Sixteen important UK artists have each made a new signed, limited edition print that they have generously donated to The Help Portfolio 2020. All profits from the sale of this boxed collection will be donated to sixteen charities, each one selected by the artists involved, including Paintings in Hospitals!

The coronavirus pandemic has affected charities and the people we support in numerous, unprecedented ways. For Paintings in Hospitals, the restrictions around COVID-19 have meant that we have had to completely change the way we work. To protect vulnerable patients, residents and carers from the virus, we have been unable to reach them in person to co-curate exhibitions and provide creative arts workshops as we usually would. But these isolated people, experiencing anxiety and loneliness, are exactly who we need to support at this incredibly difficult time. We have been working hard with limited resources to launch new digital and remote arts projects for people to use and experience while in care, such as our Healthcare Heroes virtual exhibition with Google Arts & Culture and our free Creative Care Homes activity guide.

We are immensely grateful that our artist patron Ian Davenport has selected Paintings in Hospitals as his charity to support through The Help Portfolio and his beautiful signature abstract print, aptly titled Uplift. With funds raised through sales of the print portfolio, we will be able to reach so many more people in isolation with art and creativity. In what can be dark, dull, and lonely times, we will be able to bring them colour, connection, and inspiration.

Ian Davenport, Uplift, 2020

The other works in The Help Portfolio cover a wide range of mediums, themes and imagery. Michael Craig-Martin has created a screenprint depicting gerbera flowers in his characteristic bold, iconic style. Yinka Shonibare CBE incorporates gold leaf into his print to illustrate a symbolic tulip that sits under the words ‘Thank you’. Sue Arrowsmith's copper leafed print resonates with green ink that changes in the light. Paul Winstanley offers us a lily, a symbol of hope. Nicky Hirst's print is taken from her Elemental Works, an ongoing series of found objects and paired pages from books and magazines. Mathew Weir's delicate still life entitled The Watching Hour is brought to life with snippets of glow-in-the-dark ink. Paul Morrison's Night Pond is a debossed version of a signature black and white image and Elizabeth McGill captures an evocative landscape.

Annie Morris, who often draws on the history of art, presents Flower Woman (after Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe). A portrait of the Dali Lama realised in glow-in-the-dark inks by Chris Levine is entitled Compassion. Jake and Dinos Chapman's smiley face is illustrated in glitter in three different colours. Idris Khan has obscured the notations on a sheet of music with densely applied areas of blue to make a work entitled Four Bar Rhythm. Paul McDevitt presents an interpretation of a brick wall and No consequence by Remi Rough is printed directly onto plywood.

Margaret Calvert, Help, 2020

The collection of prints is presented in a portfolio box, featuring a cover designed by the iconic British graphic designer Margaret Calvert. Best known for designing the UK’s road signing system, Calvert designed the Help logo, which also appears as a print in the portfolio.

The collective spirit of the artists working together mirrors the conception of The Help Portfolio. The idea of sixteen artists and sixteen charities was conceived and developed during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown by artist Sue Arrowsmith, collector Christian Mathews, Director of Jealous Gallery and Print Studio Dario Illari and Director of Cristea Roberts Gallery, David Cleaton-Roberts.

Paintings in Hospitals would like to say a huge 'thank you' to everyone involved in the creation of The Help Portfolio. This year has been difficult for us all but this show of support and the funds raised will do so much for all 16 charities and the people they help every day.

The portfolio is available to purchase online now from jealousgallery.com.