life of great collectors and that is something I will always aspire to. I don’t believe an esteemed collection necessarily has to only comprise works by the giants of art history but by artists who offer a different perspective. With this sale I tried to include established, emerging and even new artists in hopes that it will give established and new collectors the opportunity to acquire pieces they might not have considered.”

Open for bidding from 17-24 November on sothebys.com, ‘Contemporary Curated’ features over 145 works. With both established and emerging collectors in mind, the auction includes pieces that open for bidding at £2,000, providing art lovers the opportunity to acquire accessibly priced works by leading and rising contemporary artists.

Fai Khadra will be participating in a live virtual discussion on contemporary art with artist Sterling Ruby in honour of the ‘Contemporary Curated’ auction and Phaidon’s ‘Contemporary Artists’ series. They will be joined in conversation with Commissioning Editor at Phaidon, Michele Rebecchi and Sotheby’s Ashkan Baghestani for the webinar on Wednesday 18 November at 6pm GMT. To tune in, visit Sothebys.com/Contemporary Conversations on the day.

‘Contemporary Curated’ joins over 280 online sales held by Sotheby’s since the first lockdown in March. Together, they have exceeded $400 million in sales this year, buoyed by an influx of new bidders and buyers. Today, 42% of participants in our online sales are new to the company and over a quarter of participants aged 40 or under.

This auction also follows hot on the heels of our major marquee live-streamed sales in New York, London and Paris last month, which brought the total for consolidated sales at Sotheby’s in October alone to over $1 billion.