Curated by writer, editor and broadcaster Francesca Gavin, THE HEAD is The Stand’s second sale previewing online on Monday 6 September.

With a career spanning over 15 years Francesca Gavin is a trusted authority within the contemporary art world, and has worked with some of the most exciting rising stars working today. Gavin shares this knowledge and expertise in an auction which explores contemporary artists continued fascination with and exploration of the head.

THE HEAD is inspired by The Head of a Philosopher, a bronze sculpture that was discovered on a shipwreck in 1969 in the straits of Messina. Artworks range from a brand new painting, The Curious Being, by Matthias Bitzer, busts by Steve Claydon which were previously exhibited on the High Line, New York NY, a print by pioneer of new media, Lynn Hershman Leeson and a painting of Paris Hilton’s sperm donor by Michael Fullerton. Estimates range from £2,000 to £35,000.

The depiction of the head is one of the oldest tropes in art history, a fundamental element in Ancient Egyptian, Chinese and Hellenistic sculpture and painting. The head is intertwined with ideas around power, politics, beauty, class, and intimacy. Francesca Gavin’s auction looks at how contemporary artists depict the head and how it reflects changes in society, philosophy, psychology, and centrally, art itself.

The Head of a Philosopher dating to around the fifth century, is a disembodied face of a man with an abundant curly beard which was discovered alongside a battered cloak and hand. The fragment, which is housed in the Museo Nazionale della Magna Grecia in Calabria, has lost its wreath and the hair on the back of its head. Its left eye is an empty hole. This object is an apt metaphor for contemporary art’s take on the human head – thoughtful, beautiful, battered, ruined – and a reference for Gavin when composing the auction and selecting the artists.

The full list of artists include, Hannah Bays, Matthias Bitzer, Appau Junior Boakye-Yiadom, Shary Boyle and Lido Pimienta, Mike Bouchet, Steven Claydon, Aleksandra Domanovic, Stephen Dunne, Celia Hempton, Tom Ellis, Michael Fullerton, Peter Funch, Emma Kohlmann, Phillip Groezinger, Lynn Hershman Leeson, Paul McDevitt, Lindsey Mendick, David Noonan, Seb Patane, Luke Rudolf, Francis Ruyter and Johnathan Yeo.

Francesca Gavin is a writer, editor and curator based in London and Vienna with a career that spans over 15 years. Francesca Gavin co-curated the Manifesta 11 The European Biennial of Contemporary Art in 2016 and numerous exhibitions worldwide including exhibitions at Somerset House, London, Palais de Tokyo, Paris and beyond. Francesca is Editor of LIMBO and Contributing Editor of How to Spend It magazine at The Financial Times, Twin, Kaleidoscope and Beauty Papers, whilst contributing to numerous digital and in print publications. She is the author of 8 books including 100 New Artists. Francesca has her own radio show Rough Version on NTS where she talks to contemporary artists about their work and music.