Fancy buying an artwork by the Edge?

By Ellen O'Regan

What makes this art sale unique is the fact that the identity of the artists behind each painting is kept top secret until the sale has closed.

There will be over 3,000 original postcard sized artworks for sale in what is Ireland’s largest online public art exhibition. The artworks are €60 each and are in a range of mediums from oils and pastels to glass and metalwork.

Among the Cork artists taking part are Tom Climent from Blackrock, Sinead Barrett and Éadaoin Glynn from Douglas, and Angie Shanahan, Shane O’Driscoll and Peter Buckley from Cork city.

Some of the famous national and international faces taking part this year are U2’s The Edge, Bob Geldof, fashion designer Paul Costelloe, comedians Jason Byrne and Tommy Tiernan, artist Don Conroy and Nobel prize winner Dr William Campbell.

Now in its fifth year, Incognito has raised almost €450,000 for Jack & Jill’s home nursing care for children with highly complex medical conditions, including end-of-life care. This equates to more than 28,000 hours of specialist home nursing care provided by Jack & Jill nurses and carers across the country.

“We are so very grateful to each of our artists from Cork who have shared their talents with us and given their art for free. It is a huge tribute to their generosity of time and spirit following what has been an extremely difficult period for the arts world,” said curator of Incognito, Lucinda Hall.

For Carmel Doyle, CEO of the Jack & Jill Children’s Foundation, Incognito is a vital fundraiser for the charity, especially this year.

“Each year, Jack & Jill has to raise over €4 million to continue doing what we do supporting families to look after their sick children at home, where they belong. Less than 20 per cent of our funding comes from Government, and with Covid-19 continuing to restrict our public-facing fundraising and our charity shops still closed, we are relying hugely on the generosity and support of the public for Incognito 2021,” she said.

“Each piece sold translates into almost four hours of specialist home nursing care for local children, turning this beautiful art into a real currency for care.”

The Incognito art collection can be viewed now at www.incognito.ie, and the online art sale takes place on Thursday 22 April at 10am.

Buyers are advised to register online in advance at incognito.ie, and to log in on time on the morning of the sale, prepared for a sprint to the checkout – everything last year sold out in just 15 minutes!