The story behind street artist Greg Goya’s Porsche Valentine’s Day performance
The art of romance, Porsche-style, in Verona
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An expression of love in the city of Romeo & Juliet. How street artist, Greg Goya, allowed the people of Verona to declare their love for each other – and Porsche – with a unique Valentine’s performance art project
Love was in the air – and in the Porsche 911 – this Valentine’s Day. In a unique artistic performance, Porsche collaborated with cult Italian street artist, Greg Goya to allow people to express their love for their partners, families or friends… and Porsche too. Greg’s Fast Art concept has gained him millions of fans, transforming public spaces all over the world into interactive, pop-up art installations. Love, passion, thoughtfulness and kindness is at heart of much of what he does, making him the perfect candidate for a performance which he dubbed ‘Love Rider’. Tell us a bit about yourself and your ‘Fast Art’ concept, Greg.“Fast Art was born from a burning need to carve out my own path and create a truly unique artistic language. I wanted my art, whether it appeared on the street, in a gallery, museum, or – why not – even on a car to never be confined by established genres like street art or performance art, which have already been extensively explored by great masters.”Acclaimed street artist, Greg Goya, in Verona, Italy as he presented a special Valentine’s Day performance featuring a red Porsche 911 Carrera S Cabriolet Photo: Porsche“My style is a hybrid, a true mosaic, drawing from street art, performance art, large installations and interactive art. But the true essence of Fast Art – or arte veloce as we say in Italian – lies precisely in its speed. It’s fast because it cuts straight to the heart, aiming to spark an emotion instantly. Fast. “I was born and raised in an era where emotions travel at lightning speed. I’m a child of the social media generation, dating apps, ‘swipe left’ loves. Since every art form, in my opinion, interprets its own time, it’s crucial to represent what surrounds us, neither condemning nor idolising it, but simply telling its story. It’s why I craved an art that could reach people with the same immediacy as scrolling through social feeds. The goal of Fast Art is always the same – to trigger an emotion in mere seconds. From there, it’s up to the viewer’s sensitivity, capacity or simple willingness to delve deeper into the work and access more profound, lasting emotions.”One of the features of Greg’s work are the phrases that adorn it. Here he adds one to the front of the 911 Carrera S Cabriolet as the Valentine’s Day crowd in the Piazza dei Signori in Verona look on Photo: PorscheTell us about Love Rider – the Porsche Valentine’s Day project. What’s the concept, Greg?“It’s about reinterpreting Porsche values and translating its design language through my artistic lens. For the Love Rider project specifically, we’re talking about a red 911 Carrera S Cabriolet. From the very beginning, my creative vision centred not just on artistically articulating the brand’s core values, it was about positioning the car itself as the undisputed protagonist of the artistic installation.“The nature of this project didn’t take on a sculptural and static form, as often happens with many of my pieces. Instead, it embraced a performative identity. For me, it was incredibly fascinating to transform a vehicle primarily designed for movement – one that in its functional essence champions speed as the ultimate expression of its performance – into a true object of design. Here, aesthetics and the emotions it conveys truly come to the fore. That aligns perfectly with my own artistic sensibility.”How did you develop the performance?“Love Rider comes to life around a parked Porsche 911 Carrera S Cabriolet. Its trunk houses a special mailbox, filled with postcards. We invited the public to approach the car, pick up a postcard and write their own message of love. Each postcard becomes a vehicle of affection, with spaces for sender, recipient and a personal message, awaiting completion. Afterwards, these postcards were posted and sent.“The entire performance is a manifesto for launching and sharing love, not just from Verona – the physical heart of the event – but reaching every corner of the globe. The involvement of people from every nationality amplifies its global scope, giving it an even more romantic breadth. It united many languages, countless expressions and diverse cultures under the banner of love.“The postcards contrast with the essence of this particular sportscar – something designed for speed, devouring distances and reaching a destination quickly. The cabin of this fast machine has been transformed into the custodian of a deliberately slower means of communication. It’s not a WhatsApp or an SMS, it’s a postcard. It demands the physical act of mailing it, the waiting for its dispatch, the hope that it will reach its destination. This is love sent with extreme slowness and extreme care. It all boils down to one concept – fast cars for slow loves.”One of the primary goals of the Porsche Valentine’s Day performance was to get people to slow down and take their time by grabbing a special Greg Goya-designed postcard and writing a message to a loved one Photo: PorscheWhy did you choose this particular 911 for this performance? “I specifically requested a red 911 Carrera S Cabriolet – precisely that model, that colour.Every single detail in this car reflects the concept I wanted to convey through my performance, because my vision was absolute. I wanted to use the purest Porsche icon, the symbol that more than any other embodies its history and design. I chose it to saturate the performance with every possible artistic connotation, to make it recognisable, iconic and stunningly beautiful just by looking at it, even before you turn on its engine. The 911 had to be, right from the start, my perfect artistic medium.“And the red? It’s my signature, the vibrant hue that runs through every one of my creations, but it’s also the universal colour of love and passion. For a work born to celebrate love, it was crucial that every fibre of the performance, every single nuance, shouted this concept with all its intensity, through the car’s colour.”Do you see a link between the emotions that your art generates in people with what people feel when they see a Porsche? “Yes, it’s a perfectly aligned picture. The 911 isn’t a casual detail. It was placed in Piazza dei Signori, Verona – a city intrinsically tied to love, the homeland of Romeo and Juliet, and one that attracts couples from all over the world.“And the car itself, an icon in its own right, in its vibrant red – the colour of love and passion – transforms into a work of art. The entire performance, in fact, is an ode to love. Our desire was to infuse an exaggerated romanticism, almost ‘syrupy sweet’ in its fullest expression, to ensure that this emotion would spread in all its beauty.”How do you come up with the short phrases that have become your Fast Art trademark?“All my Fast Art pieces are born from stories. Every single piece has a story to tell. Sometimes I draw from my own personal experiences, from emotions and moments I’ve lived first-hand. Other times, the inspiration comes from the emotional journeys of friends, collaborators or even complete strangers who, through a conversation, offer me ideas for a figurative reinterpretation. “The beautiful thing – or maybe the flaw – of this work is that you eventually start thinking in images. So, a new love, a break-up or a bereavement that someone tells me about inevitably transforms into Fast Art, because those intense emotions demand to be visualised.”Thousands of visitors lined up in the rain in Verona – the city where Shakespeare set Romeo & Juliet – to write messages of love and friendship, that Porsche then posted Photo: PorscheYour work creates an emotional response in people. How does that make you feel?“It’s truly intense to see how people choose to expose themselves to others’ judgment, either in person or even on social media. In fact, when you give away your emotions or the details of your life to the hundreds of people who come to an installation, or even to the millions of people online, you’re so vulnerable, yet simultaneously so strong. “There’s probably a real need on people’s part to be heard, to have a platform, a safe space, where they can share these powerful moments and emotions.”Who are your street art heroes?“I grew up watching the greats of street art, like Banksy, Obey, Invader. All that art that, when I was 12 or 13 years old, was just cool – because at that age, you want to look at the artist and find them awesome. As I grew up and my art developed, I started to study it more, and certainly within Fast Art, there’s so much from Marina Abramović’s artistic research on the performative, Yoko Ono’s on the interactive and Andy Warhol’s when it comes to the communicative aspect. Ultimately, every artist, every person, is made of influences and derives from that.”Would you like to paint a Porsche art car in the future?“That would be incredibly stimulating, without a shadow of a doubt. The car presents a challenging surface to work on. You’re not simply painting on a blank canvas, it’s a canvas that carries its own profound history, rich heritage and engineering finesse – qualities that have collectively made this 911 so iconic. “As a great admirer of automotive design, I recognise the powerful emotional connection it evokes in people. For me, it would be a significant artistic responsibility to undertake.”
Consumption and emission information911 Carrera S Cabriolet
(WLTP): Fuel consumption combined: 10.5 – 10.3 l/100 km; CO₂ emissions combined: 240 – 235 g/km; CO₂ class: .
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