Artist Statement

Balancing Art, Work and Life!

Artist Statement Samples

July22

Here is a constantly updated list of links to sample artist statements from all over.

  • Art review | A wealth of ideas in Joe Ramiro Garcia's 'But Seriously …' -
    In his artist statement, Garcia disavows specific meanings for his works, stating: “Although I employ images from cartoons, animals, and objects in my work, I do not believe in creating a specific narrative.” Many of these paintings portray fragmented ...
    See all stories on this topic »
    Kansas City Star
  • Mystery, Elegance, and Hidden Realities: An Art Film By Mavis Smith -
    “We come into contact with dozens of people on a daily basis, catch their eyes for a brief moment and move on,” Smith observes in the Artist Statement, “never knowing the intricate accumulation of experience that forms their reality.
    See all stories on this topic »
    Town Topics
  • ANNE FRAKER: ARTIST STATEMENT / INTENT - ARTIST STATEMENT / INTENT. Artist Statement and Intent. I'm a contemporary painter. The designs found in nature, the strength I see in trees, and the fragility ...
    www.annefraker.com/p/artist-statement-and-intent.html
  • Process and Purpose Exhibit at the Ink Shop - Bernice Cross writes in her artist's statement of her suffering from Lyme disease. Her art is the essence of that magical thing art can do: transform pain into art. "The Eyes Have It", a digital collage, is my favorite of her work.
    See all stories on this topic »
  • Ánimo Urban Sketchers: DAIJ and Artist Statement - DAIJ and Artist Statement. Please be sure to turn these in by Feb 20. After this date they are only worth 10 points each maximum. Posted by Ms. Stephanie Lowe ...
    urbansketchers-animohigh.blogspot.com/.../daij-and-artist-stat...
  • Artist Statement 2012 | Writing | Joshua Ray Smith - Artist Statement. Art reminds us that we are human, and that we exist among others. Art serves as a phenomenon that awakens awareness. Art educates us in ...
    joshuaraysmith.com/writing/artist-statement-2012
  • Body Obje(c)t: Artist Statement - Artist Statement. I'm interested in the social, cultural, and religious rituals surrounding the body, and the objects used to conduct them. In the true sense of fetish, ...
    www.bodyobject.com/p/artist-statement.html
  • Sam Falls at M+B | 01 Magazine - Excerpt from the artist statement: “The work in this show is involved with my interest in representing time, its persistence and the signs of life present in the inanimate. Using photographic processes combined with sculptural and painterly ...
    01 Magazine
  • Hey, Hot Shot! - HHS! Contender: Erik Lee Snyder - In his artist statement, Snyder explains: The images are not a documentation of pain or suffering, as pain cannot be measured or rated... The photographs of Port City are the sharing of the human condition, and the celebration of humanity in ...
    Hey Hot Shot Blog
  • New Artist Marilyn Stubbs Cooney AFCA. Come and have an Artful ... - Artist Statement. Everything in life has a connection. As an artist and musician the joy of expression is paramount with touching the senses of others and one's self. It is the internal challenge that keeps one striving to reach the next plane of ...
    Victoria BC hotels, luxury, boutique...
  • JSU Art Exhibit and Opera Preview for “Romeo and Juliet” - “My thanks to the wonderful students who really made this exhibition happen,” she wrote in her artist's statement. “In addition to sorting and counting carpet squares, they also created Traces (ghost windows) which involved lots of measuring, ...
    See all stories on this topic »
  • Pacific Trading Co. – Suchitra Fields - http://suchitrafieldsfineart.wordpress.com/. Artist Statement: Many of my works appear to be landscapes, but if I analyze how and why I paint them, I could call them portraits. My earliest attempts at art were always of people; as years went by I ...
    First Friday Santa Cruz
  • Egypt: The Long View (2 Photos) | PDN Photo of the Day - In the artist's statement that accompanied the show, Larkin explained, “The open-air museums of ancient Egypt promoted the world's first package holidays, drawing visitors to celebrate and interpret the country's complex history.” Larkin ...
    PDN Photo of the Day
  • RAC Highlights | Ryan Sarah Murphy Recession Art - In her artist statement, Murphy says, “These collages present a landscape of containment and a sense of buried history. These are roadmaps with no conclusive routes, aerial views and unattainable grounds. The dualities of growth and decay, ...
    Recession Art
  • Martin Klimas « Escape Into Life - EscapeIntoLife_MartinKlimas6. EscapeIntoLife_MartinKlimas7. EscapeIntoLife_MartinKlimas8. EscapeIntoLife_MartinKlimas9. EscapeIntoLife_MartinKlimas10. Artist Statement. The latest photo series depicts silk scarves from the 1950s ...
    Escape Into Life
  • Ánimo Urban Sketchers: DAIJ and Artist Statement - DAIJ and Artist Statement. Please be sure to turn these in by Feb 20. After this date they are only worth 10 points each maximum. Posted by Ms. Stephanie Lowe at 8:43 AM · Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to Facebook ...
    Ánimo Urban Sketchers
  • Death and Evolution - In her lucid artist statement she describes the experience of seeing a snap shot of her own heart when she had emergency open-heart surgery. The experience of her own “biological anonymity” was a shocking reminder of her state as an ...
    Art Now Nashville
  • The Kiernan Gallery: Announcement: New Call for Entry! - Artists should submit a body of 10-15 images, an artist statement, and a link to your website (if applicable). - Artists must be prepared to print, frame, and ship their work if selected. - The artist statements and submitted work of all eight selected ...
    The Kiernan Gallery
  • Life by a Thousand Cuts - From his “artist's statement”: The age of information in physical form is waning. As intangible routes thrive with quicker fluidity, material and history are being lost, slipping and eroding into the ether. Newer media swiftly flips forms, unrestricted ...
    Running After My Hat
  • Conformist artist statement for a regressive school at Bluecanvas ... - Antithesis It is the ignorance of current society to believe artworks that speak through a visual language can be described in the English language. No matter ...
    www.bluecanvas.com/blog-post/4356

posted under Artist Statement, Artist Statement Samples
One Comment to

“Artist Statement Samples”

  1. Avatar January 15th, 2012 at 7:08 pm Exhibit Review | Fisher Gallery: Woodcuts opening windows | Bexley OH Real Estate Says:

    [...] #split {}#single {}#splitalign {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;}#singlealign {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;}#splittitlebox {text-align: center;}#singletitlebox {text-align: center;}.linkboxtext {line-height: 1.4em;}.linkboxcontainer {padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px;background-color:#eeeeee;border-color:#000000;border-width:0px; border-style:solid;}.linkboxdisplay {padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px;}.linkboxdisplay td {text-align: center;}.linkboxdisplay a:link {text-decoration: none;}.linkboxdisplay a:hover {text-decoration: underline;} function opensingledropdown() { document.getElementById('singletablelinks').style.display = ''; document.getElementById('singlemouse').style.display = 'none'; } function closesingledropdown() { document.getElementById('singletablelinks').style.display = 'none'; document.getElementById('singlemouse').style.display = ''; } Artist Statement [...]
One Comment to

“Artist Statement Samples”

  1. Avatar January 15th, 2012 at 7:08 pm Exhibit Review | Fisher Gallery: Woodcuts opening windows | Bexley OH Real Estate Says:

    [...] #split {}#single {}#splitalign {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;}#singlealign {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;}#splittitlebox {text-align: center;}#singletitlebox {text-align: center;}.linkboxtext {line-height: 1.4em;}.linkboxcontainer {padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px;background-color:#eeeeee;border-color:#000000;border-width:0px; border-style:solid;}.linkboxdisplay {padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px;}.linkboxdisplay td {text-align: center;}.linkboxdisplay a:link {text-decoration: none;}.linkboxdisplay a:hover {text-decoration: underline;} function opensingledropdown() { document.getElementById('singletablelinks').style.display = ''; document.getElementById('singlemouse').style.display = 'none'; } function closesingledropdown() { document.getElementById('singletablelinks').style.display = 'none'; document.getElementById('singlemouse').style.display = ''; } Artist Statement [...]
buki

Feature Article

Artist Statement Do's and Don'ts

By Alyson Stanfield
ArtBiz Blog

An artist statement is a necessary component of any professional artists' portfolio or promotional packet.

When writing your artist statement, DO:

* Write in the first person. It is a statement, after all.

* Be brief, 2-3 paragraphs at most. Always err on the side of brevity. You can write more, but why would you want to? People have short attention spans these days. Load as much punch into the delivery as you can. Combine sentences and delete ones that aren't vital. As Henri Matisse said in his treatise on painting, "All that is not useful to the picture is detrimental." The same could be said of your statement.

* Describe the current direction of your work and your approach, particularly what is unique about your methods and materials.

* Sit on it for a few days and come back to it with a fresh mindset. Most artists, in my opinion, hate their statements because they rushed them in preparation for an exhibit and didn't care to spend any more time on them. How do you expect it to be any good if you don't work at it?

* Consider more than one statement if you are trying to discuss more than one body of work. If you try to get too much into a single statement, you run the risk of saying nothing and trying to be everything to all people. This is bad marketing/bad promotions.

* Allow your artist statement to grow, change, and mature along with your work. Don't let it sit on a shelf and collect dust. It should be organic and you shouldn't be afraid to change it and make it better.

* Make sure your statement passes the litmus test. Above all, viewers should be compelled to put the statement away and look back at the work. Your statement isn't successful if people read the words on the page, and then put them down and go on to the next artist.

When writing your artist statement, DO NOT:

* Use too many personal pronouns. Yes, I said to write in first person, but try to severely limit the number of "I"s, "me"s and "my"s that are used. You'll be amazed at how many other ways there are to phrase things. You want people to relate to your words and to your art. Too many personal pronouns will put up an unnecessary a barrier.

* Tell your life story. You can keep that for your bio (as long as it's interesting). Your artist statement is only about the current direction of your work.

* Quote or refer to anyone else by name. Keep the focus on you and your art. Mentioning another name shifts the readers' attention from your art to the other person.

* Forget to use spell check and ask someone else to read it over for you.

View the time to write your artist statement as an opportunity to clarify your thoughts. A well-written statement, approached deliberately and thoughtfully, can be a boon to your self-promotion efforts. You'll use the language on your Web site and in grant applications, press releases, brochures, and much more.

© Alyson Stanfield, All rights reserved.

Alyson B. Stanfield is an art-marketing consultant, artist advocate, and author of I'd Rather Be in the Studio! The Artist's No-Excuse Guide to Self-Promotion. Sign up for her free Art Marketing Action newsletter at