Artist Spotlight: Anonymous

In my last post I mentioned how much I love recognizing art history references in movies and TV shows. Well, I also love spotting art history in real life! One of my favorite places to test my eye is at Rochester Contemporary Art Center's (RoCo) 6x6 exhibition. 

photo by Gerry Szymanski

6x6x2015 is the 8th year of this amazing exhibition. Every year, thousands of individuals from all around the world submit their artwork to cover the walls of RoCo. The artworks are then sold for $20 each as part of RoCo's only fundraiser. Participants range from professional artists, to hobbyists, students, and children of all ages. All the artworks are hung anonymously and the artist's name is revealed to the buyer upon purchase.

6x6 is a really great concept because you are paying $20 whether your piece is by Nancy Jurs or Nancy from down the street – and you won’t know until you have already committed to the purchase. I love looking at all the sold stickers on the walls because it shows the diversity in how people value their $20. Sometimes people try to guess the professional artists, others make their decisions purely on personal taste, and others still are parents paying $20 for a crayon drawing by their own child because they know their money is ultimately a donation to an important not-for-profit art center in their community.

With such an abundance of contributing artists, it is inevitable that you will have a wide range of artistic visions and use of media. Cats and dogs are always a popular theme, but you are also guaranteed to find at least one recreation of a historic artwork. This year I spotted several art history references – can you name them all?

ANSWERS:

1. Indonesian Shadow Puppet (Wayang Kulit) (Similar)

2. American Gothic by Grant Wood (Art Institute of Chicago)

3. Venus of Willendorf (Woman of Willendorf) (in the collection of Vienna’s Natural History Museum)

4. Another American Gothic

5. The Son of Man by Magritte (private collection)  

6x6x2015 is coming up on its FINAL WEEKEND so you have to visit. . . like. . . NOW! On Saturday, July 11^th, RoCo is hosting a closing party from 6-9pm during which you can buy your artwork and take it home with you right then and there. The "Buy it now take it with you" campaign continues through the pick-up dates ending July 15th. Can’t make it to town? No worries! You can make purchases online and have them shipped right to you. You can even buy artworks from past 6x6 exhibitions! 

Helpful hint: The gallery automatically defaults to showing “For Sale” artworks, so if you want to see the entire collection, toggle to “All.”

Interested in participating next year? It's never too early to send in your entries for 6x6x2016, just scroll through the FAQ to learn how.

HEY ARTISTS! Are you influenced or inspired by historic art? Do you want your own Artist Spotlight? Send a proposal with examples of your work and your influences to boiledbunnies@gmail.com and you could be featured on the blog!