So Covid-19 #9 has been included in a virtual exhibition, the Covid-19 Artwork Showcase, presented in conjunction with Fortune Live Media’s Health Brainstorm Virtual Event which opens tomorrow and runs for three days. I think it sounds pretty cool to be part of an exhibition of international artwork & artists put on by a major media force like Fortune Magazine’s live media branch.
In addition to this event, I’ve also been invited to contribute work to virtual exhibitions and archives including the Women’s Art Museum of Canada, the Immortal Artist’s Pandemic Archive Project, a residency project organized by artist Pamela Moon, Life As We Know It: 2 Meters Apart, and to various institutions actively soliciting archive material documenting the pandemic.
The question is, without the personal interaction of hanging the work in a physical space and interacting with viewers at an opening event, do these virtual exhibitions have the same impact for you as an artist or as a viewer? The reach they can have is far greater than a physical exhibition, and I have had people across the globe reach out to me, but is the impact of the encounter as potent when we cannot be physically present?
I will be curious to see what sort of long term response comes out of these virtual exhibitions.