Anonymous Drawings

ANONYMOUS DRAWINGS was founded 2006 in Berlin, Germany by the artist Anke Becker. Since then, more than 5000 artists from all over the world have taken part in the project. In March 2013 a new exhibition of Anonymous Drawings shall take place at Uferhallen Berlin, Germany.

The exhibition will be preceded by an international call for participation on the internet. Everybody can take part: old and young, professional artists or laymen. There are no submission fees and there is no complicated application-procedure. Out of all the drawings sent in, 800 works will be selected for the exhibition. The age, biography or gender of the participants will not be requested and do not play any role in the selection. What counts is the art itself and not the biography!

All works will be exhibited anonymously , the drawings are available for a symbolic unit sales-price of 150 Euros each – no matter if they come from established artists or from unknown laymen. For each drawing sold, the artists receive 100 Euros – the rest will be used for the partial financing of the project. Unsold drawings will be archived or returned to the artists.

The artist's anonymity can only be revealed by a sale: the buyer can then take his or her drawing right off the wall and the empty space left behind will be marked with the artist‘s full name and point of origin.

!!! NEW THIS YEAR !!! For all of those people/you who won’t be able to make it to Berlin, we will set up an online-version of Anonymous Drawings for the duration of the exhibition at the Uferhallen: wherever you are in the world – you can have a look at all the exhibited drawings and even purchase them online.

We will publish a 120-pages, full color catalogue, where 100 drawings of the exhibition will be shown anonymously.

The location of the exhibition is the Uferhallen Berlin: www.uferhallen.de

What is the line between what is and is not art? What is a good drawing? How can one develop a personal definition of value if the sales-prices are all identical? How does one’s own assessment change if there is no information at all about the artist?

With this Anonymous Drawings the common rules of the art-market are reversed in an experimental way turned upside down. In this way new space for unprejudiced viewing, judging and purchasing of the exhibited art emerges. Many single pieces of art become one total work of art. Each and every anonymous artist becomes part of a huge community where hirarchies do not exist. Anonymous Drawings is an action against separation, competition and monoculture within the art-market: It is all about the art and not current market-value!

Because you agree with us that something significant and visionary should be opposed to the name-hype and the non-transparent pricing of the art-market.

Because you want to take part with your own drawings: as soon we reach the funding-goal, the new call for participation will be posted on the project-website. No fees, no selection according to biographies and portfolios –simply send in 3 drawings and a self-addressed stamped envelope (SASE). That‘s it!

Because you want to see your name where all the others are anonymous: in the exhibition-catalogue and on the project-homepage - everybody who backs the Anonymous Drawings Project will be mentioned there by name - no matter whether you pledge 5 Euros or more. In addition, you will get a one-of-a-kind thank-you gift of your choice.

Because ANONYMOUS DRAWINGS follows the same principle as crowdfunding itself: many single pieces of art are sent in from an anonymous crowd and become a total piece of art in the end. You want to be part of this piece of art. You want to help us to picture the crowd’s beauty and diversity with this exhibition.

Because over the last 6 years ANONYMOUS DRAWINGS has become ever bigger and more diverse and you want the project to continue with the same level of quality. Since 2006, the amount of entrees has increased with each call: from 150 envelopes at the very beginning up to 2500 entrees at the last show. Without external funding, we will be unable to handle this anymore – Therefore, we need your support and the help of the crowd to allow the Anonymous Drawings Project to continue growing!

As soon we reach the goal of 10,000 Euros, the new call for participation will immediately be posted on the project-homepage. The exhibition will take place in March 2013 at the Uferhallen Berlin.

We need the money to
• - organize the open call for participation and to handle all the entries
• - to buy the material we need for the exhibition set up
• - to cover the printing costs for the catalogue
• - to pay the rent for the exhibition-space
• - to print postcards, flyers and posters
• - to digitize all the exhibited drawings
• - to realize the online-version of the exhibition

If we beat the 10,000 Euro goal, the artists will get more money in the case of a sale: we will abstain partially or even 100% from our sales revenue – depending on the amount of the overfunding.

If there is even more money left, another important step into the future will be made: any additional money will be used to realize Anonymous Drawings 2014. This would be the greatest anonymous dream of all!