Explosive Expression Auction Raises $22000

Valerie Morse, spokeswoman for October 15th Solidarity, thanks the artists who contributed to a fundraising art auction held October.

Optiv101 Studio Artist Aaron Potaka contributed a silkscreen print on aluminium plate titled The Seven Laws of Terrorism for the auction, and is pleased that it helped in raising $22000.

The auction was of works in the Explosive Expression Exhibition at Thistle Hall Gallery in Wellington. The exhibition was attended by several hundred people, with media covering the event and issues extensively.

Optiv101 is grateful for patronage. Thank you.

Latest from Optiv101 Limited at 15:28 NZD

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Quay School of the Arts BFA Students Sponsored by Optiv101

Latest from Optiv101 Limited at 17:09 NZD

Updated: Friday, 16 October 2009 17:14 NZD

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Pattillo Scholarship To Printmaker Maria Martin-Smith

Pattillo presented its 2009 Pattillo Scholarship and Commemorative Medal at an invitation only opening at the Sarjeant Gallery mid-October.

The event was the culmination of several months of conceptualising and producing to convey order out of chaos in nature for fifteen selected entries from the UCOL's Quay School of the Arts.

Congratulations to the winner of this year's scholarship, Maria Martin-Smith.

Optiv101 Studio Artist Aaron Potaka submitted Death from Life, a mixed media collage.

Thanks to Anne Pattillo and the Pattillo organisation for funding this scholarship award, the second highest of its kind in New Zealand.

Latest from Optiv101 Limited at 16:37 NZD

Updated: Saturday, 24 October 2009 20:36 NZD

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Optiv101 Studio Artist Gains UK Collector

Optiv101 Studio Artist Aaron Potaka has gained a private collector in London, United Kingdom, this month, with a body of work titled "An Interview with Von Braun".

The series of four small works, ink on paper, are based on an interview of Werner von Braun, the US rocket scientists overseeing the US space program in the 1960's and 70's, by Ms Oriano Fallaci, an Italian journalist.

Optiv101 is grateful for patronage.Thank you.

Latest from Optiv101 Limited at 12:06 NZD

Updated: Monday, 12 October 2009 12:17 NZD

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Optiv101 Art Peice Selected for Patillo Scholarship Show

Aaron Potaka, Death From Life, 2009, Mixed media collage, 700mm x 500mm [Photo source: Inspire Photography www.inspirephotography.co.nz]

A mixed media work by Optiv101 Studio Artist Aaron Potaka was selected for the Pattillo Scholarship Exhibition to be held at the Sarjeant Gallery.

The Pattillo Scholarship Award will be presented to one of 15 entrants selected for showing out of 60 entries submitted. Unselected entries are exhibited in a Salon des Refuse at the Federal Gallery.The work Death from Life is a mixed-media collage made from plants and their flowers. The organic matter was dried and preserved, arranged on a wooden frame and set on a ground of PVA for support and hanging.

A depiction of skull and crossbones - Potaka's representation of eternal life - is made from an assortment of flowers in high key colours, surrounded by dark coloured flowers and bordered with oak leaves. The materials for Death from Life are from an essential life source itself – plants.

The mysteries of nature could be construed as a collection of random phenomena interacting in a co-incidental symbiosis between many different elements - air, light, earth, water, and most importantly, a spirit that pervades above all else, so that we may sense and respond to those mysteries with curiosity or reverence.

Nature has governed the palette for the work. Flowers were the paints in hundreds of colours and their shades, and like natural symbiosis in that one makes the other, order is generated using content to be the context of Death from Life.

Thanks to Frank and Joy Bristol of Bristol Plants and Seeds for assistance in the production of Death from Life.

Latest from Optiv101 Limited at 18:02 NZD

Updated: Friday, 16 October 2009 16:25 NZD

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The first Wanganui National Art Exhibition and Award was launched September 17 at the Wanganui Community Arts Centre, 19 Taupo Quay, and closed yesterday September 27th.

Twenty works were entered by ten artists from the Wanganui, Hawke’s Bay and Wellington regions. The convener Aaron Potaka, of Optiv101 Fine Arts and Multimedia Studios, is pleased to present New Zealand’s newest art exhibition and award to the city and expects the entries and prize to grow next year.

“This city has a reputation for nurturing and promoting the local arts, and with the Wanganui National, now the city has stepped up to take on those responsibilities for contemporary art for all of New Zealand”, Potaka says.

He says that he is honoured to have talented artists exhibiting and being ambassadors for the Wanganui National Art Exhibition and Award.

A panel of graphic novelist Dylan Horrocks, printmaker Rowan Gardiner and the convener, Potaka, selected Glory by Esther Topfer of Wanganui, as Best in Show. The panellists were impressed with all works, commenting that they were at the forefront of contemporary art in New Zealand. The decision to select a winner for the award was difficult to make.

The winning work is a silkscreen of paints and mixed media on glass. The work has sophistication and appeal to it. The work is grounded with dark blues and blacks, and the gold and pink in the figures are very alluring. The production process was innovative and fresh, and materials integrated into the work were delightfully quirky.

Latest from Optiv101 Limited at 16:03 NZD

Updated: Thursday, 8 October 2009 23:37 NZD

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Optiv101 Patrons Acquire Lithographic Print

Coco Chanel is an edition of 4 lithographic prints on red fabric. A print from the edition was exhibited in the 2009 Wanganui National Art Exhibition and Award in September.

Optiv101 is grateful for patronage. Thank you.

Latest from Optiv101 Limited at 15:54 NZD

Updated: Thursday, 8 October 2009 23:57 NZD

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Optiv101 Reportage and Photography for Wanganui Netball Finals

Aaron Potaka of Optiv101 Fine Arts and Multimedia Studios has been contracted by Netball Wanganui to provide reportage of key games in Primary and Secondary School Grades.

Providing match reports and photographs of end of season matches for publication in the Wanganui Chronicle, Potaka is working with Netball Wanganui CEO Robyn Walford to promote the youth grades and encourage participation in the sport.

Optiv101 thanks Elyse Gebert and Albert Sword for Cameras, Trevor Wannell for Photo Editing, Wanganui Chronicle Sports Editor David Ogilvie, and Netball Wanganui.

Tariana Turia (with ball) sets to send her East Country A offence forward – Photo by Aaron Potaka

Collegiate WA Hannah Oliver (front) wins the battle in mid-court – Photo by Aaron Potaka

Latest from Optiv101 Limited at 10:07 NZD

Updated: Friday, 9 October 2009 00:04 NZD

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Optvi101 Studio Artist in Raw Talent Show

FCC Community Events Committee is helping our talented local artists to promote themselves and to help sell their artwork.

Raw Talent is an art gallery and shop that will be opened between the 10th and 22nd August 2009 in Wanganui, and is located on the corner of Guyton Street and Victoria Ave

Optvi101 Studio Artist Aaron Potaka has six small peices in the show; a series of five framed Religious Studies and a painting of a horse titled Wanganui Jockey Club (Est. 1848).

Latest from Optiv101 Limited at 16:16 NZD

Updated: Monday, 10 August 2009 16:23 NZD

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Optiv101 Studio Artist Wins Norman Kirk Memorial Scholarship

Optiv101 Studio Artist Aaron Potaka was awarded a Norman Kirk Memorial Scholarship of $500 from the Maori Education Trust 2009 Scholarship Awards.

The scholarship will go towards the production of the Pattillo Scholarship entry and the entry of completed peices into upcoming exhibitions.

Optiv101 is grateful for patronage. Thank you.

Latest from Optiv101 Limited at 19:44 NZD

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Optiv101 Begins Production for End of Year Shows

Optiv101 Fine Arts and Multimedia Studios gear up for the last half of the '09 season with a production schedule beginning with the entry for the third Pattillo Scholarship Award Show.

Studio artist Aaron Potaka was an inaugural entrant to the Scholarship in 2007, and is delighted to re-enter again, especially after making himself unavailable for the controversial 2008 award in which the scholarship was not awarded.

As well, several works will be submitted to a number of award and sale exhibitions during the next 4 months. Optiv101 is also the convener for Wanganui National 2009 in September and The Third Independent in November.

Latest from Optiv101 Limited at 17:04 NZD

Updated: Saturday, 1 August 2009 17:16 NZD

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Entries Open for Wanganui National 2009

Optiv101 is seeking entries for the Wanganui National 2009 Amalgamated Tech Art Exhibition and Award.

The exhibition will be opening on Thursday 17th September at the Wanganui Community Arts Centre, and closes Sunday 27th September.

Entry forms can be downloaded from www.24bar7.com

The Amalgamated Tech Art Exhibition and Award is a show of artists from around New Zealand. A $200 award will be given to the artist with the Best in Show as judged by a selection panel.

The exhibition will have all works for sale, and held during the Wanganui Literary Festival [see website http://www.writersfest.co.nz] and the Wanganui Glass Festival, drawing a large audience to the city.

Optiv101 looks forward to working with artists from around New Zealand and to having a successful exhibition.

Latest from Optiv101 Limited at 14:39 NZD

Updated: Friday, 7 August 2009 19:52 NZD

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Optiv101 Backs Heartland Champions for 2009 Title Defense

Optiv101 is pleased to announce its sponsorship of the Wanganui Rugby Union and its 2008 Heartland Champion 1stXV.

The championship will kick off August 29.

Go the Butcher Boys! Best of luck from Optiv101 Fine Arts and Multimedia Studios.

Latest from Optiv101 Limited at 14:34 NZD

Updated: Friday, 10 July 2009 15:02 NZD

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Lithographs to Private Collector in Auckland

Three lithographic prints by Optiv101 Studio Artist Aaron Potaka, the Male Gaze series, were sold to an Auckland collector following a MacLeans College fundraiser for their 1^st XI Girls Hockey Team in May.

These prints were of Ed Kemper, Max Factor and Henry Kissinger, and depicted in their own words, their male gaze.

Optiv101 wishes the 1st XI team all the best in their season's competition.

Optiv101 is greatful for patronage. Thank you.

Latest from Optiv101 Limited at 19:19 NZD

Updated: Saturday, 27 June 2009 19:30 NZD

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