I remember in one of my first exhibitions after I got out of art school, I made work with complicated theory, which was reflected in the work in a number of ways that was not very clear to the viewing public. For example many of the artworks were hanging off the wall in very strange angles. They were very odd shapes for canvases and works on paper, however it was not explained in any way that the public could fully understand it.
I managed to sell a couple of works surprisingly however, these works actually sold to a lady that I was seeing romantically at the time, otherwise nothing sold.
It would have been very much in my interest simply to have an artist’s statement accompanying the work, which explained some of the intentions behind the work. In later exhibitions I was fortunate to have critics and gallery directors address these concerns with their own essays and statements and began to have clear artist statements displayed on the walls.
I still believe it is a good policy for artists to provide an up-to-date artist statement to accompany the work in an exhibition, whether it is included in the catalogue or as a handout for the exhibition guests.
