
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.