arteLOcura is a play on words, depending on how you emphasize it, it means „the crazy art“ or „the healing art“. In these times, contemporary art will have important socio-political tasks and challenges: documentation (for historical processing), clarification, accompaniment, moderation, pacification, motivation.

This is an OPEN CALL for photo artists. The tender is worldwide. Every artist (minimum age 18 years) with a personal professional website or represented by an art trading platform (saatchi or similar) can participate. You can take part with at least 1 and a maximum of 10 original photos (only JPEG, resolution 120> 300 dpi, file size 5> 7 MB).
DEADLINE: artwork number 120 or 30.01.2022 – 12am CET

Your work should be based on these challenges and make them pictorial in terms of contemporary photo art and history. More…

Artsurprise publishes the first Non Fungible Token (NFT) on the Etherium blockchain. This opens up new possibilities for all participating artists and for our collectors and art lovers.

On the one hand, Artsurprise can thus reach new agile customers in the global ecosystem of crypto currencies. On the other hand, we offer all participating artists in this social art project a new distribution channel. It is important to promote contemporary art – especially in these times – and to draw attention to it.

Have a look on mintable and get your first artsurprise NFT.

Behind the scenes The last 24 months have been very productive for the ARTSURPRISE project. On the one hand, other artists have shown an interest in the project and have in some cases already provided work samples; on the other hand, established artists have published new series. In addition, works that had already been submitted were registered and inventoried and finally published and distributed to the first locations.
For the initiator Juan Petry it was time again to continue his collage project Masterpieces of a Pilgrim. This series is based on paper collages that accompany the life of a concept artist: tears from newspapers, correspondence, documentaries, business records.

Assumptra Arasa Altimira is a Catalan artist. She currently lives secluded in a monastery and dedicates herself to the study of ancient scriptures nd the history of the monastery and the Monserrat region. Nevertheless, she completed a second edition of her Mediterranean Goddesses series for Artsurprise.

The Russian artist Elena Plötz (Petrovna Lasovskaya) has published another series in the drawing section: Women waiting in a row in front of the ladies‘ room.
The exceptionally talented draftsman has a keen eye for the hilarious in everyday life. She confidently captures this humor in her drawings in just a few sure lines.

Juan Petry travels regularly to Romania and takes part in social art and cultural projects. In Ciocanesti near Buckarest he offered a literature workshop for girls only as part of a summer school. The chronically underfunded private initiative APEAL, an association for the promotion of young people in the Dromboviza region, had a sponsor who dropped out shortly before the workshop began. Petry financed the course and stay for the young people and collected small drawings by the young authors. These were made in preparation for the poetry, rhyme and theme lessons. After 3 years, the 120 works are now published in ARTSURPRISE. The proceeds finance the extracurricular training and set an example: where there is a will, there is a way.

Creatives from Lithuania, Slovakia, Russia, Germany, Romania and other countries have contributed and published well over 2000 new works. In the ARTSURPRISE project, these people are all connected in a large social sculpture, together with those who will be happy about one of these works of art.

When Arta arrived in CASAdelDRAGON in Spain, she was attracted by the idea to spend a few weeks in the creative hotspot of the region, the art camp, the color garden and the artist residence itself.

Trying to find a good place in these days might be a challenge for quite a lot of people moving in 2020 and ff. through Europe and the rest of the world. Obviously Arta found her setting.

Over the last 36 years the house of the dragon was visited by many creatives from all over the world. Behind each visit was a story, sometimes they decided to move on, sometimes they spend some time in the village, the house, the garden. Sometimes they came for art, sometimes for studies, sometimes for retreats, sometimes for curiosity.

In case of Arta it looked like following the flow. She belongs to a new generation of multi-cultural-proofed highly mobile life-entrepreneurs passing in their lifes through many challenges. On their way a clear direction may be unvisible, but especially from north estern countries coming, they are following a inner compass to navigate to peace, happiness and success. And this success is nowadays more driven by quality of life then by quantity of money.

Some visitors of the CASAdelDRAGON consider the influence of this house in terms of culture and art in the village and the region and they calculate the impact for the society. As always there is a story behind, and hidden in the history of this village, as well as the whole country, there is many more to say about the beauty and power of the locals and this village in the mountains of El Maestrazgo.

Part of the CASAdelDRAGON is the art gallery in the basement. SINCE 2007 more than 30 exhibitions took place. Inbetween it is a studio, to work out new projects or a room for performance and music or literature events.

ARTSURPRISE.EU is one spin-off of this think tank and artist residence and Arta liked the idea to work out her first series for this project as well.

The open art space of CASAdelDRAGON has no strict agenda for the future.. There is always space for improvisation, sponaniouse ideas. So we implemented a show of the last 14 years and mounted some sketches of Arta like a spring moving into the heaven. The exhibition „Las ultimas horas“ was even visited in the hardest times in 2020/2021. And it attrakted even many kids joining the projekt „the exhibition in the museum in the exhibition“ which was part of this show.

Again and again this open house challenges its residents. Again and again it questions values and ideas. And again and again it forces people to pause and rearrange themselves. And again and again it surprises its visitors, opens horizons and opportunities.

If you want to seize a new opportunity, you first have to let go of the old one completely . Then you can grab it with both hands.

Everyone in the Casa was delighted to be able to participate in this development. In the end, Arta was a resident of the CASAdelDRAGON for eight months, helped to shape it and left a lot of traces.

It’s the end of this article, it’s definitely not the end of this story.