After a few years break from any kind of participation in art shows and exhibition projects, something wonderful came up and things have become a bit wild on my end recently:
Last December I took part in the huge collective art show Expo Metro NYC Times Square followed straight by the Expo Metro Art Train in Miami Beach, and last weekend the collective art show Expo Metro Amsterdam has come to an end.
What this is all about, how it came to happen and what this means to me personally:
Expo Metro is an art movement founded and organized by Rudolph van Valkenburg with the vision to transform cities into open air museums by replacing advertisements with art, the mission is to make art accessible for everyone in outdoor public places.
This works as follows: most diverse artists from all over the world contribute images of their work to collective artwork collages – the billboards, which will than replace advertisements on physical billboards on highly frequented public places in major cities. The art shows are interactive, which means each billboard shows a QR code leading to the virtual online exhibition, were people can explore further, click on the works to see artwork and artist information and access links to regarding artist’s websites/social media profiles. While the physical art shows are usually time limited, their virtual counterparts on Expo Metro website are unlimited accessible.
One year ago I got aware about the Expo Metro art movement as they were running the Barcelona Art Tunnel group show. My curiosity took over.
I spent hours exploring the online exhibitions of Expo Metro’s previous public art shows, followed up pictures and videos of the the Art Tunnel Barcelona show on their social media channels on facebook, instagram and youtube.
The entire philosophy behind the art movement enthralled me deeply. It has something of an art guerilla. Art bombing public places where people may get caught by surprise by art briefly interrupting the conformity of their every day life. An unexpected encounter with those awesome diverse collaborative artwork collages may cause a smile or any kind of emotional response, a small mind break, a bit of a “Wow”, a new thought. And it is entirely free accessible for everyone, be it right there on site or via the online part of the exhibition for the curious and truly interested explorers.
Unexpected, surprising art – that is exactly what my Latin artist pseudonym ‘arsnecopinata’ translates to.
A perfect match for me.
After an encouraging email exchange with the very welcoming Rudolph van Valkenburg I signed up and booked my slot for the next upcoming art show, which turned out to be at New York Times Square. I chose my work ‘Collaboration’ from my ‘rootworks – Wurzelwerke’ series, the theme appeared fitting to the spirit of the entire undertaking.
Imagine an art show on a huge digital billboard rotating 6 collaborative artwork collages showcasing 716 artworks contributed by 593 artists from across the globe.
I knew in advance there will be live stream meetups during the event and and accompanying Whatsapp group for all participating artists to follow from afar, but nothing could have prepared me for the overwhelming intensity of the vibes of this entire event! I felt truly included, a part of something great and big!
Just a few days later Expo Metro sent The Art Train through Miami Beach during the art week/ Art Basel there. I contributed ‘The Couple’ from my ‘rootworks – Wurzelwerke’ series. Following live on instagram the art truck parade rolling through Miami Beach for three days was just unbelievable and far beyond my emotional processing capacities to that time!
Imagine: exactly during art week Miami at the same time the highly exclusive (and most certainly expensive) Art Basel takes place, Expo Metro sends the highly inclusive Art Train across the city, offering the public to freely explore end enjoy 176 artworks contributed by 130 artists. What a statement – my inner punk turned somersaults!
I never would have thought that a participation in an art show from afar could have such a deep emotional impact on me.
Now the one week long Expo Metro Art Show at Amsterdam Central Station has come to an end, where 299 artists from across the globe were showcasing 377 artworks together. My contributions were ‘Collaboration’ again and ‘Autumn Romance’ from my ‘rootworks – Wurzelwerke’ series. Once again I was deeply caught in the vibes, this time even with family supporters right on site attending the opening meetup on my behalf. All the impressions are quite so fresh, I don’t have words yet to describe.
Feel free to follow up Expo Metro on their social media channels, where currently step by step all event videos and pictures are published.
Since I joined the Expo Metro art movement, I have not only found a for me still accessible and manageable way to get exposure for my art, I actually found a community, connected with some truly inspiring artists, a movement with a philosophy I can truly identify with.
I received a lot of encouraging feedback about my art, even a few personal invitations from curators for certain art fairs, exhibition opportunities, gallery representation offers, participation in art books and art magazines. Though most of those opportunities are not feasible for me, I felt honoured and validated whenever I had direct mail exchanges with a curator genuinely interested my art.
The start of my journey with Expo Metro happened to a time when I struggled greatly to cope with the progression of my health condition and its highly challenging impact on my every day life.
A big advantage for me is, with the Expo Metro shows my art can travel the world, get some real exposure to real people without the difficulties and obstacles of shipment and travel arrangements for artworks and myself, what has become impossible to handle for me.
The participating artists are scattered around the world, many of them can’t make it in person to the art show meetups for diverse reasons, so connecting with each other online is rather the usual within the Expo Metro community.
The inclusion, the actual community, the spirit, the excitement, the feed back and recognition I felt around the Expo Metro events were healing balm for my battered soul. I’m grateful beyond words and very happy and proud to be part of the movement!
As for now I’m preparing for the next stop: Expo Metro Milan – Oct 26-27!
…and many more to come 🙂
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All about Expo Metro:
Explore everything about previous and upcoming art shows including open calls on their
official website www.expometro.co
Explore new artists and their works and follow up their event pictures, videos and live streams on
instagram @_expometro
Explore new artists and their works and follow up their event pictures and videos on
facebook @expometro
Explore all their event videos on
youtube @expometro