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10 Tips for Writing Your Artist Statement

Nov 22, 2009 Promotion and Exhibition

Want to get your art into galleries? An artist statement is an essential part of that process. In a previous post, I did an introduction on how to write an artist statement. Now, here are ten tips to help you get started, find ideas, clarify your message, and polish your presentation!

1. Get a Head Start

Don’t think you can whip up a statement the night before it’s due!  Because writing an artist statement is so distasteful, we sometimes tend to put it off until the last minute. You should be thinking about your statement long before it’s due. Give yourself time to craft a statement that is well thought out and well put together. You will need that extra time for rewriting and editing.

2. Generate Ideas with Freewriting

This is a great way to start generating ideas when you just can’t get started. Start with something simple like “My art is…” or “I paint…” and describe the physical aspects of your work. Let your mind wander and write down whatever you think of. Don’t worry about structure or grammar, just write. You might be surprised at where your mind goes, but you’ll definitely get a good start on putting to paper what you think about your work.

3. Try A Reflective Statement

A reflective statement is a quick piece of writing that you can do after completing a piece or a body of work. It gives you an opportunity to express your thoughts and feelings while they are still fresh in your mind and can lead to some interesting epiphanies when it comes to  your work.

4. Go For Clarity

Keep in mind that your statement is meant to compliment and clarify your artwork. The people who read it are looking for more insight into what you’re doing. A concise, straight-forward writing style will help get your ideas across. Try to avoid a lot of that vague art jargon that the average person won’t understand. You want this to appeal to curators, but also to regular gallery visitors.

5. Find Examples

An excellent way to get an idea of how to write your statement is to look at other artists’. The internet makes this much easier than it might have been before. Most artists post their statements somewhere on their website, so find artists that work with similar media or ideas as you do and see how they express themselves.

6. Read, Read, Read

A similar idea is to get your hands on some art magazines and read about art of your genre. Or if you have a few artists that you admire, find some interviews. This is a good way to clarify your ideas, because you can see what other people say about similar work and decide whether you agree or disagree.

 7. Get a Second Opinion

Getting a friend to look over your writing can be very helpful to determine if you’re communicating your ideas effectively. Try this with both artsy people and non-artsy people to get different view points.

8. Re-read and Re-write

Editing is a huge part of this process. This is why it’s a good idea to start early; you will need time to go over everything. Every time you re-read your statement, focus on refining your ideas and communicating in a clear and effective way. Often, your thoughts will be clearer after taking a short break from writing.

9. Do Regular Check-Ups

Don’t assume that once your statement is written, you’re set for life! It’s a good idea to re-visit your statement on a regular basis to make sure it reflects your current work. The Art Biz Blog has some good tips for how to hone your artist statement.

10. Don’t Forget Grammar!

For some, this goes without saying, but for others it can be a struggle. Good grammar demonstrates care and professionalism, all very important for getting an art show. Spellcheck is good, but don’t rely on it completely! Having someone else edit your work can really help with this.

Don’t forget to sign up for your email description to get the latest articles in your inbox! Coming up are explanations of the other elements of the exhibition proposal.

Tags: artist statement, exhibitions, promotion

How to Write a Wicked Artist Statement

Nov 17, 2009 Promotion and Exhibition

Artist Statement. Do those words send you into convulsions of dread and fear? Writing a statement can be one of the most un-fun parts of being an artist. Why? Because what does writing, verbally expressing ideas, and explaining oneself have to do with creating and being an artist? The act of writing a statement can feel like it goes against your very nature!

For the creative, right-brained, emotional, expressive, open minded artist, the act of sitting down and writing a formal statement of intent can seem extraordinarily intimidating, not to mention terribly structured and confined.

Unfortunately, an artist statement is an absolute necessity for getting your work into art galleries. The better your statement, the better your chances! Fortunately, there are strategies you can use to write a great artist statement with a minimum amount of stress!

First of all, what is an artist statement?

If you’ve never applied for a show before, you might be kind of fuzzy on the term. Your artist statement is your explanation to the world about your art. It can be as direct and literal, or as open-ended as you want, but it should provide the viewer with some extra insight into your work. A statement should give people answers, or else provide them with questions to ask themselves as they look at your pieces.

It’s difficult to define the statement because it can be very different from one artist to the next. The bottom line is that your statement should be something you’re comfortable with sharing that also compliments/explains/clarifies your work.

How do you write an artist statement?

The best approach I’ve found is to ask yourself questions. The answers may or may not become a part of your final statement, but it’s a good way to start brainstorming. Here are some questions you might ask yourself:

• What am I interested in?
• What do I want to communicate?
• What is the subject and/or content of your work? In other words, what is it about?
• What kinds of things inform your work? This can include other artwork, politics or society, and your own experiences.
• What materials do you use and why?
• What is your process and how does it affect the way you work?
• How do you want your audience to view your work? Do you want them to react in a certain way?

Your statement should be specific to the body of work that you’re submitting to a gallery. Yes, that means you have to write a new one for every exhibit, but the good news is that the first one is the hardest. After that, you should be able to tweak and adjust to make it relevant to your new work.

Remember that the purpose of your statement is to provide the gallery with extra information about your work. The goal is to clarify or expand or explain. They want to know where you’re coming from and why you do what you do. So make sure you give it to them!

Common sense rules!

• As always, grammar is very important! No one wants to wade through spelling mistakes and poorly formed sentences. 
• Think of the gallery owner who is reading your statement and a hundred others. You want to make it easy on them by breaking your text into paragraphs, typing with a font size that isn’t too small, and using a font that is clear and easy to read.  
• An artist statement should be as long as it needs to be, but as a guideline, anywhere between a paragraph and a page works. I generally would not go over a page.

Whether you love or hate the writing side of the art business, an artist statement should be in every single exhibition proposal you send out.

This post seemed to grow and grow as I wrote it, so I’ve split it into two parts. More tips on writing artist statements are coming soon!

Tags: artist statement, exhibitions, promotion