How To Write An Artist Statement: Tips From The Art Experts

These valuable tips along with an infographic for quick reference volition assist yous in writing and perfecting your creative person's statement.

LATAM artist statement

As a professional artist, y'all demand to have more than your piece of work to get around in the art world. Along with your portfolio, you lot should have an artist statement available at a moment's notice. An artist statement should be considered just as of import every bit your works.

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Nora Sidoine, selected creative person from The Latin American Contemporary Fine Fine art Competition Exhibition, talking about her art before the opening reception at Agora Gallery

WHY DO YOU NEED AN ARTIST Argument?

An artist statement is virtually ofttimes the front line of communication between an artist and the public. It volition exist used when you submit your portfolio to competitions, galleries, and museums. Information technology may sometimes exist displayed when people are viewing your works in person or on your website. If it's online, your artist argument will exist read past people from all over the world.

Useful Article: How To Create A Professional Portfolio

At that place are many paths to becoming an artist, through school or an apprenticeship, or through inspiration and self-teaching but no affair how you got there, beingness a professional person artist ways that you have to have an artist statement. If you lot have never written a argument before, or aren't certain that your current statement is up to fine art world standards, it can be a quite daunting job to etch one.

Luckily, Agora Experts are here to aid. Compiling years of feel in the art world, they are more than happy to share what they've learned.

Here are some valuable tips for writing an artist's statement:

KNOW YOUR Audience

Agora artist Tammy Phillips during the opening reception at the gallery

Remember, as an artist you are non only writing to an art gallery, just also to visitors, students, and potential buyers. Y'all want all of these different groups to exist able to sympathise what y'all're saying near yourself and your art. You aren't always going to exist standing next to a patron to explicate everything to them, so you accept to make certain that your argument communicates all your ideas to any viewer.

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CONTENT FOR YOUR ARTIST STATEMENT

Betwixt 150-200 words (two paragraphs) is the best length for a statement that is going to be published. It is long plenty to permit a viewer acquire more about yous and your work, but not too long that they can't follow your story and go distracted.

What information does an artist'southward statement demand to include? At that place are three elements to consider: the "how," the "what," and the "why." At that place should be plenty data in your artist statement that someone tin can brainstorm to imagine the art that you lot make without having it in forepart of them.

Artist Statement Content

The "How"

The 'How' refers to how you created your works. Many visitors are interested in knowing virtually your artistic procedure. Describe your works; what colors do you apply, do you lot make large marks or small marks, or practice you lot use blending so there are no visible marks at all? If you're a photographer, what kind of tools are integral to your process?

The "What"

Are your paintings abstruse? Portraits? Exercise you take photos of landscapes? What is your imagery? When people describe what you make, what do they say? Describe the content of your works in a full general style to menses from how y'all work to what you make.

And last, The "Why"

Why exercise you brand what y'all make? What does your life say nearly your work and your work say about your life? What symbols practise you use and why? Explain the influences behind the meanings of your works.

You don't have to take the same corporeality of each type of data, only it is a good thought to have part of your statement devoted to each of these categories. Yet, if ane category seems far more relevant to your work than the others, feel gratuitous to emphasize it in your argument. You tin can put as much or equally little of each category every bit you like; if your works are almost the medium and then you tin focus more on how you brand your works and if it is more about the "why" and your inspiration, focus on that. Balance your content in any way you lot need to.

Write down the answers to these questions on your own and so cut them down exercise the absolute essentials.

Once you lot have your content, and so you can move to style.

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THE THREE C'S OF STYLE

Artist Statement Style

Every artist statement must follow the three C's of style: they should be clear, concise, and consistent.

Be clear

Use accessible vocabulary; proceed in heed that your readers may not be scholars, artists, or art historians. Write similar you're speaking to a person on the street, somebody who goes to museums "every at present then," as many of your viewers will fall into that category. Make sure the content in your artist argument is not too complex or technical. This will intimidate your audience.

Exist curtailed

Don't become on for pages and pages virtually your work. Even the well-nigh interested person volition get lost in too much information. You desire your statement to pull the viewer in, but you don't want to diameter them.

The boilerplate museum and gallery visitor spends 5 to xv seconds looking at each artwork, according to numerous museum surveys. You want your statement to be brief enough that they can become the essential data in that time, and that their flow isn't too disrupted when they stop to read the statement in full.

Exist consequent

Make sure that what you say in your artist'south statement matches the works that are going to be on display. If you also take a press release or biography available, make sure that your statement doesn't contradict these texts at all. Go on updating your artist statement as you grow and evolve every bit an artist.

REMINDER:An creative person argument MUST exist in the starting time person, everything is "I" not "he/she/they." Imagine your statement is having a conversation with a viewer, it is speaking for you, and yous would always say "I did this."

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT

Write out your statement a few different means and retrieve about which 1 best describes you and your piece of work. Read your statement out loud to make certain it flows properly. Read it to people familiar with yous and your work and listen to their comments.

If you are represented by a gallery, or if yous have an agent, meet if they are available to help yous with your statements. Agora Gallery, for case, often helps artists edit their statements. If you don't experience like y'all're the all-time writer, have someone help you correct your grammar and brand sure the creative person statement says what you desire it to say.

REMINDER:If you are sending your statement somewhere with a word requirement (usually between 150-200 words) take their advice and write at least that much. Whatever word count they give yous is likely the minimum for sure publications, and you don't want to be left out because y'all didn't provide enough text. Many organizations accept similar requirements, so you don't want to have to re-piece of work your statement every time yous send information technology somewhere new.

TIPS FOR Not-English language SPEAKERS

Write your statement in your native language first, and then translate it. You can use a professional translator, or y'all can try to interpret information technology with an application online. Just be certain that y'all have it double checked by a native speaker of whatever linguistic communication your statement will be published in before you submit. Don't effort to limit yourself to your strange language vocabulary. Practice your very best to compose something for yourself.

REMINDER:Do non submit a argument with too little information or no statement at all. If a gallery or competition asks for a statement, be sure to provide one. If there is a suggested discussion count, meet it. You don't want someone to misunderstand your process or your piece of work by writing more into your statement just to reach a word requirement for publication. Your statement should be personal to you and your work and not according to someone else's thoughts, specially since a statement is something that volition usually exist seen by anyone who looks at your artwork. You want to exist able to communicate with viewers in your own words.

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FONT, PAPER, DESIGN

Once you have your statement fix to go, you demand to gear up it for submission. You may submit to a gallery, a contest, a local collective; it doesn't matter, they all will demand your statement, and you want your statement to do its job. Whether information technology's a paper submission, or online, hither are some tips for making sure your statement makes it to the right people.

About submissions to galleries these days are online, like ours, which makes worrying well-nigh how your statement looks a no-brainer. The online forms will take intendance of that for you. If you have the information there, then that's all you'll need.

If yous are submitting a printed argument, here are some tips for making it upwardly to the art world standards:

KEEP YOUR ARTIST STATEMENT CLEAN

Make sure your paper is clean, crisp, and classic. You lot want to look and have your materials expect equally professional person equally possible. You are substantially engaging in a business when you submit your work to a gallery and you desire to nowadays yourself the same manner.

Plain printer newspaper or basic letterhead is the best mode to make a professional impression. Y'all don't need fancy paper, paper you made by mitt, or special design newspaper to submit your statement. It may seem centre-catching at first, but in reality most fancy paper designs are distracting from whatsoever important content. If it looks like a party invitation, chances are no gallery will take it seriously. If yous desire to go the extra mile and utilise prissy jotter, do not go for something with an elaborate design. A thick card stock can exist nice, merely keep the paper white or off-white then that it is not too distracting from the content.

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KEEP YOUR ARTIST STATEMENT READABLE

The same rule applies to fonts. Make certain your font is clear and able to exist read easily. You can never get incorrect with bones fonts like Arial or Times New Roman. Fancy fonts can have away from your content. It doesn't matter if the font matches what you call up your art feels like: if a gallery owner or buyer can't read information technology, then it hurts more than than it helps. You lot want the communication to be as easy every bit possible between yous and your audition, and then brand sure that your statement is readable.

Along the same lines, do Non handwrite your argument. Very few galleries volition even read a handwritten argument as information technology is unprofessional. Information technology'southward also a lot of work to handwrite an artist statement, and if you lot're submitting to multiple galleries, writing out all those statements is a waste of your time. It'south easiest to blazon it out.

If you don't have regular access to a calculator or a word processing program, you can e'er work on your argument online and pay a few cents to take it printed at your local re-create eye.

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Subsequently YOUR SUBMISSION

For now, you've washed all yous tin. It is now in the easily of the gallery manager, collector or customer that you've presented it to.

Equally you grow and evolve as an artist, yous'll want to revisit these steps as yous revise your artist statement to reflect your current piece of work. Retrieve, your brilliant work merely does half the job. Your professionalism and other important things like your creative person statement, CV and business cards make upward the other half.

Useful Manufactures: The Artist CV and Artist Business Cards

As a promotional gallery, we take pride in the various grouping of artists from across the earth represented by u.s.a.. Want to requite your fine art more time, and leave the marketing and promotional hassles to someone else? Visit our Gallery Representation And Artist Promotion page for more information.

Bring together the give-and-take!Do let us know if you take any other suggestions about writing the perfect artist statement. Y'all can also enquire your questions in the comments or e-mail u.s. at blogs@agora-gallery.com!