Each morning, time permitting, I read a variety of art related blog entries, as I wake up and drink the mocha latte my wonderful husband makes for me. I've recently read some very insightful postss that I want to share.
Artist friend, Catherine Carter, wrote a post called "It's up to the artist," about art critiquing that I think is very wise. Here are two (of the many) things she said that I found insightful are:
".... I will not have my work critiqued at this time in my career. If someone likes my work, that's wonderful; if they don't like my work, that's fine too. Everyone has different tastes, and that's what makes the world go around. Critiques, whether from a teacher or a colleague or an art professional, are personal opinions. They are not appropriate after a certain artistic level has been established. "
... and ...
"Critiquing is different from editing, I believe. Visual artists need feedback from editors (aka curators or gallerists), just as writers do, on which pieces work better than others, which go well together in presentations, etc. But on the basic level of what subject, style or materials to choose, that is up to the artist herself." Read more.
Joanne Mattera, in her Art Blog post "Marketing Mondays: Defining "Success"," makes some very good points. Here's a quote:
"... The classic route is to make art, find a gallery to represent you, get into the Whitney Biennial, onto the cover of Art in America, have a sellout show every couple of years in New York, have your dealer take you to the art fairs and get you into museum shows and collections, see your work go for big buckaroos at auction, which allows your primary dealer to ramp up your prices, and enjoy life at the top. ..."
She continues on with many many interesting points. Here is an one more:
"Is the art-world paragidm the only viable option?
- If you're making art you love in your studio and selling it in your summer gallery on Cape Cod or Ogunquit or Santa Fe—and enjoying it— isn’t that success?
- If you’re selling to relatively well-off collectors on vacation in Maui, who happily call to commission more work, isn’t that success?
- If you teach all year and show every couple of years in a co-op gallery, get reviewed by the local press occasionally, and have a rich full art life and a personal life, isn’t that success?" Read more.
And, Art Dealer Edward Winkleman's post "The Re-Pricing Question : Open Thread," there are more good things to think about. Here's a quote:
"... best illustrated by a collector who's been buying art for over 30 years, and seen a few cycles come and go, who said (I paraphrase) that collectors shouldn't be upset if the price of work by an artist they bought last year is lower this year. He noted, for comparison, that if the price of IBM stock was $50 last year and it's only $10 this year, there's no point in getting upset. You couldn't have bought it for less than $50 last year and you can snap it up for $10 this year. I asked this collector if he personally would be upset to learn that a comparable piece to that for which he paid a higher price just a few years ago could be had for much less now, and he said no...he would understand that that's the new price ..." Read more.
These are just a few interesting things to think about. If you have time, I hope you'll read these posts and I hope you get some thing out of them.
