Saturday morning, I went downtown to participate in
"Art vs. Art", a competition in which paintings are pitted
in a winner-take-all format. The winning artist will receive
$4 thousand, and the losing paintings will be ground
to dust if buyers can't be found who are willing
to pay a minimum $50 for each painting.
The vast majority of the competitors looked young
enough to be my children. A few even brought children
of their own. The young woman next to me brought
her young daughter, who sat patiently
her young daughter, who sat patiently
playing video games on her mom's cell phone.
The painting "arena," was the mezzanine
of the City Market. The entrants were dispersed
all over the area,which had been draped
in plastic for the occasion.
in plastic for the occasion.
Artists were only allowed to use materials supplied
by the organizer:an 18" x 24" canvas panel;
by the organizer:an 18" x 24" canvas panel;
four paintbrushes of varying sizes; five colors of
acrylic paint - red, yellow, blue, black, and white.
Once each canvas was numbered and signed in, artists had
four hours in which to create their masterpieces.
I worked quietly, trying to be good because
all the plastic made me feel as though I was working on
a class project. When I turned in the results of my efforts,
I had a bit of separation anxiety, not knowing whether
"Too Many Suns: SPF 50" will find a new home,
or be ground into dust.
