Two years ago, I got hooked on the
annual 6x6 exhibit at the Rochester Contemporary Art Center (RoCo),
when I went for the first time with my friend Luci, and then again
with my Florida friend, Nanette, and I bought a couple of paintings,
as did they. That year, I didn't attend until well into the run of
the exhibit, so most of what appealed to me already had red “sold”
stickers. But oddly, not all! I guess when there are thousands of
items to choose from, there's something for everyone, with some left
over. Last year, I made a point to go to the preview, and scope out
the art, noting the numbers of the pieces I particularly liked on a
map of the gallery. I recognized some by Melissa Matson, principal
violist of the RPO (her work is hard to miss – it often has little
threads hanging from it). I couldn't go to the Saturday opening
night, and by the time I arrived Sunday a little before the doors
opened at 1pm (I was third in line), most of the ones I considered
‘the best’ were gone. I think there were at least three dozen I
would have purchased if I’d had the opportunity. Still, I managed
to find six that I didn't want to regret not purchasing (including
one of Matson's), and a seventh that I knew Nanette would love.
This is again preview week – opening
night is this Saturday (and again, I can't attend). At the event, you
can buy raffle tickets, and the drawing entitles the winners to early
purchasing, before RoCo opens it up to the crowd. New this year is a
larger work donated by George Condo. The gallery is raffling that for
$40 a ticket, and only selling 150 tickets. And more intriguing to
me, minimalist composer Philip Glass has donated a 6x6! What a
surprise that will be for the lucky purchaser.
Cataloguing the submissions in May
This year there are fewer artworks in
total, but more individuals represented (roughly 3000), because the
gallery limited submissions to four per person (down from six per
person last year). And new countries are represented by the artists,
including Zambia, Nepal, and Bhutan! I can't imagine how people in
those countries would even find out about this exhibit, let alone
have the resources to submit a piece of work. It certainly would be
fun to be the purchaser of one of their works and email them to thank
them. It's remarkable how RoCo has created a local exhibit with such global reach, and kept the artwork within reach of most purchasers (each work is only $20).
I visited the gallery and wrote down
about a dozen pieces I'd love to own. I'm sure I'll line up again on
Sunday to take my chances, and I'm just as sure that there will be at
least a half dozen that I end up with, even if they're not the ones I
initially coveted (most of which I can guarantee will be sold), since they're tiny – you can put them
anywhere. Although now that i'm amassing a collection, I’m
going to need a new wall to hang them all on!
No comments:
Post a Comment