Anonyme Zeichner

ANONYME ZEICHNER*innen is an international exhibition project that practically asks questions about authorship, market value and public visibility. Around 700 drawings by 700 international artists are presented together without naming the artists. The works are offered for sale at a symbolic uniform price of 250 EUR. 200 EUR of this goes directly to the artists, and the rest contributes to financing future open calls and exhibitions.

Anonymity only remains until a work is sold: it is then taken directly from the wall, and the name and place of origin of the respective artist are written into the empty space. The uniform price does not represent a real market value, but functions as a conceptual placeholder for any imaginable sales amount in the art market. It is a symbol for the idea that art can move beyond economic hierarchies.

Over the course of the exhibition, the overall image changes: sold works disappear, and the names and places of origin of artists whose works were sold fill the gaps. In this way, the exhibition itself becomes a process-based, changing artwork.

Each exhibition is preceded by an international open call for participation. There are no thematic requirements, only the formal limit of maximum A3.⁠ ⁠Biographical information is deliberately not requested; the selection is made anonymously using digital image files. Only after acceptance do the selected artists send their originals to Berlin. Participation is open to everyone and free of charge.

In parallel with the exhibitions, the Archive of Anonymous Drawings has emerged. All works archived there are donations from artists who support the project in this way. The collection now contains more than 1500 works, which are shown in traveling exhibitions and can also be purchased online. With every new exhibition and every sale, this archive changes—a living network of contemporary drawing.

ANONYME ZEICHNER is both conceptual art and exhibition platform—a collective artwork without hierarchies that rethinks the boundaries between art, market and public space.

The project was founded in 2006 by Berlin artist Anke Becker. Over the years, an independent idea has become a firm institution in Berlin’s art landscape—open, international and in constant motion.