Artist Statement

[emkay]

I think we all struggle when it comes to preparing an artist statement, but they are a necessary part of presenting your work in a professional way, and inspiring confidence in buyers and galleries.

So I thought it might be good to explore the best way to come up with one that is right for you and your work.

They needn't be scary, wanky, or permanent. They do need to say something about you, the type of work you do, and leave the reader with the impression that you mean what you do when you do it - not that you just opened a tube, something came out and now you would like to sell it.

Things to explore when writing an artist statement are:

what motivates you to create
what inspires you
why you work in the medium you do
how and why a particular series of work has developed, and its personal meaning to youyou may want to add:

how long you have been making art
the fact that your work is in collections (private or public)
any quotes from reviews or judged comments from prizes you may have wonIt may be helpful to jot down points and gently expand, or write pages and pages of text. In the end you only need a paragraph or two, but sometimes the best bits are found amongst the babble. Pruning is very necessary in this case, as you'll lose your reader.

Show your statement to a friend or two and make sure it is grammatically correct, concise and actually says something. Because we all have something unique to say, or we wouldn't be doing this.....

You don't have to say anything groundbreaking or sound like an expert, you just need to describe how and why the art comes out, and give the reader the impression that they are buying into something good.

[chardonnay]

Brilliant topic Michelle.

not that you just opened a tube, something came out and now you would like to sell it But isn't that the truth sometimes? Shame we can't tell the truth...

[Simon]

I hate them. I had to do one for the Doug Moran catalogue, I kept it to a simple description of the motivations for the painting. I rarely read them and often cringe when I do (yes I did when I read my own in DM catalogue). Jodie, it is important to tell the truth. I was also really happy that it was not asked of me for Off The Wall (ArtMelbourne08 this weekend folks :tongue_smilie:).

Visual art is visual communication. When it's good it doesn't need text. I say that knowing that much quality work is very well benefited by historical knowledge of the artist and their work. You know the phenomenon of more often than not liking the work of people you know? I think it's very much because of the knowledge of the artists b/g.

I wouldn't ever feel pressured to produce a work statement if you don't want to, say for a solo or website. But if you need one, best thing is to get someone who knows your work to write it.

[Bojog]

I found this link really helpful and comprehensive. http://www.mollygordon.com/resources/marketingresources/artstatemt/

Still haven't gotten around to it myself though!

[PERUGINA]

A great link Bojog...have bookmarked it and will have an indepth read at a later stage... great thread too emkay.
Thanks.

[Amanda]

I hate them. .....
Visual art is visual communication. When it's good it doesn't need text.

I am so with Simon on this one. Hate 'em. Why the heck do we keep getting asked for them - isn't the art work itself enough....when do writers get asked to illustrate their work so that us visual people can better understand it?

And what's more, it encourages people to remain visually illiterate or plain lazy in reading artwork.

And what's more...(I'm on a roll here :biggrin:) most artist's statements are shite.
Bad ones often explain everything away so there is no opening for the viewer to interpret something, or they make it clear that the artist hasn't achieved what they set out to do becasue the statement is poles apart from the work, or they are so insipid that they add absolutely no value.

Having said all that (in a loud voice no less) a bio written by someone who knows how to read your work can be a good investment. I had one done in 2004 and was able to mine it for quite some time to come up with a brief statement whenever I had absolutely no choice.

OK now that I have that off my chest I'll go have another glass of wine :biggrin:

[Amanda]

PS You might be interested in this story http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=2620&u_sid=10169306

[Simon]

PS You might be interested in this story http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=2620&u_sid=10169306
Wow! How did you find that?

Perhaps a good (copout) artists statement could be "In my art, I invite the viewer to interpret the meaning the image." :001_tt2:

But the question of whether or not it compels the reader to go back to the work is very valuable, I won't forget that one..

[emkay]

PS You might be interested in this story http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=2620&u_sid=10169306

Great article Amanda!

Hope the wine was good. :)

[Bojog]

Thanks Amanda, I have stored it for the inevitable dreaded time when I can no longer avoid it.

[Helm]

It's like when you have to do a synopsis for your story, both are painful.

[louella]

lol.. you guys are lucky to get asked for one.

personally, i don't mind them, coz if i really liked the art i could stare at it for hours and it would make me want to read something about the artist after, but if i wasn't feelin the art in the first place i wouldnt read anything.

So one day.. haha maybe.. maybe not.. if i was lucky enough to get asked for one, and i was guilty of creating it.. i wouldnt mind writing a confession. or talking about it. id probably talk about it.

anyway.. the only thing im not liking.. is that it reminds me of homework..

[inkgal8290]

I Am ......there 4 I Paint

[Bob Abrahams]

I Am ......there 4 I Paint
Inkgal
Yair I like that espeially if it pays the rent