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OpenArtExchange is a young and fast growing, independent international art gallery, founded in 2018, with a 600 m2 art space in the museum quarters of Schiedam (Rotterdam-region). It aims to be a platform where non-western, professional artists could exhibit high quality, contemporary art along with their Western peers, all building onto healthy international careers. We promote and sell our collection, consisting of paintings, drawings, collages, sculptures and occasionally installations and photography, via several channels mainly within Europe. These channels range from offline (gallery, art fairs and festivals), to online (own website/ social media and 3rd party art platforms Artsy and ArtNet/ArtNet Auctions).

For art lovers this translates into a fine collection of African contemporary art within a reasonable price range, from internationally acknowledged artists mainly from Angola, Congo, Nigeria and Benin, next to contemporary art from seasoned western oriented artists mainly from the Netherlands.

We bring to Lille ArtUp! a great selection of mainly contemporary African art in varying sizes from a mix of emerging African artists and some more seasoned ones. Most of these works were created recently for the exposition “The lightness of being” reflecting on a sobering of the mind after more than 2 years of pandemic. A revaluation of the simple life steering away from consumerism and the endless need for growth. Going back to the core of being. A return to the warmth of close kin, re-discovering the joys of belonging, the beauty of nature, enjoying the small gestures of life, the sun on your face. Also a return to experimenting with beautiful forms, colors and light, rich textures and intuitive painting styles for the mere sake of enjoying it.

Like the impressionist painted their most delightful paintings full of light and happiness against the backdrop of one of the most bloodiest periods in Paris. Like Milan Kundera’s heroes in “The unbearable lightness of being” found their way back to love in the countryside against the backdrop of the violent repression of the Prague Spring revolution.