From collectors’ item to art form: Topps showcases card culture

ADVERTISEMENT: To mark the launch of the new Topps Chrome UEFA Club Competitions 2025-26, Topps is bringing the fascination of modern trading cards to life in London – with art installations, rare cards, and prominent guests such as Robert Pires and Myles Lewis-Skelly. Representing Germany, collector and marker artist Ivan Beslic is contributing, among other works, a portrait of German football talent Lennart Karl to the international exhibition.

Limited designs, premium materials, and embedded jersey pieces – trading cards are now more than just items to swap and collect; they have evolved into an artistic form of expression within sports and pop culture. Topps tapped into this trend for the launch of Topps Chrome UEFA Club Competitions 2025/26 and hosted the Chrome Gallery in London on May 7 and 8.

The curated exhibition showcased the stories, emotions, and cultural references behind modern trading cards. Art installations, rare cards, immersive storytelling spaces, and specially created artworks brought the passion for collecting to life in its many different forms – from a child’s first favorite player in their bedroom to a limited-edition card as a highly sought-after collector’s item.

Ivan Beslic interprets rookie Lennart Karl as Germany’s contribution

Germany’s contribution to the international Chrome Gallery came from Ivan Beslic of Düsseldorf. The passionate collector and artist was represented with three artworks created במיוחד for the exhibition. His pieces interpreted players from the Rookie Class, through which Topps shines a spotlight on standout young talents. Featured were German international Lennart Karl, Brazilian dribbler Estêvão Willian of Chelsea FC, and the Rookie Cards logo. The works were created with markers on paper and are visually inspired by nineties hip-hop.

“It was only a matter of time before trading cards made it into an art gallery and found the right setting there. Every card is a work of art in itself – regardless of whether it was painted, assembled in software, or created from photographs. Every single card has its own design with a creative source behind it. It’s great to see more support in that direction,” explained Ivan Beslic. “Four years ago, Topps launched Project 2020, in which 22 artists painted a total of 220 images. Artistic projects like that are fantastic. I’d love to see more of them. And it’s not just about the people painting the images, but also the creative minds behind a card, whom you’d really like to get to know better.”

In addition to emerging players, the exhibition also honored other active and former footballers with artistic exhibits and interactive elements. The installation “Budapest at Night,” for example, let visitors experience the city of the Champions League final through a telescope. Looking through it, they could see portraits of various Champions League stars in the night lights of Budapest. A mirrored booth filled with Chrome Cards translated the dynamism and intensity of the collecting passion into a spatial experience. A large-scale anime-style ceiling painting drew on motifs from a Chrome Cards design series.

Other highlights included rare and one-of-a-kind 1/1 cards, as well as “chasing the rainbow” cards, which feature the same player image in different colors. 

Guests at the Chrome Gallery included World Cup and European Championship winner Robert Pires and current Champions League finalist Myles Lewis-Skelly of Arsenal FC. Both had a special connection to the installation “The Rookie’s Bedroom,” which explored the starting point of many football careers and collecting passions: the childhood bedroom, where young fans dream of big moments.

German creator and collecting fan Aaron Troschke visited the Chrome Gallery and knows how, for many players, the circle later closes: “A lot of players used to collect cards themselves, pulling their idols and dreaming of one day being on a card like that. And then suddenly they become part of a Chrome set. That’s a crazy full-circle moment – from collector to player on your own card.”

From the childhood bedroom to the art gallery: Topps’ Chrome Gallery showed how trading cards have evolved from classic fan items into cultural collectibles. At the intersection of football, art, and pop culture, they become motifs, memories, and forms of expression for a global fan culture.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.