The issue of food poverty is not going away. Several governments have come and gone, yet the issue of UK poverty for over 7 million people remains as devastating as ever. For the 2025 fundraiser 20 artists have contributed works to support the Bow foodbank and grief charity The New Normal. The last event raised £35,000 and with luck this years show will reach a wider audience of art collectors and those with the ability to make the changes to tackle the issue faced by 11% of the UK population.
House of Commons Data on Food Poverty
Trussell Trust
BE NICE Noho fundraiser exhibition notes
Over 20 artists are taking part in the BE NICE exhibition. Pioneering light artist Chris Levine is best known for his iconic light portraits of Queen Elizabeth II which went on to be issued as £100 bank notes and are now found in the National Portrait Gallery who hailed the seminal portraits as “the most evocative image of a royal by any artist.” Levine’s other sitters include Kate Moss and Grace Jones.
Levine features 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 pieces can be found in the permanent collections of the V&A and The Design Museum. Burrill brings his instantly recognisable work to BE NICE.
Isaac Andrews ‘After The Bride’ oil on canvas 2024. Isaac Andrews in his East London studio.
21-year-old East London-born university student Isaac Andrews has already created art for Converse, Mui Mui and won praise from Dazed, i-D, Hypebeast and Harry Lambert, the stylist to Harry Styles and contributing Vogue editor who told the Evening Standard “I’ve already fallen in love with so many of Isaac Andrews’ works.”
Viral model turned art sensation Charlotte Rose features in the exhibition with her signature irreverent pop art painting. The self-taught London artist has built up an Instagram following of over 430k followers since the global pandemic, when she first began creating work.
Multi-award-winning artist Owen Gildersleeve creates beautifully intricate handcrafted graphics mostly made from paper illustrations. Artist Lauren Baker’s unwavering commitment to environmental issues comes through in her work which has taken the form of interactive instillations at Burning Man festival, the V&A, Tate Modern, and the Venice Biennale. Lauren’s work alone has raised over £100,000 for charity.
Bow Foodbank offer emergency food aid in East London to those in crisis due to financial difficulty. Bow Foodbank’s open-door policy offers emergency help without asking for vouchers or referral. The foodbank’s work reaches people who may not meet the criteria for other foodbanks. Bow Foodbank is in Tower Hamlets, the most impoverished borough in London with the highest child poverty rate in the UK, with 48% of local children living in poverty (source: Trust for London). Bow Foodbank delivers over 600,000 meals a year through their food packages.
Mental health charity The New Normal offers free and accessible grief support for all. The charity was started by Londoners Ben and Jack who met when Jack went for a haircut in Ben’s barbershop. Jack says “Two years after the loss of my Dad, Dave, I walked into Ben’s shop in London. He told me that his Dad, Steve, was dying of a brain tumour. We continued to see each other away from the barber chair, nurturing a new friendship whilst talking about our dads.” Those conversations became a global charity that has now delivered grief support to over 10,000 people.
Also featuring in the show are Nick Grindrod, Ant Carver, Liza Giles, Melanie Berman, Jo Hummel, Jonathan Lewes, Charlie Haydn Taylor, Georgia Beaumont, Beatrice Hasell-McCosh, David Ian Brown, Oliver Lunn, Paige Perkins and a selection of pieces curated by leading gallery Rhodes Contemporary.
The Nice Co. was founded by Marc Duvivier and Sophie Matthews in 2023 to help make a small difference to the most marginalised in society, by putting on art exhibitions to raise funds for grassroots charities, that make a real difference to those that need it most. The inaugural BE NICE exhibition in December 2023, raised £35,000 for the Childhood Trust, distributed to charities, Bow Foodbank, City Gateway, 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.
BE NICE
Wednesday 7 – Sunday 11 May 2025
Noho Studios, 46 Great Titchfield Street, London, W1W 7PT
The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance. – Aristotle
