NEW YORK, NY.- Over the last decade,
The Moniker Art Fair has developed a well-regarded reputation within the art world, producing 12 curated festivals in London and New York, immersive installations and exhibitions in Berlin and Leeds, public murals and memorable brand partnerships, alongside countless conferences and educational activations.
Now meet The Moniker Foundation. Since its inception in 2020, the Foundation have been; helping to support and develop artists, careers and creative practices; establishing dialogue with their network of leading figures; developing educational resources; documenting and assisting in the growth and development of the New Contemporary and Urban movement and working on creating a deserving platform as well as launching its’ own Moniker Collection to be loved, admired and engaged with.
The concept developed by the team from Moniker Art Fair, led by Director Tina Ziegler aims to build a collection that documents Urban and New Contemporary art creating a public showcase for the breadth of Urban and New Contemporary art in the market today. The Foundation has moved quickly over its’ first year rapidly expanding its collection with recent additions of commissioned works by the likes of: Kailie Smith, who sold out his first solo show at Moniker Art Fair in 2018; Atlanta based painter Dustin Emory; a sculpture by Spanish artist DEMSKY, who is currently one of the key figures pushing graffiti into new and futuristic forms; plus a whole body of specially created works by Northern Irish hyper-realist painter, Kyle Barnes.
Kailie Smith comments, ‘Royal Benching’ is a work that was an ode to the graffiti term "Benching" which was founded in 70s New York as a term for sitting at a station bench watching freshly painted murals go by on trains. This term spread through youth culture across the world, and was also used as a common place for young kids to meet and hang out. As an artist knowing your work ends up in good hands is a priceless feeling. Having worked with Moniker since 2018 and knowing what they stand for in the arts, makes me extremely happy that this work will find a home within The Moniker Collection. As an artist who specialises in large works, the support of foundations like Moniker make it possible to continue making art in such an unrestrained manner.
The Foundation has also recently added Matt Small’s This Is England series to its collection – acquired through JG Contemporary Gallery. The project was created to depict the full England squad and manager of the EURO 2020 England football team - a group of players from a diverse set of backgrounds who made history with their sporting achievement and their ability to engage and inspire the nation. Commissionedby the Football Association, all portraits were exhibited at the St George’s Park training ground during the EURO 2020 finals in summer 2021.
Matt Small comments, When I made these artworks it was my intention to celebrate not only the players sporting achievements but acknowledge that, through their defiant actions on the field of play and determined desire to speak out against social ills, they had become a symbol of a modern progressive multi-cultural England. It is great the portraits can now remain together and be a testament to the teams inspiring actions that showed us how we can work together to make the country a better place for us all.
Other artists whose work is also held in The Moniker Foundation Collection include: American artist, 2ALAS - a strong force for urban art in Miami in recent years; Lithuanian Illustrator, Egle Zvirblyte - who has exhibited on an international scale; Canadian Sculptor, Laurence Vallieres and art world giant, Keith Haring - who played a pivotal part in the New York City Graffiti subculture of the 1980s, alongside his friends and contemporaries Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol.
Tina Ziegler, Director of Moniker Art Fair and the Foundation’s Curator comments, TheFoundation has done more in the past year than I can list here, but the most impactful has been to connect emerging talent with more established artists and create this internal exchange and dialogue - we have seen the Foundation directly support artists to create their dream pieces, without commercial pressure. It's in these experiences, where real magic can happen for an artist’s career and creativity.
The Foundation has recently set up the Digital Artists Grant (DAG), in collaboration with partners Creative Debuts, whereby two recipients receive a no-strings attached grant of £500 per month. They can spend the grant on whatever they want – be that make new work, buy equipment or materials, travel, research, visit exhibitions or conferences, or to even just cover some life expenses. The first two recipients were selected in January 2022 by a Creative Debuts 3 selector partner and are Ghanaian artist Akwasi Bediako Afrane and Surrealist digital artist, photographer, and videographer Sunahtah Jones. This grant has been set up to spotlight and support the emerging digital artists of our time who are paving the way for how we appreciate and experience digital art.
Working with Creative Debuts, Moniker hope to attract global emerging artists that are pushing this new medium. The Foundation also supports the Moniker Curators of Culture Podcast and has brought together leading curators from across the landscape such as: female powerhouse Yasha Young, founder and executive creative director of URBAN NATION - Berlin's first street ar museum; Andrew Hosner, co-owner and curator of the Thinkspace Gallery in Los Angeles and; Jasper Wong, who is the founder and lead director of POW! WOW! - an international mural arts festival across 17 cities worldwide. The podcast can be listened to on Spotify and Apple Music.
The Moniker Collection is curated and advised by Tina Ziegler.
