The (fine) Art of Disruption

By Lizzy Dent for Verve Magazine

March 2020

To an outsider, the art world is exclusionary.  Great white walled, polished floor galleries and huge price tags intimidate the art-curious, and artists are largely kept away from the front lines. And, when most other sectors are working hard to diversify, many segments of the art market continue to be built upon the networks of the rich. So in 2012 when Aimée Ralfini launched herself into the New Zealand art scene with new, more inclusive take, her fresh approach caused such disruption, it left traditionalists struggling to catch up.

At a time when most artists and galleries were not properly utilising social media, Ralfini created the art activation model Art Ache, that centred around the cross-platform promotion via social media and press. She wrapped local artists in fully-fledged creative campaigns, applying all that she’d learnt from decades in the media industry to Fine Art.

“I looked at the art scene as it was back then, and thought things need to be way cooler …  So I began researching, sharing art to social media, I created the ELAM THE 90’s group, and went nuts posting art. One thing lead to another and before too long I was hosting art events at pubs.

We’d sell little studio works at low prices, people loved the direct connection with the artists in such a personal setting, they loved fossicking through the various studies and test-works the artists made available, I soon partnered with The Golden Dawn on Ponsonby (RIP) and started interviewing artists on the radio and it just built from there.”

Fast forward 8 years and Ralfini has held 22 art activations which range from events to billboard campaigns up and down the country. She paved the way for many artists on social channels through her own fearlessness, she made art radio genuinely entertaining and has interviewed and worked with many of Aotearoa’s top creative talent in the visual arts sector.

So how has the scene changed since?

“It’s changed a lot. Artists are comfortable and active on social media, Dealer galleries work harder for their artists, they reach out to press and are way more supportive towards each other, building a stronger community…” but there are still problems, she says,

…Professional wages are scarce to come by, making jobs only sustainable to those with additional support. There is a great divide between the boomer artists and everyone else, greed over art motivates some of the more established gallerists, who behave unethically, absorb Creative New Zealand money to advance their business’s and sabotage grass root initiatives. The secondary art market doesn’t give back to the wider art community which they profit off 100%.”

While some steps have been made to address funding issues, Ralfini believes the overall problem remains the same; most skilled experienced professionals simply can’t afford to work full-time in the arts, leaving start-up creative hubs wide open to poor management and a short shelf life, which invariably leads to a wasted return on investment for everyone involved.

Ralfini finds this frustrating. The contribution Art Ache has made to Auckland’s art sector and the wider grass-roots arts scene across New Zealand is quantifiable to over $1m, yet in the 8 years it has been running It has received less than $10k worth of funding, none of which was from Creative New Zealand.

“Culture doesn’t pay the rent (especially in Auckland). So the cycle repeats and the arts fall back into the hands of the rich. “

While Art Ache has been tough but rewarding, the project has helped Ralfini fortify strengths as a creative director, “I’ve learnt I’m much happier directing creatives, for me, translating an artist’s work into a campaign is my art. I much prefer painting the city with other people’s work, which the recent digital Billboard campaigns have allowed me to do. I like the idea of the city scape being a gallery that everyone can enjoy.”

And in the end, it’s liberating Art from its financial and social barriers, onto the streets and into people’s hearts that was always the main goal for Ralfini. Something her disruptive approach has helped achieve through Art Ache and the wider art community.

“I truly believe artists are the litmus paper of society, they feel things so deeply, they are curious and brave, and it is important that as a society we enable them to explore. I personally know of the ability art has to heal, and connect people, something that during these illuminated times is needed more than ever.”

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Aimée Ralfini is a graduate of Elam School of Fine Arts and a regular contributor to Verves Monthly art guide. Art Ache regularly podcasts to iTunes and Spotify. For more info visit artache.com

More Info / on Aimee Ralfini / article source.

Art Ache podcasts on iTunes / Spotify

MARIE SHANNON

LOVE OUT LOUD

An essay by Kelly Carmichael about Marie Shannons 2019 Digital Billboard campaign

Picasso famously declared “Sex and art are the same things”, and if you reflect on recent art history you might well agree. Indeed, untrammeled affairs and dangerous sexual frisson seemed to fuel the 20th-century avant-garde.

But what about love? What about art created not from tumultuous desire but instead from intimacy in all its different forms – romantic love, or the love between parent and child?

This is the subject of a 2005 photographic series titled Love Notes by artist Marie Shannon.

Moving around Auckland in July 2019 are electronic billboards featuring five images from the Love Notes series, tender communications between Marie Shannon and her late husband the artist Julian Dashper. Originally conceived as unique, intimately-scaled silver gelatin prints, a selection of photographs has been combined and vastly enlarged for this exhibition in the public realm.

With their handwritten messages marked out in simple, delicate lines on gently creased sheets of paper, the photographs convey a profound sense of intimacy. But this evocation of affection and tenderness is in jarring contrast to its public location – a billboard along some of the city’s busiest thoroughfares.

‘I love you and sorry for being grumpy’ reads one billboard, while at first glance the cluster of notes on another are more cryptic. People on the daily commute or those in the street see only the initials ‘I L Y’ repeated across several notes but meaning starts to fall into place thanks to a generous trio of kisses that finishes one, or the reassuring ‘always’ added to the end of another. These notes feel intimate and tell of the private shorthand between lovers, their hastily written but heartfelt abbreviation a code, a visible form of the minute gestures and behaviours that shape the vocabulary of emotional intimacy. Shannon’s work has long been intimate, her autobiographical practice embracing the moments and spaces of everyday life.

Artists, who understand the economics of attention better than most, have a long history of playing with scale to affect impact and understanding. High above the streets Shannon’s notes are vast, yet also vulnerable. Love Notes has been exhibited before – to the typically small and self-selecting audience of galleries, and on lightboxes in Wellington’s Cuba Street – but never so boldly as this. Reconfigured for this presentation, the collage of notes forms new synapses and explores the urban media-scape as a site for art.

In reclaiming these advertising sites as creative space, Shannon’s work becomes a poetic musing on connection and communication across the most publicly extreme of mediums. Vastly enlarged to billboard format and with their private messages now public, the work’s reading alters.

It may seem a small gesture, to take these notes and re-present them larger and in a different context, but changing their size disrupts their interpretation. The tender words of Shannon’s Love Notes give materiality to the vulnerability required to make a success of relationships and the love or rejection we might receive. It is a metaphor for the same vulnerability art-making demands.

Romance, like art, impacts the way we think and the way we see. Pursuing either brings uncertainty and risk. Strong personal emotion is often expressed behind closed doors but presenting the work like this renders these private communications monumental. ‘A whisper has become a shout’, the artist observes.

Written by Kelly Carmichael, July 2019.

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Additional material:

Podcast with Marie Shannon.

Marie Shannon is represented by Trish Clark Gallery

Campaign press release.

Artist Podcast Archive

200 local and international artist interviews from 2014-2018.

Recorded live-to-air via 95bFM.

From highbrow to mono-brow and everything in-between, Aimée Ralfini hosted Who Arted on 95bFM until late 2018, interviewing artists, writers and creative types every week.

If you are an artist looking for your podcast, please email Ricky and he will help you find it or send you the original. Podcast Archives ––> HERE

Podcast Archives ––> HERE

Aspiring Art

With the 2019 Aspiring Art Prize almost upon us and entries closing in just 10 days I thought it would be timely to take a ‘peak’ inside the mind of one of this year’s judges, Francis McWhannell.

Entries for the 2019 awards close on the 7th December 2018. With the top prize being $10,000.00 and a nation-wide call for artists, it is well worth the effort.

ENTRY FORM HERE.

Art Aspiring Art. Written by Aimee Ralfini for Art Ache.

Picture this if you will. You’re an artist, broke, living in Auckland, where no-one has much spare cash these days, unless of course, you were doing business in the ’80s – ref Gloss  (a manifesto of sorts for some of Auckland’s more established Art dealerships). In the blur of your daily practice – which covers both the artwork you create, along with the coping mechanisms required to continue onwards through the grinding impoverished conditions in which you exist (trust-fund artists not included), you see a flicker of hope, offered from a far off land, with beautiful Mountains, clean water and air so fresh it’s been rumoured one breath can undo years of social smoking… W-A-N-A-K-A.

The source of hope is Wanaka, more specifically The Aspiring Art Prize, which offers artists nationwide an opportunity to compete for its top prize of $10,000.00 – that’s no slap on the face.

Having been down there judging earlier this year, I can confidently say, it’s a difficult competition to judge! The two main internal battles I found myself grappling with were; what I was looking for intellectually, versus the localised energy which emanates outward from every Southland contender’s work. An energy which encapsulated me on the drive through the landscape from Queenstown to Wanaka and which remained with me throughout my stay (be warned, Wanaka has this effect on a lot of people). So it’s no wonder that when I asked Francis WcWhannell what he was looking out for in this year’s entries, his first point was “That’s a surprisingly tricky question to answer!” Artists take note: ENTRY FORM

What are you looking out for in this year’s entries?

Francis: On the one hand, I’m tempted to say that I’ll be looking out for works that do something surprising, something unexpected. On the other hand, I don’t want to give the impression that I’m hung up on newness. In fact, I tend to gravitate towards works that show a real awareness of artistic tradition. What matters most to me is something rather tricky to pin down: sincerity. If a work exudes a sense of the artist’s commitment to expressing a thought or vision or sentiment, it’s likely to attract me. Beyond that, the ‘winning works’ will be those that are still playing on my mind hours after encountering them – for one reason or another.

What catches your eye at the moment art-wise?

Francis: This question is comparatively easy to answer! Fibre- or textile-based art. I’m mad keen on this sort of work at present, not least because there are a number of artists who are producing the most fantastic pieces. Think Emma Fitts, Maureen Lander, and Karen Rubado. I just can’t get enough.

What most inspires you about this part of New Zealand?

Francis: I have no direct experience of the Aspiring/Wanaka area. I have spent a small amount of time in nearby Queenstown, and I have friends in Wanaka, but this will be my first time visiting. I am expecting to be impressed by the landscape, but I’m also excited to experience the cultural environment and to learn a bit about the local history.

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Francis McWannell is one of two Judges selected for the 2019 Aspiring Arts Prize. McWannell will be judging alongside Felicity Milburn – Curator at Christchurch Art Gallery.

Francis McWannell is a freelance writer and curator. He has contributed to a variety of arts and culture magazines and websites, including Art News New Zealand, HOME, CIRCUIT Artist Film and Video Aotearoa, Runway Conversations, The Spinoff and Pantograph Punch.

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Full Judges Notes from 2018 can be viewed here: AAP-Judges-statement-AR-2018

Amy Baker “Had Enough?” Craigs investment Partners Runner Up. 2018.

This Kiwi Artist’s Warrior-Vixen Critiques the Portrayal of Women in Virtual Spaces

Welcome to Korean-New Zealander Hye Rim Lee’s fantasyland.

“My 3D‐animation project is a fantasyland where dream and reality mix. It speaks to the manipulation and perception of female sexual identity worldwide and virtualised images of women.”

Lee seeks to create a nostalgic paradise, mingling the world of her childhood with an inorganic cyber world of fantasy, dream and virtual relationships. She’s building a fictional world around her own myths, using “symbols of Asian identity and culture,” familiar virtual iconography, and TOKI, a “highly stylised curvaceous, warrior‐cum‐vixen” to critique virtual worlds.

Conceived in 2002, TOKI parodies the idealised female forms found in “Asian manga and anime culture, computer gaming and cyberculture,” and her name—Korean for rabbit—brings to mind both the innocence of childhood pets and Playboy bunnies. The relationship between sexuality and innocence, reality and fantasy, western and eastern, are all key themes in Lee’s work.

Virtual worlds are often fantasies constructed by white men, and Lee examines the potentially problematic ways they influence us, all the while keeping it personal.

“My work is an unnerving mix of cutesy, saccharine imagery and sexual undertones. My images insert fantastical narratives from my childhood fantasies into a computer-generated Eden-like space,” – Hye Rim Lee.

Written by Joel Thomas for Vice NZ Oct 11th 2018.

Original Article

Further reading: Artists website  |  Instagram.

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Subscribe | Shop Art Ache.

Art Ach Event Press Release.

Art Ache Collection Artwork.

Radio New Zealand | Standing Room Only

Lynn Freeman interviews Art Ache curator Aimee Ralfini

From Standing Room Only, 2:49 pm on 7 October 2018 

Auckland’s about to experience it’s nineteenth Art Ache, which brings together emerging artists and potential buyers, but not in the traditional dealer gallery setting. Design creative and curator Aimée Ralfini came up with the idea to encourage art lovers who aren’t sure where to start by introducing them to a wide range of artists from here and overseas. Aimée studied Fine Arts at Elam and believes that art has an important role to play in keeping communities happy and healthy, The theme for this Art Ache is ‘our future utopia’ – images on this page. This is the first time Aimée has included Art Ache within Auckland Art Week and renowned painter Karl Maughan is pitching in this year to raise the event’s profile. It’s come a long way in the six years since she started it. Art Ache is on the 9th of October part of Artweek Auckland 2018.

Standing Room Only is literally radio with pictures… and arts, theatre, film, comedy, books, dance, entertainment, pop culture, and music – all the things, in other words, that make life worth living.

Listen to the interview |  Source.

Art Ache Collect

Special memorial artworks for everyone to enjoy.

Art Ache Collection. Oct 9 2018.

You can still support (and donate to) the artist and Art Ache by purchasing one of the Art Ache Collect archival prints from our shop.

These artworks are limited and have been created specifically for this particular Art Ache event, with the utopian theme in mind.

If you’re a (not-quite-yet) serious collector who loves Art (Ache) and all it stands for (manifesto).  Purchasing an Art Ache Collect work is the ultimate way to impress your mates, support New Zealand artists and potentially gloat about your wise investment in years to come.

With an ever-changing exquisite collection of artworks, curated from carefully selected artists each Art Ache Collect series stands as a moment in time from our collective history, as part of our New Zealand story.

These Collector pieces are printed on Ilford Fine Art Paper 310gsm with Archival Inks by Fine Art printer Sanji Karu at Skar Image Lab. Paper size: A4 (297 x 210mm). These archival prints have been created with the authority of Karl Maughan, Hye Rim Lee, Layla Walter, Zammia Weatherall and Evie Kemp.

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Event Press Release.

Subscribe | Shop Art Ache.

Art Ache – 9 Oct 2018

As part of Late Night Art, Artweek.

With support from Heart Of The City.

With a focus to encourage conversation around our future utopia, Art Ache presents the following artists for its final showcase of the year: Karl Maughan, Hye Rim Lee, Layla Walter, Zammia Weatherall and Evie Kemp.

As well as the studio experience during Late Night Art, Art Ache will also have a number of Installations from each artist illuminating Freyberg Square in the evenings for the duration of Artweek Oct 6-14.

This event has been curated by Aimee Ralfini. Of her curatorial direction, she writes:

“I have specifically chosen artists who illuminate a pathway forward through their work. It’s time to focus on the positive potential of the future and look towards the light”

“The motivation of this Art Ache is to encourage people to imagine a utopian future that we can work together to achieve, rather than a doomsday future, which feels like the current climate is often geared towards. All of the artist’s work in a way which denotes a different (better) reality. It’s humbling to have such a wonderful line-up.”

For those who can’t make the event or who live outside Auckland, specially commissioned Art Ache Collector archival prints will be available online for a limited time for $60.00 via the Art Ache Store.

In an effort to make art and culture part of the everyday conversation in New Zealand, Art Ache provides young art lovers and future patrons a rare opportunity to meet a selection of this country’s brightest creatives. We believe at the core of every happy healthy society is a strong connection with its cultural ambassadors. Through Art Ache, we aim to assist intellectual and creative development, for the betterment of the local community and wider society. Manifesto.

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PRESS ENQUIRIES
For press enquiries regarding all artists please contact Ricky.
Full artist press packs with bios and imagery are available on request.

Art Ache returns July 26 at LOT23

With an intimate performance by Julia Deans

It is a great pleasure to announce our line-up for Auckland’s Winter Art Ache.

Headlining artist Judy Darragh will be supported by artist’s Paula Friis, Katharine Atafu-Mayo, Olyvia Hong, Karen Rubado and Greg Page.

Julia Deans will also be performing a selection of songs from her latest album, including The Panic, the video for which consists of hand-drawn animation by artist Greg Page about the discovery and management of anxiety.

The event has been curated by Natalie Tozer.

“Natalie has brought together a comprehensive collection of striking artists, who present an interesting story around the discipline of career creativity, the obstacles faced by ever-reducing institutional support, and the reality of making ends meet. This, in turn, reiterates the point of Art Ache – to generate a wider awareness of artists’ work and share their story, in order to aid them in their creative journey.” – Aimee Ralfini

WHEN  /  5:00–8:00pm, Thursday 26th July
WHERE  /  LOT23, 23 Minnie St, Eden Terrace, Auckland
ON-SALE  /  Selected artworks, studio treasures at entry level prices. Limited Art Ache collector prints are also available nationwide for $50 each, from Sunday 8th for the month of July at artache.com.

This event is FREE entry and non-ageist. BRING CASH.

In an effort to make art and culture part of the everyday conversation in New Zealand, Art Ache provides young art lovers and future patrons a rare opportunity to meet a selection of this country’s brightest creatives. We believe at the core of every happy healthy society is a strong connection with its cultural ambassadors. Through Art Ache, we aim to assist intellectual and creative development, for the betterment of the local community and wider society.

PRESS ENQUIRIES
For press enquiries regarding all artists please contact Aimee Ralfini.
Artist Bios and imagery can be supplied on request.​

Art Ache is celebrating the shortest day of the year, with candles!

Thursday 21^st June, Dunedin.

We are extremely proud to be shining light upon the following five brilliant Dunedin artists on the darkest day of the year; John Ward Knox, Motoko Kikkawa, Daniel Blackball-Alexander, Holly Aitchison and Ed Ritchie.

In honour of the shortest day with the longest shadows, we are making this a candle only event.

Art and artists by candlelight – What more could you want!?

Studio treasures for sale? Each artist will have a unique selection of studio treasures available to memorialize the experience. The sale of which supports the continuation of their creative journey.

WHEN  /  5:00–8:00pm, Thursday 21^st June,

WHERE  /  Dog With Two Tails, 25 Moray Place, Dunedin**.

WHO  /  John Ward Knox, Motoko Kikkawa, Daniel Blackball-Alexander, Holly Aitchison and Ed Richie, curated by Phoebe Lysbeth-Mackenzie.

ON-SALE  /  Selected artworks, studio treasures at entry level prices. Limited Art Ache Collectors prints are also available nationwide for $50 each, for all of June, online at artache.net.

This event is FREE entry. All welcome.

PRESS CONTACTS  /  For South Island press enquiries regarding all artists please contact Phoebe Lysbeth-Mackenzie. For all other enquiries, please contact Ricky Martin. Artist Bios and imagery can be supplied on request.

**If you live outside of Dunedin, and can’t make the event, we feel for you. Good news tho!! You can still support the artists and the event by visiting the Art Ache Collect store and purchasing a piece of memorabilia from the show. Yay!

Art Ache believes at the core of every happy healthy society is a strong connection with its cultural ambassadors.

Art Aches Heritage

Art Ache was purpose born to reinvigorate New Zealand’s Art awareness, by expanding the art scene into the wider cultural gamet of Aotearoa. This has been achieved in essence by rebranding what we consider Art to be.

Art Aches Heritage is unique in that it focuses directly on the creative core of a person’s expression, presenting it alongside contrasting creative typecasts. This strategic range of creative maximises the events’ reach to the wider cultural sector.

By showcasing the artists in a venue which is quintessentially local, we not only challenge the traditional fine art gallery and exhibition stereotype, we also reinforce the new art brand. Which is connective, personable, inclusive, contemporary, regionalistic and truly representative of who we are as New Zealanders.

The first event of its kind was called The Artists Dinner and held in July 2013 at Portland Public House in Kingsland, with the aim of providing a relaxed and social environment, for prospective buyers to browse and purchase art, whilst interacting with the eight featured artists exhibiting and selling a selection of previously unseen studio works.

First ever Artists Dinner event.

The second was in November 2013, this time at The Golden Dawn in Ponsonby, a venue well known for its music, fashion and cultural events. It featured a selection of five established and up-and-coming female artists, the night was a sell-out success, with all money going directly to the artists.

Press Roll for The First Golden Dawn Event.

As momentum for the event grew with showcases every second month in 2015, so did the enthusiasm to make Art Ache an ongoing feature of New Zealand’s cultural calendar.

Art Ache has provided a continued platform of support for a growing number of local artists throughout the last five years, helping them build both their artistic and commercial identities amongst a wider audience.

About Art Ache

“At the core of every happy healthy society is a strong connection with its cultural ambassadors.”

‘Art Ache’ is an artists’ art event which showcases 5-6 artists at a time from a range of creative backgrounds. All artists involved are present at the event, with a selection of studio treasures available to purchase at entry level prices.

The aim of the event is to create a lasting connection between the artist and the art lover who is curious about art, but not sure where to start.

So far Art Ache has presented over 80 New Zealand artists, ranging from the top internationally recognized to NZ’s youngest and newest.

Art Ache believes art is the most potent form of communication and artists are the litmus paper of society. It aims is to make art and culture part of the everyday conversation.

“Art Ache aims to assist intellectual and creative development, for the betterment of the local community and national identity”.

Art Ache is a nationwide New Zealand Art event which occurs twice yearly in Auckland and is beginning to roll out nationally, having completed it’s second Dunedin event in June 2018. It has been running for almost 5 years now and is up to its 18th event.

“We firmly believe that artists are the litmus paper of society… it is vital that focus is directed towards our creative storytellers, in order for us to understand who we are, how we think, and what we look like”.

Each show has its own personality, derived from the artists we present and the kind of work they have available at the time. This overarching story unravels via social media and editorial press as we explore the artists studios, interview them and present them individually and collectively.

“We want to make art and culture part of the everyday conversation”.

Each art ache event aims to leave a lasting impression on everyone involved. We present a strategic mix of artists at varying stages of their careers from a range of backgrounds for the widest cross-pollination of creative energy. Every artist gets a toolkit of skills from the experience tailored to their needs. We share knowledge, ideas and contacts to maximise every collaboration.

The Art Ache Manifesto

Our 10 commandments

1. Art Ache believes Art is the most potent form of human communication

2. Art Ache accepts art means different things to different people

3. Art Ache believes at the core of every healthy society is a strong connection with its cultural ambassadors

4. Art Ache knows artists to be the litmus paper of society

5. Art Ache aims to make art and culture part of everyday conversation

6. Art Aches focuses on the creative core of a person’s expression

7. Art Ache provides artists, art lovers and future patrons the opportunity to meet

8. Art Ache aims to educate New Zealanders about art in a way that creates an ongoing interest

9. Art Ache is committed to providing a platform of support for artists by sharing its knowledge and ideas

10. Art Ache showcases artists with integrity and passion.