Rochester Contemporary Art Center
137 East Avenue
Rochester, New York
6x6x2015
I was looking at a six inch by six inch assemblage that included two burnt out candles on top of a thermostat in this most recent edition of RoCo's famous fundraiser: 6x6x2015. I said to a visitor standing next to me, " I thought these pieces of art all had to be anonymous - but this one is signed and it says Honeywell". And he said to me, " I just like this show, there are different degrees of life and they are all here". So, you could almost feel the gap between what I said, and what the visitor said, and in between that somehow is the work of art, and the intent of the artist. Honeywell isn't an artist - it is a brand, and my comment was meant to be funny, and in fact for some reason, I picked up on the artworks in this show that have a sense of humor, or at the very least get you to look at the piece because it is oddly curious in some fashion.
Buy your lottery tickets: the winner gets to take George Condo home!
This year, someone painted a half eaten sandwich. Another person painted a row boat with the middle section missing. Some of the images are a bit risque, and some are unusual for other reasons, including the large work by George Condo ( he didn't get the memo about the six inch measurement on all sides) which will be won by lottery ticket. In this specific case we already know the name of the artist, and we get a sense of how much this work would normally sell for ( buy those $40. lottery tickets now! ) and win the prize.
Something for everyone at RoCo's 6x6
In this new exhibition which opened June 6th ( the sixth day of the sixth month ) you can walk in and find a work of art to purchase and take with you when the show closes - and not spend more than a nice dinner might cost ( $ 20. ) RoCo sold a lot of these bargains last year, and this year is full of promise. Some of my students made little prints for this show in my Digital Art / Printmaking class, as I wanted to give them a project which would allow them to show their artwork and support the local art scene.
Some artists submitted a series. for example you can find portraits of all four singers in the band ( The Beatles ), you can find four sets of eyes looking out from green knitting, you can find lots of birds, and a variety of printed, sculpted and drawn forms - all at 6 inches by 6 inches. In this show there are wonderful photos, many geometric shapes, and little dimensional tableaux. Go online to view the works if you can't get to Rochester, and starting June 9th, 2015 you can go online to purchase your art. Here is the link: http://www.roco6x6.org/6x6x2015_intro.php
This writer paints a watercolor
It is around this time of year that I usually want to be outdoors; the temperature has warmed up, and I like the freedom of being able to work on a painting, now that my classes are done for this session. Here I am in my yard working on a portrait of a poppy. These are the deepest red poppies I have ever seen, and there is just no color on my palette to match these flowers! So, I took a break to do this watercolor, and try to get back into practice. That old draw and paint routine is still a challenge, you have to slow it down, so I just sit there and work at it.
