In August 2021, Paul Roberts curated a very special and unique group exhibition entitled ‘This One’s For You’, with over 120 artists painting a ‘Kidney’ to raise money for the Renal Transplant Fund for the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham.
The exhibition included over 120 artists’ pieces, with a mixture of illustrators, painters and street artists, amongst others, submitting original kidney-shaped art pieces for the exhibition. The pieces in this incredible exhibition could then be purchased, to raise money for the Renal Transplant Fund at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
‘This One’s For You’ has personal roots for Paul, who sadly lost his Dad back in January 2020 to a rare form of pneumonia. Paul’s dad had suffered with various illnesses, which resulted in kidney failure in the early 2000’s. However, in 2012 Paul’s Dad received a kidney transplant, donated by his sister, at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, which significantly prolonged his life. Following this, Paul decided he wanted to raise awareness and support this department at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. This was the reason for the kidneys being painted, the money being raised for the Renal Transplant Fund and for such a unique and exciting group exhibition.
At the opening event, numerous artists themselves were in attendance to see the wide variety of artwork on display. The artist Pahnl, who had worked on the piece featured, expressed, “Hearing Paul’s backstory about his dad certainly resonates with me as well. It’s obviously tragic, but it’s nice he can get this kidney silver-lining out of it, whilst raising some money for a good cause. My Mum at the moment has been through kidney stuff, waiting for a transplant, so this is close to me as well. The proceeds from our piece are going to go to the Charity as well. It’s just a really great show.”
Paul says, “With the show being so personal to me, it has been great to hear other people’s stories that are so close to their heart too. I felt that being a part of every aspect of the exhibition from producing the kidneys personally to inviting artists that inspire me would mean even more to my Dad.”
The event was a roaring success, with everyone in attendance amazed and touched by the incredible artwork, with over 40 pieces sold during the show.
Paul has already raised around £5,000 with over 70 out of 125 kidneys being sold. That means there are still a few incredible kidney pieces still available, looking for a good home.
This shop will be closing Sunday 10th October 2021 at midnight, so to get your hands on one of these amazing art pieces, you’ve got to be quick. You can browse all the artwork on Instagram @tofyexhibition and are available to purchase here – https://tofy.bigcartel.com/.
