Exhibiting On Billboards Nationwide Until September 1, 2024

MONEY is part of photographer Mickey Smith’s ongoing project Volume, which documents bound periodicals and journals in public and institutional libraries.

This new iteration of work will be shown in 23 key locations in Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, and Christchurch. The exhibition will have an estimated reach of 928,125 making this type of public artwork one of the most highly experienced by everyday New Zealanders.

Mickey Smiths’ portraits of book spines are documented as they are found in the stacks. The books are not touched, artificially lit, or manipulated — rather created by the librarian and found in the stacks— positioned by the last anonymous reader. The text and knowledge between covers remain unseen and untouched, while the titles rise above their original intent, evoking a sense of intrigue.

“MONEY was first exhibited as part of a public art festival in a vacant office of the old Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank building. The title has since been exhibited throughout the United States, in Russia, and now Aotearoa. In each of these societies, be they considered capitalist or socialist, MONEY is at the forefront of the public mind – no matter the economic climate, dire or thriving.”

Mickey Smith, artist

This adaptation of MONEY stands manifest to Smiths’ artistic practice as it continues to evolve — books themselves record and chronicle, as do Smith’s photographs, with the rapid increase of digitization, periodical collections have become harder to come by. By presenting her earlier work digitally, within the landscape of media advertising, the artist activates her work for a new audience, allowing them to reflect when confronted with MONEY, considering its significance in their daily lives.

“When you see the boards in the flesh, in the context of an advertising space, it makes you question why you’re even looking. What are you being sold? Experiencing them for the first time, I found myself asking; “What about money? What is my relationship to it? Why pursue it? Why does it loom so large?” And then, before you know it, the MONEY has vanished. You forget about it. Another round of ads play and it is back again… I’m so pleased LUMO has been brave enough to show this work.”

Mickey Smith, artist

“This series serves as a provocative reflection of contemporary times. The digital adaptation of MONEY marks two decades since the artist first captured it, creating a monument of sorts, to both the work and the word itself."

Aimée Ralfini, Art Ache

About The Artist
Mickey Smith
b. 1972 Duluth, MN USA
Lives and works in Auckland, New Zealand

Mickey Smith is an award-winning conceptual artist and photographer. Her practice has been engaged with a longstanding inquiry into libraries, books, and archives, focusing on the social significance of their physical existence or disappearance.

Smith holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Photography from Minnesota State University (1994) and a Diploma in Jewellery Design from Hungry Creek Art & Craft School (2019). Smith has received awards and residencies from the McKnight Foundation, Forecast Public Art Affairs, CEC ArtsLink, Americans for the Arts, and Creative New Zealand. Her works are held in numerous public and private collections, including the Museum of Modern Art Library, Weisman Art Museum, Plains Art Museum, and Sheldon Museum of Art. Smith lives with her family in Devonport and is a volunteer advocate for Harbour HoSpice.

Mickey Smith: Morphologies, her upcoming solo exhibition and tour, opens August 2024 at Law Warschaw Gallery in the USA. Closer to home, Sanderson Contemporary will present Volume: Domesticated in March 2025. 

• Artists website: mickeysmith.com
• Artists Instagram: @mickeysmithstudio
• Artists dealer: Sanderson Contemporary

About Art Ache

Directed by Aimée Ralfini

Founded in 2012

Operating from Auckland, New Zealand

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

Since 2012 Art Ache has been promoting New Zealand artists and their work using experiential marketing. An artist-centric movement, Art Ache aims to translate the complexities of creative expression into engaging experiences for everyday citizens, to enrich their daily lives. 

Art Ache was founded by Aimée Ralfini (neé Martin), who remains the director. Art Ache has worked with, supported, and promoted hundreds of New Zealand artists and their work, from emerging to our most revered. Art Ache is an artist-led not-for-profit. 

• Art Ache website: artache.com
• Artists Instagram: @artache_nz
• Directors LinkedIn @aimeeme

About our Art Patron LUMO

LUMO Digital Outdoor has made this exhibition possible.

Art Ache and Digital billboard company LUMO have been collaborating since 2017. Both share the same vision of using digital spaces to communicate non-advertorial concepts. Using Outdoor interactive technology allows Art Ache and artists to dream big when creating art for the digital medium.

"Corrupting the use of digital billboards for Art, turns the cityscape into an art gallery which everyone gets to experience."

Aimée Ralfini, Art Ache

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