Artist Statement

Balancing Art, Work and Life!

Guidelines on Writing a Good Artist Statement and Resume

July21
By Reinaldo Arvelo
 
 
 

Your art work should always be accompanied by an artist statement and resume if you are going to submit your work to a gallery. Your statement should be your defense and your voice. Your resume should be a brief collection of experiences, exposure, organizations, commissions, publications, or lectures. The importance of having both an artist statement and resume is essential for all beginning artists.

Your Artist Statement:

For your statement try not to be vague. Always explain "why" you say what you say. As an artist, I focus on three important details in my statement. Your influence, Your Process, and Your Intention. When writing about your art it is best to describe what your influences are. For example, if nature is your motivation than explain what are the influences that nature provides you. Your influences can be spiritual just as long as you explain why and what they are and how they influence you.

The way you execute your work is also an important topic in your statement. Your process should reflect with your influences. Do not confuse your work habit with your process. Focus on the evolution of the work itself. Why do you use that color? Why is it shaped that way? Keep in mind that your materials also play a big part in your statement. Even the surface you work on can play a big important aesthetic meaning or quality to your artwork.

Lastly, on writing a good artist statement, you should explain your intention. Give your defense on what you are trying to tell people about your work. Is you work to explain, stimulate, poke fun of, inform, or an opinion or maybe a belief. No matter what the intent it should represent you and your work. I usually end my statement with the intention because it answers the "why" process and the "what" influences that support it.

Your Artist Resume:

Your artist resume is simply a listing of your artistic career and experience. Even if you do not have much experience you can still be able put together a good resume. Start by writing down gallery shows you have been in and keep group shows and solo shows apart. What commissions, projects or art work you have sold? List any periodicals you have been in like magazines, books, and articles. Any organizations, clubs, or memberships you are a part of. Make sure to provide your information like an address, email and phone number to contact you. Also add your education. Below is a simple setup on how to put together your resume:

Name
Address
Phone
Email
website

Education

Solo Shows

Year, title of show, name of gallery, city and sate

Group Shows

Year, title of show, name of gallery, city and state

Commission / Projects

title of commission or project, who commissioned it, city and state

Awards

Articles

year, publication, title

Clubs and Organizations

Employment (optional)

Make sure you keep your statement and resume up to date.

http://www.artistneed.com is new site made for artists. With useful information, resources, tutorials, software, and books. Email them to be placed on their monthly newsletter.

Reinaldo Arvelo
You can also visit Arvelo's website at http://www.reinaldoarvelo.com

posted under Artist Statement, Presentation Is Everything, The Business of Art
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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



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