For the past decade, artists and celebrities have been donating their back-of-an-envelope artwork to The National Brain Appeal's charity sale.
Over the years, buyers have snagged one of the anonymous pictures, only to discover it was by the likes of Sir Grayson Perry, Sir Anthony Gormley, or David Shrigley.
The 10th anniversary exhibition of A Letter in Mind includes original artwork by Sir Grayson, Gruffalo illustrator Axel Scheffler, and fashion designer Zandra Rhodes, alongside comedian Joe Lycett, Islington-based Sherlock star Mark Gatiss, and Highgate-born Oppenheimer director Christopher Nolan.
In fact a host of Islington, Crouch End and Muswell Hill artists are lending their support to the fundraiser, with 730 pieces on show at Gallery Different in Fitzrovia from October 24-28, and online sales going live at 11am on October 25.
Islington artists Chantal Joffe and Ishbel Myerscough have donated work on this year's theme of ‘Changing Perspectives,’ alongside Crouch End creatives Jo Angell, Sarah Barker Brown, Craig Barnard, Anne-Marie Butlin, Mark Entwisle, Julie Held, Russell Herron, and Matilda Swift-Barnard.
Meanwhile Muswell Hill’s Anita Mangan and Robert O’Hara from Archway have also donated work. All are priced at £85, with proceeds going towards the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in Queen Square, Bloomsbury.
Graphic designer and illustrator Anita Mangan has taken part every year since the exhibition started. She and her brother, the actor and presenter Stephen Mangan, are longstanding supporters of The National Brain Appeal after losing their dad James to brain cancer in 2005 and cousin Paul to the same disease in 2019.
Anita said: “I look forward to entering every year. I love seeing all the different entries on a single theme and using my skills to help raise money for this wonderful charity.”
Father and daughter Craig Barnard and Matilda Swift-Barnard have also taken part for several years. This year, Craig encouraged his friend Robert O’Hara, father of Wolf Alice singer and musician Ellie Rowsell, to get involved. Craig and Robert met at art college in the late 1970s and Robert has recently been reviving his artistic skills by designing t-shirts.
Mark Entwisle was a patient at the National Hospital where he was treated for a brain tumour in 2019 and said: “There’s no way I wouldn’t take part in A Letter in Mind now I know about this charity exhibition. I owe so much to the fantastic staff at the National Hospital and I love that I can do something positive to support them," he said.
Painter Julie Held also has personal reasons for supporting the charity. She lost her brother, political scientist Professor David Held, to brain cancer in 2019. Her two sisters, Veronica Held and Susan Usiskin MBE, have both had surgery at the National Hospital, where Susan is now an epilepsy counsellor.
"Taking part in The National Brain Appeal’s exhibition is so important and personal to me," she said. "The hospital has played such a central role in the lives of my family.”
It's the fourth year that Russell Herron, renowned for his incredible cardboard portrait drawings, has supported the event. Anne-Marie Butlin, known for her beautiful still-life paintings of flowers and portraits, is taking part for the first time this year, and it is the second year running for fellow Crouch End painter, Sarah Barker Brown.
Sarah, a figurative painter said both her uncle and aunt on her father’s side had different types of brain tumours.
"It really is a pleasure to create a painting for The National Brain Appeal and it was very exciting following the exhibition last year and discovering that my entry had sold."
A Letter in Mind previews online at aletterinmind.org and at Gallery Different, at 14 Percy Street, W1 from October 24, with online sales from 11am on October 25.
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