Innova Art at Moniker Art Fair: where the magic happens

Innova Art, the award-winning digital media specialist, is sponsoring two inspiring projects at the Moniker Art Fair, The Old Truman Brewery, London E1, 5–8 October 2017.

The US mixed media artist Ian Kuali’i , a Moniker Art Fair Featured Artist, has created one of his signature, handcut paper installations especially for the fair. Kuali’i, whose approach is based on “the meditative process of destroying to create”, will be encouraging visitors around and inside his immersive paper sculpture, a work that, as always, draws as much on his ancestral ties to the indigenous people of the Southwest United States and Hawai’i, and his interest in occult symbolism, mysticism and global politics, as the Hip Hop music and art scene that first fired him up as an artist.

In a 2016 interview, Kuali’i explained the evolution of his approach:

“From graffiti writing, I wanted to simplify the process. I found stencilling through that. I ended up just appreciating the cut more than spraying… It’s a super challenging engineering approach from the standard stencil cutting way.”

“When you start looking at more of the motion of how some of the cut paper flows and the construction of it — or deconstruction, rather — you start seeing the basic motion of letter form from graffiti. You start seeing the motion of something in passing from pushing a skateboard. There’s a whisper of an old pattern from an Eddie Reategui mini-deck. Even with the cut elements, there’s power.”¹

In another exciting move, Innova Art is also sponsoring the ‘Postcode Print Release’ project, offering local residents their own very special take-out from the fair: a free print. The image will be provided by the brilliantly witty Mr Frivolous – “an artist from London in desperate need of a haircut”, a felt-tip pen specialist because “he knows he can get a double pack of 24 for £1 from Poundland”. Innova Art will supply the archival quality, digital fine art paper, and the expert digital print specialist Print Post will produce the edition. It’s instant art – stylish, free and made to last; all locals need to do is provide some proof that they live in the relevant postcode.

Now in its eighth year, the Moniker Art Fair has established itself as the place to spot emerging and established talent from the finer side of the street art movement and its related subcultures. From its stand, Innova Art will be showing off the pick of its digital art media for fine art and photography, featuring collaborative work by photographer Jim McHugh, and the Innova Art team will be on hand at stand 4 to help make the right choices for immaculate image quality.

Notes for editors

1. Ryan Patrick Hooper, ‘Q&A with Resident Artist Ian Kuali’I’, 13 July 2016, http://www.redbullhouseofart.com/2016/07/13/qa-resident-artist-ian-kualii/
2. Innova Art, founded in 2003 by the team who developed the first inkjet digital media range, has won countless awards for its range of papers, canvases and boards. The highly successful Fibaprint range of digital baryta papers won the TIPA Award for Best Independent Inkjet Paper and four DIMA Awards. Of its Photo Canvas Ultra Gloss, Professional Imagemaker magazine said: “[This is] the king of the gloss canvases… nothing we have tested to date gets even close.” JetMaster Display Systems won the coveted Innovation Award at the Art & Framing Industry Awards 2011, presented by the Fine Art Trade Guild, UK. The JetMaster Direct Print Photo Wrap extended the range into UV-compatible products and the new lightweight block-format JetMaster Photo Panel and UV-compatible JetMaster Direct Photo Panel have added yet more frame-free display options. Innova Art has always worked in close association with artists, photographers and print experts on the development of its products, an approach that has helped it garner rave reviews and awards for its products from around the world. Innova Art and Print Post are Programme Partners of the Moniker Art Fair. www.innovaart.com
3. The Moniker Art Fair is at The Old Truman Brewery, 89 Brick Lane, London E1 6LQ, UK, from 5–8 October 2017. Now in its 8th year, Moniker Art Fair aims to spotlight emerging and established talent from a burgeoning and increasingly diverse contemporary art movement forged by its subversive and innovative spirit. Staged during London’s most important art week in October, Moniker Art Fair attracts some of the most talked-about artists, galleries and collectors from the finer side of the street art movement and its related subcultures. With a proven track record of delivering a rich and varied programme since its formation in 2010, the fair has grown significantly since its inception both in terms of audience and relevance. www.monikerartfair.com
4. Ian Kuali’i is a multi-disciplinary artist born in Orange County California, USA, raised in Maui, Hawaii and currently residing in the Berkeley, California.  His creative practice is centred around “the meditative process of destroying to create”.The portraits, journal entries and scenes he produces are masterfully rendered in hand-cut paper with a blend of loose urban contemporary techniques and collaged found materials. His work is a balance between the rough and delicate, while exploring ideas of modern progress dependent on a foundation in one’s own history.  Ian’s art is predominantly influenced by his ancestral ties to the indigenous people of the Southwest United States and Hawai’i, as well as occult symbolism, mysticism, global politics and themes of urban decay. Through out his career, Ian has worked in collaboration with leading brands and institutions including Universal Pictures, The deYoung Museum, The National Trust for Historic Preservation and Red Bull House of Art, creating one-of-a-kind site specific art pieces for their events, programmes and residencies. He is a Moniker Art Fair Featured Artist. iankualii.com
5. Mr.Frivolous is an artist from London in desperate need of a haircut. The majority of his work is deliberately depicted in felt tip pens due to the fact that he knows he can get a double pack of 24 for £1 from Poundland. Some of of his artistic influence include Gustav Klimt, David Bray, Aubrey Beardsley, Jack Kirby, Audrey Kawasaki, Mike Allred and last but not least Pat Butcher. After 15 years Mr.Frivolous is still a Smashing Pumpkins fan and is seeking help for purchasing every single season of the OC DVD box set. mrfrivolous.com