EARLY SACHA JAFRI WORKS MAKE PUBLIC SALE DEBUT THROUGH NEW PURPOSE-LED GALLERY, “CHIAROSCURO”

EDITORIAL TEAM
April 15, 2026
Art

ANTHONY LISTER & AIDEN PHELAN AMONGST ARTISTS OFFERING ART TO FUND ADDICTION RECOVERY

Some of the earliest known, seldom seen works by world-renowned contemporary British artist Sacha Jafri are set to go on public view and sale for the first time through Chiaroscuro, a new purpose-led gallery and bold cultural initiative raising vital funds for UK-based addiction recovery centres. The unique triptych series is being unveiled by Clinton Pugh – father of actress, Florence Pugh and actor and musician Toby Sebastian – who has held the pieces within his private collection for almost 30 years.

Regarded by collectors as a significant example from Jafri’s formative period, the works will form part of Chiaroscuro’s inaugural four-day exhibition at London’s The Marylebone Gallery from 23^rd – 26^th April, before being released for wider acquisition through its digital platform, chiaroscuroart.gallery. The unprecedented public access to Sacha Jafri’s work is set to cause a stir, with the notoriously selective artist reportedly declining 99% of prospective buyers to preserve the value and integrity of his art, with around 150 potential buyers on a waiting list.

Alongside the Jafri works, artists including dynamic Australian contemporary artist, Anthony Lister, and Irish contemporary artist Aiden Phelan are donating new and original artworks to support Chiaroscuro’s mission of raising funds for addiction recovery services across the UK. Proceeds from the initiative will initially support the peer-led rehabilitation organisation The Dynamo Project, helping expand access to its treatment and long-term recovery programmes.

Known for his record-breaking ‘magical realist’ canvases – including The Journey of Humanity the world’s largest painting on canvas (17,176 sq feet) which sold for $62 million (£45 million) at auction in Dubai in 2021 – Sacha Jafri is one of the most expensive living artists. Collectors of his work include Barack Obama, George Clooney, Bill Gates, Madonna, David Beckham, the British royal family and the UAE royal family. Oxford-based restaurateur Clinton Pugh acquired the paintings in 1998 from the then-unknown artist shortly after he graduated from Oxford University’s prestigious Ruskin School of Art, where he had spent three-years creating the works for his degree show.

Influenced by Jafri’s readings of Franz Kafka, the three-piece series loosely depicts a human passing through a vortex into a transitional world, seeking connection with a higher frequency energy. As Jafri’s earliest known works, the paintings are expected to attract significant interest. In 2025, Jafri revealed that his most lucrative privately-sold piece – a painting celebrating the career of David Beckham – sold for $1.4 million.

Having been held in Pugh’s private collection for 28 years, he is putting the series up for public sale and chose Chiaroscuro’s purpose-led model so that the works could contribute to a broader social impact – helping to raise funds for addiction treatment centres so that others can benefit.

Clinton Pugh said: “For nearly three decades, these paintings have been a constant source of joy for my family and me. Getting to know Sacha personally over that time has only deepened my admiration – not just for his extraordinary talent, but for his tireless dedication to charitable causes. He is truly a remarkable human being. In that spirit, it feels only right to give something back and serve a greater purpose, and I can think of no better platform than Chiaroscuro in support of The Dynamo Project.”

Artist Contributions

Consistently hailed as Australia’s most influential contemporary artist, Anthony Lister has built an international reputation for redefining the boundaries between street art and fine art. For Chiaroscuro, Lister presents three works through which he explores the tension between desire, excess, and psychological constraint. The first depicts a figure surrounded by beauty and abundance yet weighed down by the emptiness that can accompany excess and expectation. This is echoed in the second work, where a subject appears trapped within cycles of dependency—visible yet internally isolated, caught between habit and self-awareness. The third draws on the allegory of the Garden of Eden, framing addiction as a timeless human condition—both seductive and destructive—balancing themes of temptation, duality, and consequence.

Renowned for his raw figurative style and unflinching exploration of pressure, visibility and the human condition, Lister’s work spans painting, printmaking, and public-space intervention. While often aligned with the disruptive ethos of Banksy, Lister’s work is set apart by its visceral, painterly intensity and its ongoing interrogation of authorship, presence, and identity within contemporary culture.

Contemporary artist Aiden Phelan has created a brand new work, exclusively for Chiaroscuro while undertaking a personal challenge to spend 180 days in isolation – painting – on an island in the Outer Hebrides as part of a feature-length documentary being made by award-winning British filmmaker Charlie Lightening. Alongside this piece, Phelan has contributed several works from his powerful and deeply personal body of work ‘War Child’, a sequel to his sold-out Reflections of a Broken Mirror series. The never-before-exhibited works focus on the human cost of conflict, particularly the experiences of children affected by war and displacement.

A New Model For Purpose-Led Art

The launch of Chiaroscuro is set to redefine the future of ethical art commerce. The hybrid physical and online exhibition will present a curated selection of original artworks by emerging, established, and critically acclaimed artists. From prolific street artist and political activist, Banksy, to mixed media contemporary pop artist, JJ Adams, portrait artist and sculptor Paul Oz, contemporary figurative painter, Ben Jeffrey and the late modern surrealist painter, Paul Karslake.

Each work will feature a guide price, enabling collectors to make offers and negotiate transparently in real time. Limited-edition print runs will also be commissioned to create accessible entry points for collectors. Harnessing the power of art for social good, 20% of all profit will be directed to recovery programmes run by The Dynamo Project.

Creativity and Addiction

Chiaroscuro, which takes its name from the artistic principle of light and shadow, is a contrast that reflects not only the works we exhibit, but the journeys behind them. The correlation between creativity and addiction, particularly alcohol and substance misuse, has long been recognised. Throughout history, renowned visual artists – from Jackson Pollock to Vincent van Gogh, Andy Warhol, and Egon Schiele – have struggled with addition, reinforcing the enduring stereotype of the “tortured artist”.

Today addiction remains a major public health crisis in the UK. Government data shows that more than 329,000 adults were in contact with drug and alcohol treatment services in England during 2024–25, yet the majority of people with dependency never receive specialist support. Parliamentary evidence suggest that as many as 82% of people dependent on alcohol are not in treatment, exposing a critical gap between need and access.²,³

Research has also shown that visual artists face distinct pressures that can increase vulnerability to addiction and psychological distress. Studies comparing art students with non-artists found significantly higher levels of substance use and psychological symptoms among those studying visual arts.⁴⁵ while broader academic reviews indicate that highly creative individuals may constitute a high-risk group for mood disorders and addiction.⁶

About The Dynamo Project

Founded by Kieran O’Toole following his own decade-long experience with addiction, The Dynamo Project is an independent, not-for-profit charity based in Coventry. Staffed and run by people in recovery, it offers a distinctive peer-led model grounded in lived experience. Its name—Dedicate Yourself Now And Miracles Occur—reflects an ethos of accountability, compassion, and transformation. Built around four core pillars—health, home, community, and purpose—the charity provides accommodation, holistic wellbeing support, and long-term recovery pathways for individuals and families affected by addiction.

Kieran O’Toole, Founder and Managing Director, The Dynamo Project, added: “The Dynamo Project was born out of my own experience with addiction and the struggle to find a way out of it. What changed things for me was finding purpose — something that gave me the focus to keep going — and that’s what we aim to offer others through our peer-led approach. Partnerships like this with Chiaroscuro are vital because they allow us to reach more people who feel alone and without options, while also challenging stigma and raising awareness. Addiction doesn’t define you — but with the right support, people can rebuild their lives, and this collaboration helps us continue to make that possible.”

Sara Ezen, Founder, Chiaroscuro. added: “Chiaroscuro was created to challenge the traditional art world model and prove that art can be both culturally powerful and socially purposeful. We wanted to build a platform where exceptional artists and collectors could come together to create meaningful impact — not just value.

We’re incredibly proud to be working with such talented, world-leading artists. They each bring something unique to the project and share our vision in helping to drive meaningful change. There’s a long-standing connection between creativity and addiction, yet access to recovery remains far too limited. That’s why partnering with The Dynamo Project was so important to us — their peer-led approach and lived experience are transforming lives every day.”

For more information, please visit chiaroscuroart.gallery / https://chiaroscuroart.gallery