Banish the Artist's Statement Blues!

How do you describe yourself as an artist?
Do you need some tips and guidelines for writing an artist's statement?​
An Artist's Statement is ESSENTIAL - but lots of artists
  • either don't know what is an artist statement
  • and/or dread writing a statement about their art!

​Do you need an artist's statement for:
  • an art competition?
  • an exhibition catalogue?
  • a grant proposal?
  • a press release?
  • or a website?
....but do not know how to express your art in words? 
There is no one right answer to how to write an artist's statement.  

​You need to work out what's right for you and your work. However few artists know where to start.

AN INCENTIVE TO START
"if you don't write something down, someday, at a gallery somewhere, an intern is going to write a REALLY STUPID press release about your work"
— Carol Diehl - Artist's Statements: Can't live with them, can't live without them

Get Started

​Choose a topic BELOW to find the pick of available advice and information online plus my own summaries.

The links are to other pages in this section which provide common pointers and different perspectives.You can also access all the pages via the submenu on the top navigation bar.
LISTEN UP!  

​Before you get started, pay attention to a neglected aspect of the process of creating an artist statement

Which comes first - the art or the artist statement?

The correct answer is "the art" - THE ART ALWAYS COMES FIRST
Do you have a coherent, cohesive, fully-realised body of work yet?
​
— How to Prepare an Artist Statement by Kate Ware and Joanna Hurley
​Following on, maybe you need to know How to write an Artist's Resume, Biography or CV?
An artist's statement provides an insight into the artist's work and how it came about.

In short, an artist's statement is a brief summary of what an artist would say if they could explain their own work in person. It focuses on the present while providing as much information from the past as is relevant.

​The best artist's statement is authentic and is written in the artist's own voice, although not always by the artist, and in language which is always simple and accessible.

Katherine Tyrrell | Marketing Art - How to write an Artist's Statement

Did you know?
​

  • ​one third of artists think there's room to improve their artist statement
  • one third of artists would like to produce an artist statement from scratch?
  • 10% of artists don't know what an artist statement is
  • only just over 1% of artists think their artist statement is up to date and absolutely fine​​
Picture
POLL: Would you like to improve your Artist Statement? (from the previous home for this topic)
I found that it is always hardest to write about myself. This site is a great resource and I will use it to modify my statement
Reader