The Holy Art Story: From One London Exhibition To 25,000 Artists In Nine Cities

The Holy Art Story: From One London Exhibition To 25,000 Artists In Nine Cities

Every gallery has a story. This is the story of The Holy Art, how it grew from a single London exhibition into one of the largest contemporary art platforms for emerging artists in the world, and how that story now includes Streeters Gallery and Mostra.

November 2020: a gallery opens against the odds

The Holy Art was founded in London in November 2020 by Evelyn Tsekoura, who serves as Senior Curator, running the gallery alongside co-director Angelos Tsekouras. Opening a gallery in late 2020, in the middle of a global pandemic that had shut most of the art world down, was either terrible timing or perfect timing. It turned out to be the second.

The founding idea was simple and, at the time, almost contrarian: exhibitions should be open. Not open in the marketing sense, but structurally open. Any artist, from anywhere, at any career stage, could submit work. Selection would be based on the work alone. No CV requirements, no gallery connections, no degree filters.

The traditional gallery world called that model naive. Twenty five thousand exhibited artists later, it looks less naive.

The growth: nine cities in six years

From London, The Holy Art expanded city by city: New York, Tokyo, Paris, Milan, Athens, Barcelona, Amsterdam and Brighton. Nine cities across three continents, each with its own exhibitions, venues and local audiences, all connected to one network.

Along the way the numbers compounded. Over 400 exhibitions produced. Over 25,000 artists exhibited, many for the first time in their lives, from more than 100 countries. A community that now stands at over 245,000 Instagram followers and 180,000+ mailing list subscribers: collectors, curators, art advisors and enthusiasts who follow the programme across cities.

The model stayed the same throughout: free to submit, curated selection, transparent exhibition fees, physical and digital formats, and zero commission on sales, so every artist keeps 100 percent of everything they sell.

Why the model works

The traditional gallery system serves a small number of artists brilliantly and everyone else not at all. Representation goes to perhaps one percent of working artists, selected largely through networks. The other ninety nine percent were told to wait until they were discovered.

The Holy Art inverted that. Instead of a small roster and high commissions, it built a high volume, low barrier, zero commission platform where the gallery earns from producing exhibitions rather than from taking a share of artists' sales. That aligned the gallery's incentive with the artists' success: the better the shows, the stronger the audience, the more artists apply, the better the next shows.

Six years of compounding later, that flywheel is the network.

2025: Streeters Gallery

The next chapter was a second gallery with its own personality. Streeters Gallery launched as the sister gallery of The Holy Art, focused on weekend group shows in London, Paris and New York: Friday opening night, weekend public days, rawer energy, tighter format.

Streeters also pushed exhibitions beyond gallery walls. A Times Square big screen showcase in New York, where 40 artists at a time share a screen in the middle of Manhattan, has sold out repeatedly. Billboard showcases in Kings Cross and Notting Hill give a single artist the entire London screen for 30 seconds at a time, around 21 plays a day.

The demand followed the same pattern as the parent gallery: the September 2026 Streeters London show sold out ahead of its dates, prompting new dates for November 6 to 8, alongside the New York show in Tribeca at 101 Reade St on November 20 to 23.

The marketplace: Mostra

The third piece answered the question artists kept asking: what about selling between exhibitions? Mostra, built by The Holy Art, is a marketplace where artists open their own studio, list unlimited work and sell directly to collectors with zero commission, paid directly through Stripe. One flat membership, no percentage taken, ever. Artists who exhibit through the galleries use Mostra as their permanent shopfront; collectors who discover an artist at a show have somewhere to buy all year round.

Exhibitions, public screens, direct sales. One network covering the full life of an artwork.

What the story means for an artist applying today

When you submit to The Holy Art or Streeters Gallery today, you are not applying to an experiment. You are applying to a system refined across six years, 400+ exhibitions and 25,000+ artists, with a documented audience, published pricing, written terms and a track record you can verify yourself.

And the founding idea has never changed: the work decides. Not the CV, not the connections, not the degree. Bring the work.

Frequently asked questions

Who founded The Holy Art? The Holy Art was founded in London in November 2020 by Evelyn Tsekoura, Senior Curator, and is run alongside co-director Angelos Tsekouras.

How many artists has The Holy Art exhibited? Over 25,000 artists across more than 400 exhibitions since 2020.

Which cities does The Holy Art operate in? London, New York, Tokyo, Paris, Milan, Athens, Barcelona, Amsterdam and Brighton.

What is the connection between The Holy Art and Streeters Gallery? Streeters Gallery is the sister gallery of The Holy Art, launched in 2025, running weekend shows in London, Paris and New York plus Times Square and London billboard showcases. The collector network is shared.

What is Mostra? Mostra is the zero commission online marketplace built by The Holy Art, where artists sell work directly to collectors and keep 100 percent of every sale.

Does The Holy Art take commission on sales? No. Commission is zero across The Holy Art, Streeters Gallery and Mostra.

Be part of the next chapter

The Holy Art: rolling open calls across nine cities, free to submit.

Streeters Gallery: London November 6 to 8, New York Tribeca November 20 to 23, Times Square and London billboards.

Mostra: your studio, your collectors, your full sale.

Six years in, the story is still being written by the artists who apply.