Orphans, 2009, oil on canvas, 4”x 4”

Orphans Offered Up is participation installation. The space was offered and accetped. It was formerly a commercial art gallery. What will you offer? Exchange or barter? What will you sacrifice? All offers will be considered and accepted. The space is located at 547 W.  27th St. in Chelsea.

Orphans that I’m offering upare a series of conceptual paintings that are very small. They are the readable fragments that appear to be abstractions. They are offered up in several different ways.

Offer  is defined as: act of worship or devotion: sacrifice; to present for acceptance or rejection; to propose or suggest; to try or begin to resist; to threaten; to make available; to present in performance or exhibition; to propose as payment; to make an attempt; to present itself; to make a proposal.

        What will you offer?  Stocks, bonds, a house, another painting, a meal, friendship or something else?  Something less tangible?   What are you willing to sacrifice?  

If you insistent on money, then the price will be determined by random walk, and  the price, a number between one and five hundred,  will be generated randomly by RANDOM.ORG, Trinity College.  They provide a “random number service that generates randomness via atmospheric noise.”

The inspirational source for the paintings are the invisible engraving marks found in old postage stamps that belonged to my late father.  These painting were first started in 2002. They are not studies. They are not miniatures. They are finished paintings. I have completed more than fifty. 

Holly Crawford, NYC 2010