If you’re an artist thinking, “who needs an artist statement… the art just speaks for itself”, please think again. We’ll need one for each of our artists. During our initial business planning for art251, the results from our market survey confirmed that customers and collectors alike want the story and the facts behind the art and the artist.

An artist statement is a great way for an artist to define the connection between artist and art, and an essential tool for building a connection between artist and audience, potential customers and existing collectors. It may not necessarily help a viewer understand more about the art or its meaning. What it will do, however, is open a small, but important window for others to peek into the artist’s world view. Through it a viewer may learn an artist’s intent, or motivations for being an artist, or achievements, or frustrations, or influences and role models.

Cory Jaeger, artist and owner of an art relations and resume service for artists puts it this way:

Of course, strong art, by itself, will evoke a profound emotional response. But when an artist speaks from the heart about how this art came to be and why it had to be made—this is when art changes minds, moves people, and even becomes unforgettable…

The next time you need to write an artist statement, think of artists like Van Gogh, Picasso, da Vinci—artists who left behind not only sweeping artistic vision, but also enduring and enlightened writings on the subject. Know that your art is a precious thing, and so are your words about it.

I couldn’t agree more. So, here are a few tips to help our artists create a narrative masterpiece to complement their visual one. As you write a statement, imagine your favorite work, and then imagine explaining it to your non-artist friends and/or your mother, or better still, your mother-in-law.

  1. Be honest and open
  2. Speak in your own voice
  3. Keep to the facts
  4. Keep it simple, but don’t dumb it down too much
  5. Avoid hyperbole and academic-speak
  6. Keep it reasonably brief — if you have to write a manifesto, give us a summary
  7. Answer the “why”, then the “how”
  8. Talk about the positives AND the negatives
  9. Re-write it every couple of months to keep it fresh

Please avoid phrases like, “I find this work menacing/playful because of the way the disjunctive perturbation of the negative space makes resonant a participation in the critical dialogue of the 90s.” [Courtesy of the Instant Art Critique Phrase Generator.] It’s all English, but I have no idea what it means.

Generally, you’ll not go wrong if you keep to the facts and stay away from instructions to your readers on what to think and feel — leave that to your art. If you’re still having trouble, we’ll help you. We’ll have an artist statement template available soon that will help artists who may be suffering from writer’s block, and help art251 present all our artists’ narratives in a consistent way.