Artist's Statement
Encyclopedia
An artist's statement is a brief verbal representation (didactic, descriptive, or reflective in nature) created by the artist about his or her own work.
and may derive in part from it. However, the artist's statement generally speaks for an individual rather than a collective, and is not strongly associated with polemic
. Rather, a contemporary artist may be required to submit the statement in order to tender for commissions or apply for schools, residencies, jobs, awards, and other forms of institutional support. In their 2008 survey of North American art schools and university art programs, Garrett-Petts and Nash (2008) found that nearly 90% teach the writing of artist statements as part of the curriculum; in addition they found that, "like prefaces, forewords, prologues, and introductions in literary works, the artist statement performs a vital if complex rhetorical role: when included in an exhibition proposal and sent to a curator, the artist statement usually provides a description of the work, some indication of the work's art historical and theoretical context, some background information about the artist and the artist's intentions, technical specifications—and, at the same time, it aims to persuade the reader of the artwork's value. When hung on a gallery wall, the statement (or "didactic") becomes an invitation, an explanation, and, often indirectly, an element of the installation itself" ("Re-Visioning).
On two occasions, artists' statements have been the subject of gallery exhibition. The first exhibition of artists' statements, The Art of the Artist's Statement, was curated by Georgia Kotretsos and Maria Pashalidou at the Hellenic Museum, Chicago, in the spring of 2005. It featured the work of fourteen artists invited to create artwork offering a visual commentary on the subject of artist statements. The second exhibition, Proximities: Artists' Statements and Their Works, was installed in the fall of 2005 at the Kamloops Art Gallery, Kamloops, British Columbia. Co-curated by W.F. Garrett-Petts and Rachel Nash, the exhibition asked nine contributing artists to respond to the topic of “artists’ statements”—taking one or more of their own artist’s statements and working with the text(s) in a manner that documented, represented, and annotated the original work, creating a “new work” in the process.
Content
It is a text composed by an artist and intended to explain, justify, extend, and/or contextualize his or her body of work. Artists often write a short (50-100 word) and/or a long (500-1000 word) version of the same statement, and they may maintain and revise these statements throughout their careers.Context and uses
The writing of artists' statements is a comparatively recent phenomenon. In some respects the practice resembles the art manifestoArt manifesto
The art manifesto has been a recurrent feature associated with the avant-garde in Modernism. Art manifestos are mostly extreme in their rhetoric and intended for shock value to achieve a revolutionary effect. They often address wider issues, such as the political system...
and may derive in part from it. However, the artist's statement generally speaks for an individual rather than a collective, and is not strongly associated with polemic
Polemic
A polemic is a variety of arguments or controversies made against one opinion, doctrine, or person. Other variations of argument are debate and discussion...
. Rather, a contemporary artist may be required to submit the statement in order to tender for commissions or apply for schools, residencies, jobs, awards, and other forms of institutional support. In their 2008 survey of North American art schools and university art programs, Garrett-Petts and Nash (2008) found that nearly 90% teach the writing of artist statements as part of the curriculum; in addition they found that, "like prefaces, forewords, prologues, and introductions in literary works, the artist statement performs a vital if complex rhetorical role: when included in an exhibition proposal and sent to a curator, the artist statement usually provides a description of the work, some indication of the work's art historical and theoretical context, some background information about the artist and the artist's intentions, technical specifications—and, at the same time, it aims to persuade the reader of the artwork's value. When hung on a gallery wall, the statement (or "didactic") becomes an invitation, an explanation, and, often indirectly, an element of the installation itself" ("Re-Visioning).
On two occasions, artists' statements have been the subject of gallery exhibition. The first exhibition of artists' statements, The Art of the Artist's Statement, was curated by Georgia Kotretsos and Maria Pashalidou at the Hellenic Museum, Chicago, in the spring of 2005. It featured the work of fourteen artists invited to create artwork offering a visual commentary on the subject of artist statements. The second exhibition, Proximities: Artists' Statements and Their Works, was installed in the fall of 2005 at the Kamloops Art Gallery, Kamloops, British Columbia. Co-curated by W.F. Garrett-Petts and Rachel Nash, the exhibition asked nine contributing artists to respond to the topic of “artists’ statements”—taking one or more of their own artist’s statements and working with the text(s) in a manner that documented, represented, and annotated the original work, creating a “new work” in the process.
External links
- Detterer, Gabriele. Ed. Art Recollection: Artists' Interviews & Statements in the Nineties''. Florence: Danilo Montanari, Exit, and Zona Archives Editori, 1997.
- "Garrett-Petts, W.F. Literary Artists' Statements", Canadian Literature, No. 176 (Spring 2003): 111-114.
- Garrett-Petts, W.F., and Rachel Nash, eds. Proximities: Artists' Statements and Their Works Kamloops, B.C.: Kamloops Art Gallery, 2005.
- "Nash, Rachel, and W.F. Garrett-Petts, eds. Artists' Statements & the Nature of Artistic Inquiry", Open Letter. Thirteenth Series, No. 4, Strathroy, Canada, 2007.
- "Garrett-Petts, W.F., and Rachel Nash. Re-Visioning the Visual: Making Artistic Inquiry Visible." Rhizomes 18 (Winter 2008). Spec. issue on Imaging Place.
- Patented 10Gallon.com Artist Statement Generator 2000, Mad Lib style artist statement generator by Nick Fortunato.