Keep on Moving!
On View: November 19th - December 6th, 2026
Opening Reception: November 19th, 2026, 6 - 8 pm
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(New York, NY — November 10th, 2026) — Van Der Plas Gallery is excited to present “Keep on Moving!”, a group exhibition opening November 19, 2026, celebrating the creativity and cultural significance of one of New York City's most recognizable objects: the MetroCard. Whether used as a canvas, a collage element, a symbol of urban identity, or a source of abstract expression, the iconic card serves as a point of connection for exploring the city's perpetual movement, shared experiences, and limitless artistic experimentation.
Introduced in 1994, the MetroCard became an essential part of daily life for millions. Its distinctive yellow-and-blue design came to symbolize a shared routine, uniting neighborhoods, cultures, and New Yorkers from all walks of life. For decades, it was more than a means of transportation; it was part of the everyday rhythm of the city, accompanying generations of New Yorkers on their journeys through its five boroughs.
With MetroCard sales officially discontinued on December 31, 2025, these once-ubiquitous objects have taken on new significance as artifacts of an iconic era. The artworks in “Keep on Moving!” preserve and reimagine this familiar material, transforming remnants of everyday urban life into lasting expressions of New York's cultural identity. While the city moves toward a new chapter in public transportation, these artists continue to find new ways to give the MetroCard a life beyond its original purpose.
Bringing together five artists who have explored the MetroCard as an artistic medium for years, the exhibition offers a range of interpretations through collage, mosaic, painting, assemblage, and wearable art. Each artist approaches the material differently, revealing its possibilities as both an artistic resource and a powerful symbol of the city. Together, their works explore themes of memory, sustainability, identity, migration, and the shared experiences that make New York unique.
Among the featured artists is Van Der Plas Gallery's own Juan Carlos Pinto, whose distinctive MetroCard mosaics have explored the intersection of art, social commentary, and environmental awareness for more than two decades. Beginning in 2002 as a response to rising subway fares, Pinto's practice transforms discarded transit cards into intricate portraits and compositions that celebrate the people, histories, and experiences of the city. His work reflects the resourcefulness and inventiveness at the heart of the exhibition.
“Keep on Moving!” celebrates not only an iconic object, but also the artists who recognized its creative potential long before it became a symbol of a disappearing era. In their hands, the MetroCard becomes something more than a reminder of where New Yorkers have been, it becomes an expression of who they are.
Nina Boesch
Nina Boesch began transforming discarded MetroCards into art in 2001, shortly after becoming acquainted with New York City's subway system. Having grown up in Germany, where recycling was an integral part of everyday life, she was struck by the thousands of abandoned transit cards scattered throughout subway stations. Rather than regard them as waste, she saw an opportunity to give them a second life.
Boesch cuts, sorts, and rearranges used MetroCards into intricate, mosaic-like collages depicting landmarks, city scenes, celebrities, and animals. Her works can incorporate thousands of individual pieces from hundreds of cards, with larger compositions requiring up to 100 hours to complete. Her practice has developed an international following, with exhibitions in galleries across the United States and Germany. Each work is unique, reflecting both the possibilities of recycled materials and the remarkable artistic potential of an everyday object.
Nina Vishneva
Nina Vishneva is an award-winning New York-based journalist, producer, and cultural commentator whose work explores the intersections of fashion, politics, identity, and urban culture. With more than 20 years of international reporting experience, she has covered major global events, presidential campaigns, United Nations summits, and international fashion weeks. She received an International Emmy for her reporting on 9/11.
Vishneva is also the creator of the MetroDress Project, an artistic exploration of New York's urban identity through wearable art made from used MetroCards. The concept emerged during the 2005 MTA strike, when she walked across Manhattan for three days and began imagining new possibilities for the discarded cards that had once carried her through the city after her move from Moscow to New York in the early 1990s.
Her first creation was a wedding dress made entirely from MetroCards. The collection has since expanded to include pieces such as If You See Something, Say Something, combining fashion, satire, and social commentary. Through MetroDress, Vishneva transforms an everyday transit object into a wearable expression of memory, reinvention, movement, and belonging.
Juan Carlos Pinto
Juan Carlos Pinto (b. 1968) is a Guatemalan-born artist and art historian based in New York City. Working across collage, mosaic, tile, and painting, Pinto frequently incorporates discarded materials collected from the streets of New York, including glass, plastic, pottery, and MetroCards. Migration is a recurring theme throughout his practice, often represented through birds and other motifs that reflect the movement of people and animals across borders and landscapes.
For more than two decades, Pinto has transformed recycled MetroCards into intricate mosaic portraits and compositions. His work combines environmental awareness with social commentary, addressing questions of migration, identity, and the place of the individual within society. Inspired in part by the birds he observes near his home in Brooklyn's Prospect Park, Pinto's work balances playfulness, cultural reflection, and a deep engagement with the world around him.
Victoria H. McKenzie
Victoria H. McKenzie is a New York-based artist living and working in the East Village. A graduate of Brown University, she also attended Parsons School of Design and studied privately with abstract-expressionist painter Beverly Brodsky. By day, McKenzie works as a graphic artist for ABC News. Her artistic practice reflects her engagement with the visual language of abstraction and the creative possibilities of familiar urban materials.
Thomas McKean
A native New Yorker, Thomas McKean is an artist known for his MetroCard collages and constructions, as well as his imaginative interpretations of New York City imagery. His work has been exhibited throughout the city, including solo exhibitions at Fishs Eddy in 2022 and the Garment District Alliance in 2023. McKean was invited to design a cover for Time Out and has been featured in The New York Times, Reuters, Channel 11, and New York Nico.
A published author of a dozen books, primarily for children, McKean brings a storyteller's sensibility to his visual work. His ongoing projects include the children's book Sneaky Snail Crosses MetroTown and a personal family history. Through his collages and constructions, he transforms recognizable elements of New York into playful, layered visual narratives.
Artist Biographies:
Selection of artworks:
