Statement of intent in show application

You could always try this: https://www.500letters.org/form_15.php

Pieter12 said:

You could always try this: https://www.500letters.org/form_15.php

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I ran across that one too

Write something that might draw your interest if you were reading the website that advertised the show, and that website included the artist statements.
The academic art world has its own values, but you don't have to use its vocabulary if you aren't in that world.

MattKing said:

Write something that might draw your interest if you were reading the website that advertised the show, and that website included the artist statements.
The academic art world has its own values, but you don't have to use its vocabulary if you aren't in that world.

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Thanks Matt, I'm trying to write something in my own voice rather than mimicking the style I commonly see - much of which quite honestly sounds like mumbo jumbo to me.

I'm not sure why an artist statement is mandatory for a show submission anyway. Do viewers of the work actually read them?

logan2z said:

Thanks Matt, I'm trying to write something in my own voice rather than mimicking the style I commonly see - much of which quite honestly sounds like mumbo jumbo to me.

I'm not sure why an artist statement is mandatory for a show submission anyway. Do viewers of the work actually read them?

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Yes, many do. At least from my experience. Every meaningful show I had in Japan expected an artist statement. As much as I hate writing them, they are helpful to viewers. I'm a terrible writer and struggle when talking about myself or my photography.

PS... Keep them simple stupid. Don't use big fancy schmancy words. Avoid artspeak!

An artist's statement is quite important to curators and gallery directors. As far as the general public, sometimes it adds a dimension that gives them a deeper understanding and appreciation of the work. However, a badly written, jargon-filled artist's statement can reveal the shallowness of the photographer and be transferred to how a viewer sees the work. I personally tend to lose interest as soon as I detect spiritual and other new-age BS in a statement. However, good work can transcend sorry artist's statement, no matter how mediocre the thoughts, and poor work cannot be saved by an outstanding bit of writing.

logan2z said:

Apologies for resurrecting an old thread, but I'm faced with having to write an artist statement and am struggling to come up with one. Hoping I can write something reasonable before having to resort to this:

https://www.artybollocks.com/



Funny enough, the output of this generator doesn't seem any more nonsensical than most of the artist statements I read...

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Hey! That's pretty damned good! Maybe I'll generate an artist statement and THEN make some photos around that!

Kino said:

Hey! That's pretty damned good! Maybe I'll generate an artist statement and THEN make some photos around that!

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That's one approach.

With politics invading everything, I fear the readers of artist statements will expect to see the latest buzz words - equity, diversity, etc.

The galleries set the terms of the exhibit. I find these sort of things extremely annoying too, so I just make the stuff up. Look, who knows what my intent is when I'm painting or drawing? I don't need no stinking intent, I just need to do it right. But, the gallery people are doing their job of being ridiculous sales people, and so I do my job of gritting my teeth and giving them what they want, or I show somewhere else. It's a waste of time to try and convince someone that their way isn't right.

You're going to meet a lot of weird people in the art world, especially on the retail end, but the gallery scene has not one thing to do w/ art. It's simply how the art is exhibited and sold to the public. Some people use an artist's agent (art pimp) to deal w/ the gallery people, and it's a good idea to go that route if you can find the right person.

logan2z said:

Apologies for resurrecting an old thread, but I'm faced with having to write an artist statement and am struggling to come up with one.

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You have to use the time honored method of lying through your teeth. Especially as there's no way to know if it's true or not. A proficiency in Art Speak is also needed. This can be readily acquired by going to a few galley openings (only the ones w/ good wine and food, especially those chocolate covered strawberries) and eavesdropping on the conversations.

Here's an example "It came to me after 2 bottles of Scotch that if I could show the elusive and mysterious symmetry of interrelated but opposing colours which are seen in 2 dimensional perspectives (the extra 'u' is vitally important) , then I might have something!" Or whatever

If you are already accepted, write what works for you.
If you need to convince somebody to let you show your work, then figure out what they want to see, and then write that.
If you can make it interesting for the people who look at your photos, it is quite satisfying and worthwhile.
In the last couple of shows that our Darkroom Group did, we had a binder near the entrance with a page for each photographer. That made it easy to have information available for those who wanted either to know more about the photographers, or contact us if they were interested in more.