As 7.2 million people in the UK experience food poverty and a mental health crisis grows,The Nice Co. returns with a new art fundraiser for Bow Foodbank and grief support mental health charity The New Normal presenting some of the most exciting new contemporary art in London. The Nice Co.’s last exhibition raised £35,000 for charity.
Over 20 artists are taking part in theBE NIC Eexhibition. Pioneering light artist Chris Levine is best known for his iconic light portraits of Queen Elizabeth II which went onto be issued as £100 bank notes and are now found in the National Portrait Gallery whohailed the seminal portraits as“the most evocative image of a royal by any artist.”Levine’sother sitters include Kate Moss and Grace Jones.
Levinefeatures alongside Jelly Green, the artist behind Ed Sheeran’s–album cover(2023) and a protégée of beloved painter Maggi Hambling
Graphic artist Anthony Burrill’s piecescan be found in the permanent collections of the V&A and The Design Museum. Burrill brings his instantly recognisable work to BE NICE.
21-year-oldEast London-bornuniversity student Isaac Andrews has already createdartfor Converse, Mui Mui and won praise from Dazed, i-D, Hypebeast and HarryLambert, the stylist to Harry Styles and contributing Vogue editor who told the EveningStandard“I’ve already fallen in love with so many of Isaac Andrews’ works.”
Viral model turned artsensationCharlotte Rosefeatures in the exhibition with hersignatureirreverentpop art painting.Theself-taught London artisthas built up anInstagram following of over 430kfollowerssince the global pandemic,when she firstbegancreating work.
Multi-award-winning artistOwen Gildersleevecreates beautifully intricate handcraftedgraphics mostly made from paper illustrations. ArtistLauren Baker’s unwaveringcommitment to environmental issues comes through in her work which has taken theform of interactive instillations at Burning Man festival, the V&A, Tate Modern, and theVenice Biennale. Lauren’s work alone has raised over £100,000 for charity.
Bow Foodbank offer emergency food aid in East Londonto those in crisis due tofinancial difficulty. Bow Foodbank’s open-door policy offers emergency help withoutasking for vouchers or referral. The foodbank’s work reaches people who may not meetthe criteria for other foodbanks.Bow Foodbank is in Tower Hamlets, the mostimpoverished borough in London with the highest child poverty rate in the UK, with48%of local children living in poverty(source: Trust for London).Bow Foodbankdelivers over 600,000 meals a year through their food packages.
Mental health charity The New Normal offers free and accessible grief support forall.The charity was started by Londoners Ben and Jack who met when Jack went forahaircut in Ben’s barbershop.Jack says“Two years after the loss of my Dad, Dave, Iwalked into Ben’s shop in London. He told me that his Dad, Steve, was dying of a braintumour. We continued to see each other away from the barber chair, nurturing a newfriendship whilst talking about our dads.”Those conversations became a global charitythat has nowdelivered grief support to over 10,000 people.
Also featuring in the show areNick Grindrod,Ant Carver,Liza Giles,Melanie Berman,Jo Hummel,Jonathan Lewes,Charlie Haydn Taylor,Georgia Beaumont,BeatriceHasell-McCosh,David Ian Brown,Oliver Lunn,Paige Perkinsanda selection of piecescurated by leading galleryRhodes Contemporary.
The Nice Co.was founded by Marc Duvivier and Sophie Matthews in2023 to help makea small difference to the most marginalised in society, by putting on art exhibitions toraise funds for grassroots charities, that make a real difference to those that need itmost. The inaugural BE NICE exhibition in December 2023, raised £35,000 for theChildhood Trust, distributed to charities, Bow Foodbank, CityGateway, Harrow Club,Little Village, The Dalgarno Trust and Up n Away.
The Nice Co.presents BE NICE at Noho Studios, London 7–11 May 2025, fundraising for Bow Foodbank and The New Normal.