How To Write A Great Artist Statement I Lecture with Magnus Resch I MagnusClass

every artist struggles with writing an artist statement there is no real template to do it everyone says something else they even courses that teach you how to write an artist statement the truth is most people don't greet these artists statement because they're boring and they're complex and nobody really understands them but it's also true that you need one because people want to understand what you're doing and why you're doing it and it's your chance to enforce your brand platforms that you share your artists statements on are clearly your website the website of the gallery and you'll need them for applications to residency's grants and so on and often you find them in press releases at the bottom so the journalists sometimes ask for them because they want to summarize what you are and who you stand for there are different routes how to write an artist statement in my opinion first I want to present you a very structured one to start with you need to do some pre work that will lead you to your artist statement we discussed it in previous classes take a look at the third class that I taught which is part of the preamble if you haven't done it now let's go through it again together write down your key messages your key message is a few second short five to ten seconds it's what you want the audience to remember and relate to it it keeps your brand and vision on track and is in line with what you want to accomplish then write down your goals we talked about goals before make them as specific as possible don't say I want to exhibit internationally say I want to exhibit in a solo show in this particular gallery in Berlin in October 2020 now write down your mission what's your purpose why are you creating art who do you want to influence it's fun to actually write this down but keep it short you saw it with Ava's mission statement it's just one line now what's your vision what you want to be known for how do you see the world changing because of your impact what picture would you like to paint of yourself again make it very short so when you've done it so far congratulations you are almost at 80% to create your own artist statement you're in the right mindset now now sit down and just write what comes to your mind based on what we wrote down before there's another way how you could approach writing an artist eight 'men and getting to this stage it's a little unconventional one I think a lot of art school teachers and academies have put too much emphasis on creating an outer statement this build-up fear you shouldn't have fear because you're writing an artist statement my preferred approach and that's what I recommend to my artist friends is to write it down without thinking too much about it what can help you is following scenario let's imagine we met yesterday in a train we were sitting next to each other and started chatting and you taught me that you're an artist and I say oh that's cool I'm a professor for art management and then I said hey I'm interested in you work because the internet didn't work or whatever so you couldn't show me Instagram so I said hey sent me a couple of your works here's my email in for madness class calm so the next day you sit down and attach a PDF I explained you how to do that before what should be in the PDF to your email in the body of the email you want to send me a brief intro to your work describing what you do you start with something like hey magnets good to meet you yesterday in the Train I attach a PDF with some images my work deals with and then you start talking about your work and is where your artists statement comes in so try this approach pretend you sent me an email really go any email program and write it down don't use more than 50 to 100 words you will see it will make it easier to write this artist statement here are some tips once you've written it read it out loud we read and edit your free writing structure match the language cut out repetitions and get rid of jargon it should be catchy understandable for readers without a background in the art world which most of those people that you addresses to a half and you should make your art understandable through this get other people to read it second advice the trick is to have them read it then take away the statement then ask them can you summarize what my work is about if they can't you failed you have to rewrite your artist statement if they can repeat your core message you have won and thirdly give it some time write it down then leave it aside for a couple of days then reread it again and then you're done at some point just copy paste put it on your website done don't spend too much time on it Jerry Saltz he should know one of the most relevant are journalists in the world and his clearly seen a lot of utter statements he says written in plain language keep it short simple to the point use your own syntax write the way you speak no platitudes with giant abstractions nature beauty and biggity say what you really are doing with these big things or avoid them at all don't be afraid to be funny with your stupid self a glimpse of real self is powerful let's look at examples a bad one and a good one let's start with a bad one take a look at this this is Oscar marilla's artist statement let me read it out for you born in Colombia and based in various locations Oscar Morello born 1986 is one for an inventive and intolerant practice that encompasses paintings works on paper sculptures installations actions live events collaborative projects and videos taken as a whole his body of work demonstrated a sustained emphasis on the notion of cultural exchange and the multiple ways in which ideas languages and even everyday items a display circulated an increasingly intermingled marilla's work conveys a nuanced understanding of the specific conditions of globalization and its attendant state of flux while maintaining the universal apathy of human experience so that's a good one I mean you realize I had difficulties pronouncing those words that they used I think what they actually mean is Oscar Morello was born in Colombia and is now based in various locations he was born in 1986 and work and his work focuses on cultural exchange in times of globalization I mean which one I prefer more I think most people would take away more from the statement that I just summarized then reading through this statement that we saw before they did the exact opposite that Jerry's cells told us to do let's take a good example which are found on Richard tightness website mariya comma born 1991 Karachi Pakistan is a first-generation Canadian from a traditional South Asian family she moved to Canada at the age of nine in 2001 and was forced to endure bullying and racism as a young girl in a post-911 Toronto comma on the artistic voice through Instagram where illustrations resonated with the DC community particularly the second generation art became a means for her to handle realities of being brown and South Asian in an early 2000s North American context her work is collected by men the calling and was featured on the Mindy project she's an Instagram sensation and the author of the trust no aunty published in 2017 who our world has been shown and so on Maria currently lives and works in Toronto Canada what I like about this statement is it's very clear it has her story and her motivation I can relate to some of the events or at least know someone who can it's not abstract at all the language that she chooses is very clear at the end she increases credibility because she presents some trusted brands if you compare it to murillo statement I find hers much more approachable if I had the option to choose who I want to meet I would want to meet her and I like to learn more about her work think about it when you create your artist statement here are some do's and don'ts let's start with the do's make it personal be engaging grab the reader's attention with the first two sentences be clear and be specific don't use unnecessary or fanciful words poems or to abstract writing empty expressions or cliches or words that Magnus cannot pronounce don't generalize don't over explain things and do not write more than 100 words

Channel: MagnusClass

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Keywords: magnusclass, artist statement, how to write an artist statement, example artist statement, good artist statement, magnus resch

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Length: 10min 39sec (639 seconds)

Published: Sun Dec 22 2019