We’re hosting an art expo during a pandemic. True story.

Sidney Vollmer
4 min readOct 6, 2020

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Design by Boris Rijksen, based on design by Delia Mennell

27 artists made art on the virus or on quarantine. Come see, buy and support their work at Chateau.Amsterdam, October 21st 2020.

In March, we took it upon ourselves to organise the first post-pandemic art expo. Because art is vital. Because artists can use all the support they can get. And because it gave us a nice dot on the horizon to work towards.

Even though the end of the pandemic is not in sight, we’ve decided now’s the time to host the expo. In real life first, and digitally after.

Because: who knows how long all of this will last? In the meantime, we can all use a shot of art and a good glass of wine– socially distanced.

And those artists can use a little pick-me-up, too.

From sculptors to audio designers, from photographers to art directors: 27 artists participated. And we’re very thankful for their efforts. They made silk screen prints, photos, audio installations, illustrations, digital compositions and many other beautiful things. Over 70 different pieces, reflecting their views on the virus or on the lockdown.

(I’m pretty sure I’ll buy at least one piece myself. Won’t tell you what, yet. We have a bidding process in place…)

Good stuff, Sid. Did you make something, too?

Together with artist Jarr Geerligs, I’ve also created art. For the first time in our lives, Jarr and I made silk screen prints together. A diptych and three standalone pieces. A2, all in very limited editions (4 or 8 pieces) signed and numbered. Here are two of them:

I Was Alive pt. 1/2 diptych. Goldpaint on 220 grams Italian A2 paper, 50x60. Design, concept & production: Jarr Geerligs & Sidney Vollmer
I Was Not Alive pt. 2/2 diptych. Goldpaint on 220 grams A2 paper, 50x60. Design, concept & production: Jarr Geerligs & Sidney Vollmer

These will be sold for €200/pair, unframed, 5 editions.

All other art pieces, all 70 of them are for sale too– at quite affordable prices. (I have been pushing all these artists to ante up their prices. But modest as artists usually are: they kept their work very affordable. Hence our bidding mechanism ;-)

Proceeds (-10% handling) will go directly to them– or to a charity of their choice.

Want to see previous work by all participants? Click here, or check out our Instagram, where we introduce each artist.

You can reserve a ticket by clicking this link. But hurry: there are only 90 tickets.

How to buy your very own piece of corona art:

We’ve created a booklet for all guests at the event, explaining the bidding process. Each booklet has a form you can write your bid and contact details on. After you tear the form out, drop it in a box. The highest bid wins. It’s that simple. We will be in touch after the event to sort out the payments and deliveries, the latter of which will be the artist’s responsibility.

Unsold pieces will likely be made available through our website afterwards.

Some logistics

When was this again?

OCTOBER 21ST: OPENING NIGHT
(14:30 private viewing + “borrel” for participating artists)
16:30 time slot 1
18:30 time slot 2
20:30 time slot 3

30 guests per time slot, pay what you like upon leaving
Every guest receives a free glass of wine courtesy of Chateau Amsterdam. Reserve your ticket here (max. 2 p.p.).

These October 21st spots will fill up quickly. After we sell out opening night, we suggest buying a ticket for a wonderful Tour & Tasting at Chateau Amsterdam using this link. You get to taste unlimited Chateau Amsterdam wines and see all art at the same time. (What’s not to like?!) Use discount code CREATEDXCHATEAU for a 10% discount.

OCTOBER 22nd — OCTOBER 25th
Ticket purchase required — including tour & wine tasting.
6 paid time slots available at Chateau.Amsterdam, use discount code CREATEDXCHATEAU for a 10% discount (normal price €29,50).

Naturally, we’ll follow the guidelines prescribed by the RIVM: regular sanitation, one way routing and distancing. A face mask is not mandatory. Nor is gasping at all efforts by the artists– but we’re pretty sure it will be appreciated.

order tickets here: http://bit.ly/CDCEXPO

It has been quite an adventure to pull this off. Without art directors Delia Mennell and Jessica Walker, this would not have been possible.

I also want to thank our amazing freelance event producer Sonja Prins and of course the magnificent team at Chateau Amsterdam; in particular Leonard, Siegert, Tom, and of course Remy, Marieke and Karin.

Please come along. Visit Chateau Amsterdam, be amazed by the beautiful art made by artists you may have never heard of, enjoy the good things of life, and buy a piece to remember this insane pandemic.

Sidney.

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Sidney Vollmer
Sidney Vollmer

Written by Sidney Vollmer

Creative/Strategist. Focused on connecting creativity and climate. ₿ hodl’er since '12. Portfolio at sidneyvollmer.com