The Rebellious Curator

Attribution - (def.) The act of attributing something, especially the ascribing of literature and art to a particular author or artist. In simple terms, signing your work.

I currently posted an online exhibit for Kleinwerks Gallery (IG), where I purposely did not reveal that the work is mine. I have made a point of doing this for most of my own work that I post on Kleinwerks IG. (Note: If I am featuring other artists, I always cite their full name, contact info, and statement). However, for myself, I have chosen not to.

Why? Part of the reason is because I have always had difficulty tooting my own horn. The idea of creating work and sharing it with the world anonymously is very appealing to me. 

My other reasoning has to do with the current culture: we live in a very self-interested society. Social Media has made it easy to exhibit our every thought and point the viewer to ourselves. I wanted to explore the opposite idea - In contrast to the current trends, what if we did not attribute our work? What if the work had to be taken at face value, without knowing the artist's gender, race, socio-economic status, or education? What if a well-known artist did not reveal their signature? Would the viewers see their work differently? I wonder if knowing who the artist is has ever skewed the meaning of the work? There is the point that good artists usually have a recognizable style which can give it away quickly and that's a good thing too. 

These are interesting questions and I welcome dialogue on the subject. Feel free to email your thoughts to jones07@telus.net

Thank you for stopping by!