Pages: 1 ... 3 4 [5]   Go Down

Author Topic: Artist Statement  (Read 53644 times)

kencameron

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 840
    • Recent Photographs
Re: Artist Statement
« Reply #80 on: April 27, 2012, 06:06:05 pm »

^To each his or her own approach, but to me your suggestion is the long way around and would lead to a lot of time spent reading.
Fair point, although I would have to say that it is the approach I would follow even if I had only a short time (and assuming there was no prof to ask - certainly by far the best method) because it would allow an initial narrowing down of the scope of my search. "Artist statement" is a subset of "artist writing" and might be easier to find in that context than in the context of the whole of knowledge (so to speak). Having said that much, I really have no choice but to give it a go, do I? I will do so and report back.
Logged
Ken Cameron

kencameron

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 840
    • Recent Photographs
Re: Artist Statement
« Reply #81 on: April 27, 2012, 08:20:37 pm »

Having said that much, I really have no choice but to give it a go, do I? I will do so and report back.

The unremarkable results of an hour or so on line, viewed through the filter of my own prejudices:

There is nothing much from before around 1970, although I found a reference from 1952, which I will chase up the next time I visit my local library.

Earlier comments about marketing are confirmed. Galleries require artist statements and sites aimed at aspiring professionals provide advice on how to write them.

That advice is not always good. "Show it to a fellow artist" is common, but surely "show it to a journalist or an advertising copywriter" would be better.

Often it is the artist, or their career choice, that is being marketed, rather than the work. Many artist statements are fragments of autobiography.

The artist statement is often a locus of intense anxiety for the artist, an occasion for uneasiness. On the other hand, some artists seem to find them all too easy.

Earlier comments about the link to conceptual art are confirmed. In such cases, the actual work may add little to the statement, or even detract from it. This is particularly the case in conceptual art with a political subject.

Texts that look like artist statements from earlier centuries tend to be by famous artists who have something interesting to say about their artistic philosophies. There may have been garbage back then, but time has buried it.

Contrary to my own earlier view, there does seem to be some correlation between the quality of the statement and the quality of the work. Cliches in the one are sometimes associated with cliches in the other, and quality with quality. But this is not always the case.

The earlier comment about the value of a "foucaultian" perspective is on the money. The artist statement is a central part of the "discourse" of the contemporary art world.
« Last Edit: April 28, 2012, 03:18:55 am by kencameron »
Logged
Ken Cameron

Justan

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1928
    • Justan-Elk.com
Re: Artist Statement
« Reply #82 on: May 01, 2012, 10:11:02 am »

Thanks for taking the time to do some research!

> Texts that look like artist statements from earlier centuries tend to be by famous artists who have something interesting to say about their artistic philosophies.

It’s not limited to their artistic philosophies. For any semi serious art student, check out Vasari’s ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giorgio_Vasari )  amazing body of works called “Lives of the Artists.” Here’s a partial translation: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/vasari/vasari-lives.html there are other translations to be found. It is an inspiring look into some highly influential artist, who date to the Italian Renaissance. Heavily political in its obvious favoritism for all things Florentine.

Just for the fun of it, contrast any of the writings by Vasari, with comments by Andreas Gursky, as example, found in the following brief review of Gursky’s works:
http://www.americansuburbx.com/2009/06/theory-andreas-gursky-big-picture-2001.html It shows a lot of how far society has come in several hundred years. Or not.

kencameron

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 840
    • Recent Photographs
Re: Artist Statement
« Reply #83 on: May 01, 2012, 06:21:39 pm »

...the following brief review of Gursky’s works:
http://www.americansuburbx.com/2009/06/theory-andreas-gursky-big-picture-2001.html

Thanks for that link - fascinating, and the web site as well - I will be back there soon.
Logged
Ken Cameron
Pages: 1 ... 3 4 [5]   Go Up