Joy of Living Exhibition brings together leading designers

Somerset House will host a unique exhibition of artwork from over 100 leading designers from 15 to 21 March 2011.

More than 100 individual pieces of artwork will be exhibited in the Great Arch Lobby of Somerset House from 15 to 21 March, in a project created by Max Fraser, editor of the London Design Guide.

The designers, all recruited by Max, have been asked to use a single sheet of A4 graph paper to create artwork and designs that expresses the Joy of Living. The results are astonishingly creative and all the pieces on display will be available for people to buy, priced at £250 each, with the proceeds going to Maggie’s. The identity of the designer of each piece will be revealed after the exhibition has closed.

Max was inspired to create the event by his mother's experience of cancer: “After a very personal, emotional journey as I supported my mother through her 6-year battle with cancer, I vowed to contribute in some way to mankind’s fight against this disease. Maggie’s recognises that building an atmosphere of calm and celebrating a good quality of life are immensely beneficial to patients, and I know that my mother would have benefited so positively from its services."

Max hopes to raise £50,000 from the project from the sale of artwork and also from donations to the Joy of Living JustGiving page. The London Design Guide will award £1,000 to the designer who best responds to the Joy of Living brief, as selected by a jury including Claire Catterall (Curator, Somerset House), Marcus Fairs (Editor, Dezeen), Max Fraser, Charles Jencks, (Co-founder of Maggie’s) and Lynda Relph-Knight (Editor, Design Week). A further £500 award will be given to the designer of the most popular artwork, as chosen by a public vote.

The design on display have been submitted by a some of the highest profile designers in the UK including Terence Conran, Tom Dixon, Barber Osgerby, Sebastian Bergne, John Pawson, Tomoko Azumi, Daniel Eatock, Fredrikson Stallard, Martino Gamper, Rob Ryan, Stuart Haygarth, Michael Marriott, Max Lamb and many more

You can see a preview of the artworks on display on the Joy of Living website.

View the full press release.