RoCo’s 6x6 Exhibition: Art That Delights

The best art show in the world takes place each year in an art gallery located in the East End neighborhood of Rochester, New York. This year it boasts 6,000 original pieces of art created by people from around the globe who submit their works on 6 inch by 6 inch pieces of paper, canvas, panel, and wood. One piece was a cardboard box.

Why is this the best art show in the world? Every inch of the gallery’s wall space is covered in art. Yet, because of the singular dimensions, the floor-to-ceiling displays don’t overwhelm the eye. It flits from piece to piece effortlessly as if reading a story word for word. None of the pieces are labeled with artist statements; you don’t know if the piece was made by an esteemed artist or a second grader. That makes the experience more exhilarating; you’re invited to react, ponder, and derive your own meaning from the work. Anyone can submit a piece; no one is turned away.

And what if you could buy artwork that was actually affordable? You can. Every piece is on sale for $20. The Affordable Art Fair could never.

The best art show in the world takes place in a gallery you’ve never heard of in a regional Great Lakes city you’ve never been to featuring artists you’ve never heard of and that’s the point. Everyone “knows” that great art exists in New York and Miami and London and Paris. The great cities of the world attract greatness and gatekeepers exert control over what is considered great. But while everyone faces the “art meccas” year-round and mark their calendars with art shows that promise to enthrall, but also promise long queues of people angling for pics, ordinary folks make art either in obscurity or visible to a much smaller audience. This frees up the “provincial” to truly do things in the name of love for art. I am grateful that I got to experience the most art I’ve ever seen in one setting in the company of maybe ten other people. It was fantastic.

The Rochester Contemporary Art Center’s (RoCo) 6x6 exhibition is what set my art journey in motion. In December I asked my daughter, “Do you want to make a painting for an art gallery?” and we created dozens of pieces. I delivered the artwork in March and with my family, visited RoCo on Sunday to see the exhibit. We found our pieces and found our names in a book that lists every participating artist. We passed by 6,000 expressions of the inner world we each carry.

I hope more of the art world learns to turn its attention outward to the rest of the world. There is worthwhile art everywhere if you dare to look.

So look!