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Evening Standard London's quality newspaper Tracey Moberly £35,000 auction to boost Mayor's war chest Tuesday 4 March 2008

KEN LIVINGSTONE hopes to raise more than £35,000 for his re-election campaign from an art auction. Contemporary painters and sculptors including Banksy, Richard Hamilton, Mona Hatoum and Marc Quinn donated pieces to the Mayor. Mr Livingstone is expected to attend the event at The Aquarium Gallery in Farringdon on Thursday. Those with work going under hammer include two former Turner Prize winners - Antony Gormley and Jeremy Deller - and three artists competing for their work to go on the fourth plinth in Trafalfar Square. Photographers Peter Kennard and Cat Picton Phillipps have donated a print of a grinning Tony Blair snapping himself on his mobile phone while Iraq burns in the background and one of Gordon Brown waIking down the steps of No 10 onto the proposed third runway at Heathrow. The occasion will be more glamorous than the Mayor's previous fund-raisers, which include a £20-a-head fish-and-chip dinner. He said: "Many of the artists who are making London a world leader in the field of visual arts have made a practical contribution to keep great assets and I am grateful for the support of so many of them to help in this election." The website for the auction, www.artbid4ken.org.uk, estimates that two of the works - Gormley's Little Clearing 3 and Jo Wonder's Heartbeat will go for £5,000 each, while Colin McMaster's Nude #4 (Marlene) should raise £4,000. However, bidders could pick up original artworks for a few hundred pounds - a silver bullet by Tracey Moberly in support of a gun amnesty could go for around £100 while a signed poster by Richard Hamilton, designed as part of the successful free museums campaign, could reach £200.