For those of you who don’t know me personally, I’m a fine artist (majored in Sculpture & Extended Media at VCU) and have used Blender for the past year-and-a-half to digitally supplement my imagination and I absolutely love it!
Anyways, due largely to COVID, a lot of brick-and-mortar exhibitions are off the table this year for myself and other sculptors, so I’m looking for a creative way to keep my portfolio looking healthy even though the real-world opportunities are scarce.
In the past when I wanted to display my work publically, instead of waiting for an opportunity to come along, I created my own opportunities by offering to curate for a handful of local galleries/event spaces and inserting myself into the mix with the other artists. So in these times of social distancing, I thought: why not create and extend the same sort of opportunity for my fellow 3D artists?
So—the idea goes like this: I’m creating a virtual gallery space in Blender, signing out rooms to maybe around 4 or 5 interested parties whose work bounces off each other in an interesting, cohesive manner, titling the exhibition, and presenting it online, perhaps through images on a dedicated Instagram page, or even (ideally) explorable in VR. There will be a FB page too and considering other platforms. If enough people show interest, it could also be ongoing, with exhibitions that switch out over the months. Sounds pretty awesome if you ask me!
So, this is my first official invite to you all! I’m looking for approximately four or five artists (for the first event) who are interested in contributing 3D sculptures and installations to this virtual gallery.
So what am I looking for? That’s up to you! Anything interesting, powerful, conceptual, or strange enough to stop someone in their digital tracks. No characters or traditional 3D modeling. Think: something you would see at the MoMA or similar fine art exhibition space. I’m talking dream-like forms/abstractions, strange objects arranged meticulously, absurd spatial/object contrasts, illusory or impossible objects, if you have 2D work/paintings—that would be a cinch to photoscan in and model into framed work too! It could be glitchy and completely break from realism. It could be a warpy McDonalds sippy cup with rose petals shooting out the top. It could be completely aesthetic OR a bold political statement that critiques Last-Stage Capitalism. I want to see and share your imaginations run wild. Each artist will provide a statement for their piece or installation as well.
Once your proposal is accepted I will send you your virtual room (they will be very simple) and allow you to have at it for a gracious amount of time (about 45-60 days or so?).
What you get out of it is the same thing I do: a little unofficial/official something that will hopefully help add a little pizazz to your resumes.
Message me right away if you’re interested 
Ideally, you should send me at least a proposal for your installation, how many pieces you want to contribute, the concept if applicable, past work if relevant, etc. etc.
If you want visual inspiration, take a look at contemporary sculptor Carsten Höller’s 2016 installation at Gagosian Gallery. So much of his physical work could easily be 3D renders:
— https://gagosian.com/artists/carsten-holler/
Or my all-time favorite, Anicka Yi, who pushes the boundaries of conceptual art:
— https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/14/t-magazine/art/anicka-yi.html
— https://47canal.us/artists/anicka-yi
Hope to hear back from some of you!
John
www.generic.fit