I'm trying to get my first gallery show...advise?

[jnet11]

I am going to apply to a few local galleries for a show. here is my dilemma, I am entirely self-taught and have only shown in coffeehouses before! So I'm feeling a little intimidated by the Resume/Biography section I'm supposed to send.
here is a copy of what I'm thining about sending
*************
Resume/Biography

I have shown at numerous coffeehouses in the greater Kansas City area over the last two years, including; WebStirs, The Cup and Saucer, Mildred's, and most recently at The Corner Restaurant in Westport from March through June of 2000.

In 1996 I felt a desire to draw, so I began focusing on learning the wonders of the #2 pencil. I read drawing books voraciously and began to buy books of artists' work. Somewhere along the way I read Van Gogh's Letter's To Theo, and the paints were spilled. I already had some watercolors, so I began with those. When my levels of realism were insufficient for my purposes, I expanded to acrylic (finding those a bit more forgiving) and much brighter in color; I have since worked in both media. I collect books by the artists I admire, studying their techniques; mostly I paint as much as possible.
*********************
any suggestions? any advise? What about prices? I have no idea what they expect me to be charging ... I realize they have to pay the bills based on my sales, so what is a good range to price in?
thanks, I know this is a long post ...
jeanette*

[Berrell]

Jeanette, I'm amazed at your short and self-taught history after having come to know how good you are. Congratulations on taking this step and best wishes for the outcome.

------------------
Berrell

[scadgrad]

Jeanette,
From my experience, I have found that no matter how early on in your career, it is always best to have excellent presentation of your CV (Curriculum Vitae)--a fancy word for an extended resume in the art field. First, write your CV and print it on nice resume paper. At your local office supply store, buy a small plastic black portfolio that has clear plastic pages inside and a clear slot on the front (around $4/5). If you have the means to get prints made from slides....DO! If you can learn to shoot slides of your own work, it will save you tons of $. If nothing else, take photos of your work and mount them on paper.

Try this format for your CV...
1. Letterhead w/ name, address, #, and email
2. Education: degrees or any formal instuction
3. Awards/Grants/Scholarships
4. Selected Exhibitions
5. Professional Experience
6. Public Works/Community Service
7. Professional Memberships
8. Collections (Private/Corporate)
*Some of these won't apply just yet, so don't worry.
8. Artist Statement...hints: keep it simple, around 3 full paragraphs. Imagine how you might explain your work to a stranger (or even a blind stranger!)-perhaps there is an overall theme or direction, describe your personal creative process and maybe the physical process if it is non-traditional. Above all, try to be objective and avoid getting too personal...what you are trying to do is to offer some clarity to your work, but your work should ultimately speak for itself.

If it is not possible to write your Biography separately from your Artist Statement, then just add a few simple lines about where you are from and your background in the arts.

Pricing...avoid pricing according to how attached you are to particular pieces. There are many ways to objectively price your work...just make sure that you cover the price of materials and compensate yourself for the time spent on the piece. My husband and I price by size...its easy once you set a price per square inch or foot. Good Rule: never go down on prices. Once you set a price, that's it. Prices can go up as you consistantly sell work.

Well, I hope this does not sound too forward or preachy. I was just glad that I learned all this in Grad School, and I feel obligated to pass it on.

Good Luck! Mere

[This message has been edited by scadgrad (edited August 02, 2000).]

[This message has been edited by scadgrad (edited August 02, 2000).]

[bluespade]

I think the problem is that Jnet, like me, doesn't have an art education, scholarships, grants, awards, or museums that hold our art to put in the statement/CV. Thus, on your format, which is great, all we have is our little statement....how do we beef it up?

So here are my questions:
1) If I start showing in coffeehouses, do I put this in or does it look bad when I want to show in "finer" places?

2) Should the artist's statement be in first or third person?

Jnet: I like your statement, but it is little too journalistic and personal. I think you should rewrite it to say what you paint with, what your subejcts are about, what reactions people have or what you are trying to communicate, and what your collection that you want to display is about.

----
Example: Jane Doe began painting two years ago as a self trained artist after leaving behind two decades in the nunnery. Her acrylic paints and photo montages focus on religous images intertwined with commercial pop art and advertising illustrations. Her works represent blah, blah, blah....(some gerenal assesments or alternate assesments of what's going on in her art). Her most recent series, titled "XYX", includes several larger installation pieces and tryptichs, as well as, single pieces.
-----
Does that style work? Again, what do you put on the CV when there's nothing much to say? http://www.wetcanvas.com/ubb/smile.gif

What are galleries looking for, besides decent slides/prints of our art?

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Doug
Blue Spade Productions
http://www.bluespade.com

[jnet11]

thanks everyone,
scadgrad- all I have on your numbered list is my name and e-mail! I have done tons of community service (seminars for children) but it is all in POETRY, not painting ...
Blue, you hit the nail on the head, 3rd person seems false for me to write in, but I suppose you are right.
Most the places I am trying to get into want a statement of purpose as well as bio/resume, so some of the other things you suggested are actually in that ...
jeanette*

[scadgrad]

Jeanette....don't worry if you don't have an educational background in art...just any educational info will be fine--and if not, try Self-taught, 1996-present. It is rather chic to be self-taught these days anyway http://www.wetcanvas.com/ubb/smile.gif.

Bluespade: excellent format for the artist statement! I agree with your critique of J's written statement.

J-go ahead and put down any relevant resume info that deals with the arts or any other field...not necessarily just the visual arts. Your background is important to what makes up the artist you are now. So go ahead and include the poetry info, ect.

So, ignore the #ed sections that you can't fill in yet. I see already that you have four exhibitions under your belt....list the most recent one first and then work your way down.
Such as...

EXHIBITIONS:
2000 Solo Exhibition, "New Works", So&So
Coffeehouse, Anywhere USA

1999 Group Exhibition, Cool Coffeehouse,
Anywhere USA

1998 Juried Group Exhibition, Blank
Administration Bldg.

It doesn't have to be fancy, because its just the beginning right? One page, make it easily readable and then your artist statement on the second page. Done!

Bluespade: Well, I think different galleries have different expectations...I do think that they consistantly look for professional-looking presentation of your work in a portfolio that you can build yourself. The images are what is most important in the end anyway. I'm sure that showing in as many exhibitions as possible (across the nation and international) can't hurt http://www.wetcanvas.com/ubb/smile.gif.

[This message has been edited by scadgrad (edited August 03, 2000).]

[jnet11]

I'm going to do a rewrite this afternoon, I feel mush more confident about it now, thanks guys!
j*

[jnet11]

ok here is my rewrite ... tell me what you think ...
Resume/Biography


March - June 2000 solo exhibition, "Naiads"
The Corner Restaurant, Westport, Kansas City

November 1999 solo exhibition, "Just Art"
Mildred's Coffeehouse, Overland Park, Kansas

June 1999 solo exhibition, "Curvilinear"
The Cup and Saucer, Kansas City, Missouri

February - June 1999 solo exhibition, "New Paintings"
WebStir's Coffeehouse, Kansas City, Kansas



Jeanette Heinrich is a self taught painter and poet based in the Kansas City area. Her work uses vivid color and solid line work to express the inherent beauty of the human form. Her watercolor and acrylic paintings represent a diverse selection of figures, from fantastical to realistic. Greek mythology and romantic poetry are constant sources of her inspiration, touching on the idea that life is fundamentally beautiful and spiritual. Her lyrical, romantic poetry has been a constant companion in her life and work, beginning in 1998, Jeanette has been a member of Grok: a poets' collective, a local group dedicated to exhibiting poetry in unique and interesting ways. The group has hosted more than a dozen shows since, highlighting many of the performance poets in the area. Within this group she also speaks with children of all ages to schools around Kansas City about the history and writing of poetry. Jeanette is co-editor of Stanzas, a bi-monthly poetry publication, and arts editor of Friction Magazine, an on-line arts publication.

[arcitect]

Better.

The line between "concise" and "stiff" is a fine one. I would like to see a little more flavor.

I have been the person looking at the slides and reading the bios and statements. The bio is best left brief and to the point, perhaps combined with the resume. The statement is usually better served seperated from the bio and given some more color. The statement is really a good place to get on your soapbox and go at it. Three quarters of a page is nice.

A second more in depth statement can be a plus. One says, "this is the gist of what I am up to" while the other gets to the nuts and bolts for those who care to go deeper.

Approach it with the same degree of craft you would a poem and you will be fine.

[iyoung]

I'm new here and have been lurking, enjoying the messages. I handle P.R. for a number of local artists and am the person to whom they hand their self-written artist's statements/ bios to have it rewritten for publication in press releases. I'm also on the selection committee of one gallery and a member of the jury so I think I may have something to offer Jeanette.

Your statement is pretty good, but doesn't stress your selling points enough. I wouldn't start out saying I was a self-taught artist - I would start out saying I was a artist and poet (that is an interesting enough opening - you needn't explain how you came to be one in your first line), whose paintings had been showcased in serveral local venues, who is active in the arts community and in education outreach, who is editor....etc, etc. You want to give the collector a reason to buy you, and the gallery a way to talk a collector into buying you. You sound to me like somebody who's done what you should to work within the arts community and is ready to move up and you should make yourself sound that way to the gallery folks. You can mention that you were self-taught later by stating your influences and how you studied if you want to but you don't really have to in your artist's statement. Your silence on the subject will state it for you. That old joke that all people who went to exclusive schools manage to drop the name of their alma mater at the earliest possible point in a converstaion is fairly accurate in the art world.
If you have a hard time tooting your own horn, you might try the age-old practice of taking a piece of paper and writing everything good and sales-worthy you can think of about yourself, no matter how trivial it seems, then hand the paper to someone else to edit and put together. They won't be hindered by false modesty. I have no problem writing other artist's show press releases but I'd have a helluva time with my own.

[jnet11]

right on! I'm going to do another rewrite tomorrow ... excellent advise.
One comment ... the places I am applying to mostly want an Artist's Statement and a Resume/Biography ... so I'm working on one of those, too.
One question (for now http://www.wetcanvas.com/ubb/wink.gif ...should I leave out my sources of inspiration for the bio?
if not, should I add a few more? perhaps painters that have influenced me?
thanks again,
j*

[iyoung]

This is probably a pretty subjective opinion, but I like to see the discussion of influences directed to the work, not the artist - that way you can tell what you're getting. Such as, "John Doe's distinctive magical realist figure paintings reflect the influence of such painters as.." or "I was inspired to create the current series by the works of...." or " My style, which I describe as magical-realism, was inspired by the visionary poetry of Jane Noe, and influenced by /(or by my study of the works of)/such painters as Manny, Moe and Mike. I employ bold color and composition supporting the human figure to bring to the viewer...blah blah" I'm probably a more formal writer than you since I write these for general release- you should tailor the tone to the gallery you're interested in.
Ilene

[This message has been edited by iyoung (edited August 04, 2000).]

[PJJorgensen]

Jeanette and Ilene, I just want to thank you both for the questions, examples and answers. I'm facing somewhat of the same dilemma and your discussion is very helpful. It is so exciting to have this forum to share ideas and info without intimidation. I have my first juried exhibition coming up and have to have a brief artist's bio and statement prepared. Ilene, would the approach you describe be any different for this purpose?

[iyoung]

It all depends on your forum. It's probably best to find out what has worked for other people for the same venue, and strike the same tone. The main thing is to speak the language of the people you want to represent/accept/buy work from you.

[jnet11]

Resume/Biography


March - June 2000 solo exhibition, "Naiads"
The Corner Restaurant, Westport, Kansas City

November 1999 solo exhibition, "Just Art"
Mildred's Coffeehouse, Overland Park, Kansas

June 1999 solo exhibition, "Curvilinear"
The Cup and Saucer, Kansas City, Missouri

February - June 1999 solo exhibition, "New Paintings"
WebStir's Coffeehouse, Kansas City, Kansas

June 1998 group exhibition, "Prismatic Flesh"
The Liquid Lounge, Kansas City, Missouri


Jeanette Heinrich is a painter and poet based in Kansas City. Her acrylics and watercolors have been showcased in several local venues, where she has sold nearly fifty paintings over the last three years. Her work focuses on vivid color and solid line work to express the inherent beauty of human form and circumstance; she uses a diverse selection of figures, from fantastical to realistic. Her paintings reflect the influences of romantic poetry and Greek mythology and touch on the methods of expressionism and printmaking. Her own lyrical poetry has been a constant companion in her life and work. Beginning in 1998, Jeanette has been a member of Grok: a poets' collective, a local group dedicated to exhibiting the arts in unique and interesting ways. The group has hosted more than a dozen shows and readings, highlighting many local performance poets. Within this group she also speaks with children in schools around Kansas City about the history and writing of poetry. Jeanette is co-editor of Stanzas, a bi-monthly poetry publication, and arts editor of Friction Magazine, an online arts publication.
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here is the latest version, much improved, I hope! what do you say?
thanks again
jeanette*

[C. Moreno]

Originally posted by jnet11:
Resume/Biography...what do you say?
I want to meet this artist and see her work! http://www.wetcanvas.com/ubb/smile.gif
Clarissa

[iyoung]

This sounds very good! I'd like to meet this artist, too.

Ilene

[PJJorgensen]

Oh yea! Good! Reads easily and pulls me into the artist's life. I agree, I'd love to meet you and hear your art.