Artcritical's 2011 Reader Quiz Reveals Mystery Artist with New York Exhibition

Artcritical publisher David Cohen offered a drawing as a prize in a quiz testing readers' recall of 2011 content. The challenge required identifying a mystery artist through clues referencing specific articles. This artist had a solo New York exhibition featuring a single timely piece, described in an artcritical review. Clues included quotes about various artists and exhibitions: one referenced "Insect Immigrants" with embroidered doilies facing walls; another mentioned a mottled white figure resembling Ken Price and Picasso's bathers. A third clue described dense, emotional canvases with trapped energy beneath paint surfaces. Another highlighted an artist whose production speed mirrors technology obsolescence, with open-source politics encouraging home reproduction. A painting clue noted a nine-foot acrylic work using color like watercolor. Additional hints referenced Chinese rock formations from the T'ang Dynasty and a gallery on the 25th floor of Chicago's John Hancock Center, mentioning a mental condition. Juan Manuel Bocca won by correctly identifying the mystery artist first, with Jim Walsh and Erika Schneider as runners-up. Employees of artcritical LLC were ineligible for the prize. The quiz aimed to engage readers with the publication's 2011 coverage while boosting visitor statistics through search usage.