How do you
bring art to the people; and who are the ‘people’
anyway? Well they’re us; you, me, all of us. Now that
we know who, how about how? Well, now we know that too.
Opened by the Danish Ambassador to Holland, John
Bernhard, who noted, "This is the largest
exhibition I’ve ever opened!" The 2020 VISIONS DK
exhibition at the King Street Gallery runs until 19
October and has more than 2,200 paintings by over 220
hundred artists.
This
exhibition is a one-stop shop where you can buy a
painting and have it framed on the spot before taking it
home. Priced between €20 and €136, all the paintings
are 20 x 20 cm and displayed, freestanding, on a trellis
framework like a huge mosaic. As you are encouraged to
touch, and even move the pieces, the exhibition changes
from hour to hour as the public move through. The range
of styles and mediums is equally impressive, including
works by artists such as Debbie Gledorf.
This
is the first exhibition of its kind at the King Street
Gallery and owners, Andrew Jones, Rita Dennehy and
co-curator Thomas Moore certainly see it as an exciting
way forward. "We try different kinds of art here.
We’ve always wanted to bring art to the people and
give opportunities to artists that don’t fit into
mainstream galleries," Andrew tells me. "We
aim to be international; this works as most of our
support comes from the international community rather
than the Dutch art community." Rita added, "We
set out to expand people’s feeling for art which is
why we do things like the 2020 VISIONS DK
exhibition."
The
2020 artists also have a mission; to spread the interest
of art throughout society, give a broad range of
experiences to viewing, change the ‘normal’ way of
understanding art in a joyful and creative way and to
create projects and forums where artists can meet.
Artist Bo Skjoldager explains, "We have a very
simple goal here; to spread interest in art and to break
the exclusivity of it – art is for everybody; it’s
social."
Artist
Lotte Seir adds, "For the people who attend its
nice. When you come into our gallery there is nobody
telling you which painting is ‘art’. We think that
when people are not ‘told what they see’ this makes
people’s eyes better equipped to look at art."
It’s also fun for the artists. "Every artist can
get the pleasure of exhibiting and, maybe, selling. The
money goes directly to the artist. It costs very little
to participate because there is no one taking commission
or trying to make a lot of money on it."
If
you’re an artist and want to participate in the next
2020 VISIONS DK exhibition there is a sign–up sheet at
the King Street gallery for the duration of the
exhibition.
2020
VISIONS DK „CELEBRATING THE PAINTING 2004"
Runs
until Tuesday 19 October
King’s
Street Gallery
Koningsstraat
37, Amsterdam.
Tel:
(020) 442 0699
www.kingsstreetgallery.org
or www.2020visions.dk
