Ali Kazim, Untitled (Bird Hunter Series), 2024. Whitechapel Gallery Art Icon: Charity Online Auction.
Phillips is once again proud to partner with Whitechapel Gallery for its annual Art Icon Charity Auction — this year in tribute to 2025 honoree Doris Salcedo and benefitting Whitechapel’s pioneering education programs. Ahead of the auction, we caught up with four of the artists who have donated works to this year’s auction to hear about their works in the sale, what inspires them, and how they approach making art in 2025.
PHILLIPS: Tell us a bit about the work you’ve donated to the auction.
MICHELE FLETCHER: After a serious bicycle accident last year, which required surgery on my dominant arm, my painting practice became a vital part of my recovery, helping me regain strength and mobility. Crash is a reflection of that experience. Painted in December 2024, it also marks the completion of a new body of work for a solo show.
DANNY FOX: This painting was made last year at Porthmeor Studios in St. Ives. It was a good and productive time there, I made many paintings.
ALI KAZIM: This body of work is an outcome from a large scale work Conference of the Birds I've made in 2019. It was based on the poem Mantiq ut Tair by Farid u Din Attar (a Sufi poet from 12th century). In the poem a massive flock of birds took a flight to find the mythical bird Simorgh. On their quest many died of hunger, thirst, heat and some got hunted by the hunters. It made me think of Mohana community living on Mancher lake on floating homes in the Indus delta. Their livelihood is based on fishing and Siberian migratory birds who come to these warm waters during the winter. In a way this is a background of this work.
Ali Kazim. Photo courtesy of the artist.
STUDIO LENCA: My work is rooted in my experience of being undocumented. As a child, I crossed the border into the U.S. and lived "without papers." Now based in the UK, I find myself reflecting on the global discourse around migration and the ways our communities are increasingly fragmented — often while others tell our stories and create images of our community for us. Despite being one of the fastest-growing ethnic groups in the UK, the Latin American community remains largely invisible due to structural barriers. I’m fortunate to spend time in Elephant and Castle, a neighborhood with a vibrant South and Central American presence. Here, we have carved out spaces of belonging in cafés, markets, and restaurants — places where we connect, share, and build community.
The title of this painting, Cadena (Spanish for chain), reflects this sense of connection. Each figure in the painting wears a chain — gold and silver, symbols of cultural significance, often passed down through generations. These chains serve as a metaphor for the ways we find and link to one another in solidarity. This work is about reclaiming space with pride and confidence. The figures are loosely based on my friends and family — among them, my uncle Hernan, whose face is one of those depicted.
Studio Lenca. Photo credit: Kai Green, 2024.
Studio Lenca, Cadena (Chain), 2025. Whitechapel Gallery Art Icon: Charity Online Auction.
PHILLIPS: Where are you finding influence or inspiration at the moment? Songs, books, a particularly good meal, and the like.
DANNY FOX: I have two studios, one is big and spacious for making big paintings and sculptures, the other is a small room with a desk and all my books and a fireplace. At the moment I am very content in my small studio making small paintings, making lots of notes and drawings with music on or half an eye on a film, yes. Currently my "inspiration" is England.
STUDIO LENCA: I love visiting exhibitions. Recently, I went to the British Museum to see Hew Locke’s work and to the Barbican’s The Imaginary Institution of India — both of which confront complex histories and examine how we can unravel colonial dominance. I also travel back to El Salvador often to learn from artists in the country I fled.
MICHELE FLETCHER: Time at my allotment and in my garden nurtures both mind body and my painting practice. My work is shaped by the cycles of growth, decay, and renewal, as seen in vegetation and the changing seasons. Painting for me is intuitive and rhythmic, with gesture and movement leading the process. In a way, it mirrors the act of gardening. Like tending to plants, I push, pull, and manipulate materials on the canvas, letting light, colour, and form take on life of their own.
ALI KAZIM: I love walking around on the ancient Harrapan sites near Lahore. Other than that, these days I’m looking at a biography of Nainsukh, a Pahari school miniaturist from the 17th century.
PHILLIPS: Do you look to the broader cultural landscape in your practice? Or better yet: How do you find a balance between focus and connection?
STUDIO LENCA: I enjoy working with communities. For nearly a decade, I was a secondary school art teacher in South East London — a role that pushed me to think beyond myself and my studio practice. Now, in my own work, I constantly ask how it can contribute to existing knowledge or amplify the voices of undocumented and marginalized communities. For example, I recently created an installation with the Kent Refugee Action Network, an incredible charity that supports unaccompanied minors arriving in Kent.
MICHELE FLETCHER: Through the nomadic platform Kafka Projects, I have organized a series of peer-focused group exhibitions, bringing together artists from diverse generations and practices. I find great fulfillment in creating spaces for dialogue and collaboration, fostering new connections and opportunities.
DANNY FOX: I live and work in Cornwall so I am far the distractions of the cultural landscape. The challenge for me has always been to find a balance between my work and anything else which I have repeatedly failed to do.
Danny Fox. Photo by Ed Phillips.
Danny Fox, Rider with Scarf, 2023. Whitechapel Gallery Art Icon: Charity Online Auction.
PHILLIPS: Tell us about a memorable show or project in your career thus far.
ALI KAZIM: I enjoyed my residency then a solo show at Suspended in Time at the Ashmolean Museum.
STUDIO LENCA: My solo show at the Parrish Art Museum in New York was a memorable experience. I presented an installation of woodcut figures co-created with a union of low-wage migrant workers as a way to engage the community. It was incredible to hear that many visitors were stepping into the gallery for the first time — seeing their own stories reflected in the space. Through this experience, I came to understand how universal it is to feel excluded or marginalized by cultural institutions.
DANNY FOX: My first show in London in 2007: it was a very small gallery which was also someone’s flat in east London. I remember nobody came to the opening, it was just the gallerist, my girlfriend at the time and myself. I was living with the girlfriend and I remember her driving us back to her apartment in silence afterwards. This is why most people give up.
MICHELE FLETCHER: On January 15th of this year, my solo show Aftertime opened at White Cube in Hong Kong. Presenting my work in such an extraordinary space and city was was an unforgettable experience and allowed me to explore new directions and scale in my painting.
Michele Fletcher. Image courtesy of the artist.
Michele Fletcher, Crash, 2024. Whitechapel Gallery Art Icon: Charity Online Auction.
PHILLIPS: How did your relationship with Whitechapel begin? Had you been to any previous exhibitions?
ALI KAZIM: It started in 2005 when I first came to the UK. Since then, whenever I’m in London I have to visit the gallery and the book shop. I really enjoyed Sarah Lucas and Kader Attia’s show at the gallery.
DANNY FOX: I have been to many exhibitions at the Whitechapel gallery. It is a high quality establishment.
STUDIO LENCA: During my MA in Arts & Learning at Goldsmiths University, I had the opportunity to explore the gallery’s archive. I was struck by how deeply education and community were embedded in the institution’s core values. I also love the gallery’s location — the market, in many ways, reminds me of home.
MICHELE FLETCHER: My first encounter with the Whitechapel Gallery was in 2000 through two exhibitions: Protest and Survive and Live in Your Head. Shortly after, while studying at Goldsmiths, I began working there. Over the next 15 years, I took on various roles at the gallery, an experience I consider an integral part of my art education. The building itself feels woven into my DNA.
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Auction Information /
Online Auction 26 February 2025 - 5 March 2025
Viewing 28 February - 5 March
Friday-Sunday 11:00am-6:00pm
Tuesday-Wednesday 11:00am-6:00pm
Viewing Location
Whitechapel Gallery
London E1 7QX
United Kingdom
Opening 12:00pm GMT
26 February 2025
Closing 2:00pm GMT
5 March 2025
The proceeds from the sale of artworks will directly support the Whitechapel Gallery’s Exhibition and Participation Programme. This vital funding helps to nurture artists, amplify diverse voices, and create opportunities for audiences of all backgrounds to engage with, and learn from, bold and inspiring art. The auction is held alongside Whitechapel Gallery's annual Art Icon Gala, which in 2025 honours Doris Salcedo.