St. Petersburg, FL (October 23, 2017) – The public is invited to witness this year’s Exquisite Corpse Games exhibit during a special unveiling at 6 p.m., Thursday, November 2, at the St. Petersburg Museum of Fine Arts, 255 Beach Drive NE. This year, 54 talented artists have accepted to play the game, an increase from 2016 participants. Categories include Paintings, Sculptures, Photography, and 2017’s newest addition, Poetry, co-curated by Helen P. Wallace, the city’s Poet Laureate.
Almost all artists participating reside in the Tampa/St. Petersburg/Clearwater area, in addition to four artists from New Mexico, New York, and Texas. The Games also includes international artists; this year the selected participant, Aleksandr Chudin, resides in St. Petersburg, Russia. In the first-ever unique blind artistic collaboration for the Games, Chudin accepted the challenge to participate assisted by The Russian Heritage Group, which sponsored the delivery of his painting.
More than 100 years old, Exquisite Corpse is a surrealist game registered with the Library of Congress. The game has been played by many, but never like the one played in St. Petersburg. The game is led, monitored, and curated by “The Game Keeper,” Ann Marie Cash. This year there are four categories led by an experienced co-curator: Don Gillespie – Paintings; Scott Joseph Moore – Sculptures; Randy VanDuinen – Photography; Helen P. Wallace – Poetry. The game consists of seven rules, the two most important being 1. every artist is prohibited from sharing information about their piece until after the unveiling 2. and to have fun. The artists are given a few clues and an opportunity to meet the other participating artists during the game launch party which took place in July at MFA. This meet-and-greet gives them a better understanding of possibilities.
Another important aspect of the game is when they learn the part of the corpse they are creating. When it’s their turn to create, they have 17 days to complete their work of art. During the November 2 unveiling, the artists & attendees will watch the pieces come together for the first time, revealing a magical force of creative energy and cohesiveness. Following the unveiling, Exquisite Corpse creations become a traveling exhibit of thought-provoking art, which tells many stories in a surreal way. To learn more about the game and participating artists, visit www.exquisitecorpsegames.com. To schedule interviews on the Exquisite Corpse Games 2017 or with participating artists, contact the Game Keeper, Ann Marie Cash, at 727-252-6528.