Objective
By the end of the semester, students must apply to at least 1 exhibition and 1 publication. If the instructions for the exhibition/publication your choose require a hard copy application, you must provide me with a hard copy of all the application materials. If the instructions require an email submission, you must bcc me on the application.
GRADING
STEPS:
http://artdeadlineslist.com
callforentry.org
RESUMES
The artist resume should always start with your name in a larger size at the top.Follow with at least your professional email and your website. Others recommend including your phone number and mailing address, although you should skip these if you’ll be posting it online.Gallery Representation– If you are represented by a gallery, that information should go near the top of your resume.Areas of Specialization– This is a brief listing of your most frequent media (example: “Drawing and Painting” or “Drawing, Performance, Installation”)Solo Exhibitions1998 New Work, Kirkland Art Center, Clinton, New York– The name explains itself – if you have solo exhibitions, they get listed here. Use the format above. Sometimes people substitute the title, “Solo and Two-Person Exhibitions,” if they have any.Solo Performances– If you have enough solo performance work, you may want a separate heading for them because they are often different from exhibitions. However, if you only have a few, it may be cleaner to leave them under solo exhibitions, and just write the word “performance” next to it.Group Exhibitions– All other exhibitions fall into this category. When you’re first building your artist resume, you are unlikely to have many shows. Obviously, you need to apply for more shows, but in the meantime you need to mine your memory for every exhibition you’ve been in since high school. These may have been exhibitions that occurred via a course you took, or an auction that you donated work to, or a coffeeshop or hallway where you displayed your work. These act as important filler until you have beefed up your exhibition history.Juried Exhibitions– Some artistic mediums lend themselves to juried exhibitions. If you have your work in a lot of juried shows, it might be worth making a separate heading. Generally, I recommend against them, although there might be 1 or 2 per year that your work sounds perfect for, or that is happening at a specific venue that you’d like to gain attention at.Screenings– Some artists who work in video and another medium will separate out screenings of their work into a separate categoryResidencies– If you have been on residencies, include them. They are competitive, and can often create a link between you and others who have done the same residencies or know of the residency.Commissions– If you have been commissioned to create murals or sculptures, etc. that type of work would go under this heading.Outdoor/Public Works– The name explains itself. Usually these are at least semi-permanent (maybe it has a life of 1 year, or maybe it is up indefinitely)/Grants & Scholarships– As you begin your artist resume, you might not have any grants, so you could just call this “Scholarships” until you get one (start applying right away!). As you move beyond your education and get more grants, you can eventually drop the scholarships from your list.Awards & Honors– This is where you can list awards that you were nominated for, but did not win. Also, sometimes juried shows will have awards such as “honorable mention,” etc. Sometimes if you don’t have a lot of Awards/Honors, you can put your Grants/Scholarships under this heading too (obviously, then you would eliminate the “Grants & Scholarships” heading)Catalogs & Publications– Anytime your work is published in a catalog, you would list it here. Other publications would be literary journals or art magazines that publish your work (New American Paintings, Creative Quarterly, etc).Self-Publications– Some artists create many print-on-demand publications of their work, and these can be listed and linked here. This may also be called “Publications (by Artist)”.Press Articles– Here is where you list any articles/reviews of your work. These could be physical newspapers/magazine articles, or blog posts by critics.Speaking Engagements & Lectures– Here you list any artist talks, invited lectures, presentations (think networking talks like Pecha Kucha, etc) or class visits you may give.Curatorial Projects– If you have curated any exhibitions, they would be listed here.Related Professional Experience– Here you would list any related work such as an internship you did at a gallery, or a curator you assisted, or art classes that your teach, etc.Collectives– If you are a member of any collectives, list them here, along with any special positions you may hold within the collective.Professional Organizations– If you are a member of College Art Association, or Americans for the Arts, etc, they would be listed here.Collections– This can have a sub-head for “Public” and “Private” if necessary. “Public” collections are available to anyone that seeks them out, while “Private” are usually individuals who buy your work for their own homes, etc.Education– MFA 1998 Sculpture University of Kansas– BFA 1995 Studio Art University of Oklahoma– BA 1992 French Southern Methodist University (cum laude)Use a format similar to this above example. List all of the academic degrees you have earned (noting honors). It is not uncommon to have studied art at a university without completing the degree. You may want to list these periods of study after the list of degrees earned.
ARTIST STATEMENTS
1. Who are you?
Where are you from? Where did you receive training (if any)?2. What do you do? What is this work about?
What do you conceptually focus on? This is the idea, theme, message, or concept for your piece. Think of this as the thesis statement for your work. What media do you work in?
3. Where do you work?
What countries/regions have you shown your work in? Which notable museums/galleries have you shown at?
4. Why do you do this work?
What/who are your influences? This is your explanation of the importance of the work and what it means to you. This is the outcome or experience you anticipate for the work.
5. How do you do this work?
What approaches do you use? This is how you envision the piece happening—medium/a, actions, texts, audience/performer relationship, etc.
1. What do you want people to see in your work?2. What is a distinguishing characteristic of your art?3. Based on your conversations, what do people find delightful or surprising about your art?
1. Don’t say your art is “unique.”2. Remove the things that every artist says.
I am excited by . . ., I’ve always been an artist, I have to make art, My work is about the human condition., I love . . .
3. Beware of redundancy. Say it one way and move on.4. Get rid of the lists.5. Reduce the number of personal pronouns. (I/me/my/mine/myself)
A General Tip Regarding Tone
Artists often fall into one of two traps that can be easily avoided: Aggressive writing is language that claims to know what the viewer’s response is going to be (i.e. “the viewer will be forced to reconsider his notions of community, war, poverty, and the color “blue”). The great thing about art is that you can never quite predict how it’s going to affect someone. If you try to override the reader’s subjective response, they will trust you less. Passive writing is when you as the artist are not clear and direct about your own intentions (i.e., “I seek to explore some of the seemingly myriad possible connections between art and the color blue”). Neither of these examples answers the essential questions of what and why, nor do they help the reader get to know your work on their own terms. Instead, write directly and assertively (i.e. “I am making a series of paintings about the abstract and literal connections between war, poverty and the color blue in American history”).
Writing an Artist Statement
A great place to start finding language for your artist statement or “elevator pitch” is to consider what questions people ask when viewing your work. Your artist statement should answer the following questions: what is your work like, why do you make it, what are you trying to do with it and what is your process? A few simple exercises to get started:
- Write 7 words about your artwork in general or about a new project you are working on.
- Expand the list to 14 words.
- Now use those words to come up with a one paragraph artist statement or project description.
- The interview: Give whatever you wrote in step 3 to a friend and ask them to ask questions about your work or your statement and write down what you say in response. Now take the paper back, ask your friend questions about your statement, and write down his/her responses.
- Using the notes from the interviews, rework your statement or pitch.