Cow Parade is
the world's largest public travelling art exhibition.
The theme of this
exhibition is the cow.
Life-sized cow plastics are used as art objects,
offering a vast range of opportunities to the creative talents of the artist.
Whether as a New York taxi, a map or a Van Gogh painting - the cow appears to us
in many funny and bizarre forms. Many have tried to copy the concept of the Cow
Parade using different animals, but none have had the same level of success.
What is it that makes cows so fascinating? Cows may be bulky and large,
but anything other than threatening. They are measured and laid back, look funny
and give us milk which, for humans, makes a direct link to the natural action of
a mother. In other words: Everyone loves cows!
The first Cow Parade took
place in Switzerland in 1998. The father of the idea was Walter Knapp from
Zürich and his son Pascal Knapp, a well-known Swiss artist. He designed the
three original sculptures. The basic concept of the Cow Parade is to present the
cow in a way which is accessible to everyone. People should see that art is fun,
accessible and does not always belong in a museum. Cow Parade brings art onto
the streets: a city park, large square or even a pedestrian precinct can act as
an exhibition area.
In the meantime, the life-size cows of the Cow
Parade have been seen in Chicago, New York and also in Germany.
The Cow
Parade is financed by the host city and local companies help the event by
sponsoring the cows.
Besides professional artists, lay artists also have
the possibility of creating a cow. Before any Cow Parade an appeal is made
giving everyone the chance to provide a work and prove their merit as an artist.
At the end of any Cow Parade, many of the cows are auctioned off and the
proceeds go to local charity projects.
The colourful cows are a constant
attraction and awaken a desire to possess some of these plastics oneself. This
is now no longer a problem.
As a company in the USA has produced
miniature reproductions of these artworks in ceramic, the cows have now come
across the pond and are now also available in Germany.
Cow Parade - a
co(w)lourful collection for your private mooseum.
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