After Nyne x Moniker: Art on a Postcard, Art for a Good Cause
After Nyne Benjamin Murphy writes
I have worked closely with The Hepatitis C Trust's fundraising organisation Art on a Postcard for a number of years. Headed up by Gemma Peppé, they are a great charity that puts a lot of time and effort in to selecting the best artists to work with curating shows, auctions, and artwork lotteries. This year they are returning to Moniker Art Fair for the second time, hosting a postcard lottery that ensures that everyone who purchases a £50 ticket will win a one-off original piece of art. Some of the artists whose work is available include: Jake & Dinos Chapman, Gilbert & George, Paul Insect, Inkie, Eelus, Brad Downey, and myself.
BM: How did you get involved in the Hepatitis C Trust?
GP: I made a film called Louie, Me and Hepatitis C in 2005 and met Charles Gore, the CEO at the Trust when I was doing my research. The film followed my year of treatment in a kind of Supersize Me format i.e. I investigated the problem of hepatitis C in the UK while I got sicker and sicker. At the end, when the treatment didn’t work Charles asked me if I’d go and work for The Trust. As I was too ill to do much else and had to support my son I took him up on the offer.
Why is the Hepatitis C Trust especially important, and how does the money raised get used?
The Hepatitis C Trust is the national UK charity for people living with hepatitis C, we are their voice. Our CEO, Charles Gore is a unique man. He has put hepatitis C on the map in the UK, but more importantly made viral hepatitis an issue worldwide through his work as president of the World Hepatitis Alliance. It was Charles’s idea to give the charity a time limit and he has garnered support both at professional and Governmental level to set the goal of eliminating hepatitis C as major health concern by the year 2030. All of the money that we raise feeds into that as well as preventing a lot of unnecessary deaths.
Why did you decide that through art was the best way to raise money for the charity?
I was actually hired because I’d previously worked in music and Charles originally wanted me to raise money through music. I put on a number of gigs with great bands and singers but we never raised enough money to warrant all of the headache. Through family connections I started doing an annual auction in
Ibiza and art was the thing that we got the best return on. It’s that simple.
Why did you decide that the postcard idea was a better way to raise money than holding auctions like you used to do?
Art on a Postcard is so much more substantial. I can target artists who it’d be unrealistic to expect to donate a big painting. It’s more democratic as everyone gets a chance to own valuable art, whether it’s with our lotteries or at our annual secret auction. I can roll out events across the year and sell prints too. It’s more like a business.
Although we are deviating from the postcards slightly at Moniker this year. We’ve got two excellent customised car bonnets by Jake and Dinos Chapman and Bob and Roberta Smith which will be available through a lottery ticket costing £25, which means two lucky people will walk off with very valuable works of art for a snip.
What has the response been like from both the artists and the public?
We’ve had a phenomenal response and in a short time we’ve built great relationships with both the artists and the buyers. At first I thought I could never ask the same artist more than once but it turns out they are more than happy to take part each year, with some even e-mailing me to find out why I haven’t asked them back this year.
How do you select which artists to work with?
My father is a painter so I grew up looking at art. I think I’ve got a good idea what to look out for and I take great care hand selecting each artist for all of our events. I spend a lot of time doing research online and going to shows. If I ask someone it’s because I like their work. You got me off to a great start with all of the masses of artists you bought with you in 2014. Also my good friend Frankie Shea from Moniker Projects seems to introduce me to someone new and interesting every time I go out with him.
Have you got any artists at Moniker that you are particularly excited about?
Obviously I’m always excited to get Harland Miller’s card in. That’s a high point each year. I’m very excited about Broken Fingaz who are an Israeli Collective. I came across a piece they did on Redchurch Street in Shoreditch and wrote to them, they each sent me back a card and they are all really fun and perfect for Moniker. I’m excited about having Brad Downey on board. I love Magnus Gjoen’s Boy with Pills. I love Zsofia Shweger’s maps and Ally MacIntyre’s cards are big favorites too
If the readers can't make it to Moniker are they still in with a chance of winning an artwork, and if so how do they go about entering?
I’m going to make 100 lottery tickets available online so that people who can’t get to London or the Fair have a chance to get a card. They are £50 a ticket and that ticket guarantees you a card. There is such a rich mix of talent in among the 200 cards available the chances of you getting something great are very high. The tickets will be live in our shop on 3rd October 2016.
The Car Bonnets lottery tickets are live here http://www.artonapostcard.com/
IMAGE 1: Harland Miller
IMAGE 2: Benjamin Murphy
