Arts marketing for artists, can be best achieved when artists not only see themselves as conveyors of information, intention and feeling and are moved to communicate their messages by means of two and three dimensional objects, performance, or sound. (They often feel more comfortable explaining themselves through paint or movement than through written and spoken language). To successfully create…
[private free|gold|free special]
opportunities to be seen, and to be better understood by peers, viewers, and journalists, artists will encounter numerous occasions where convincing, grammatically correct language is a must.
I have found this particularly true in my own career. It has become increasingly important for myself to be clearly understood. I have found the best way to achieve this is to constantly inform myself and practice being articulate.
I come from a history of being a visual artist over a number of years. In that sense I see my main form of communication as being visual, however, it has been impossible to separate the imagery completely from accompanying text. This I believe is a good thing, as it persists the viewing audience in also being informed about your work on another level other than the visual stimuli.
Another very positive point in relation to being articulate with the spoken language is that you yourself can add your own thoughts and interpretations, too often it is left solely to critics and historians to provide this information.
You may feel that the blank page is more daunting than the empty canvas. Take a deep breath – no one expects you to be a writer. No one is coming to your shows just to read your artist statement.
That said, having strong written content about your work provides a window through which journalists and potential clients can better understand the messages and themes your work pursues. They create anchor points for viewers. They prevent confusion. They help people find points of connection to what they see and hear, and to you as an artist. They present you as a professional. Most importantly, articulate copy* gets people excited about you and your work.
* Copy:
• matter to be printed (“copy for the next issue must be submitted by the beginning of the month.”)
• material for a newspaper or magazine article
• the text of an advertisement
