Presentation on how to write an artist's resume, bio and artistic statement.

1. Intro
Resume Artist's Statement Bio

2. Resume

3. Resume
• Try to keep it to 2 or 3 pages; maximum 5
(a resume is not a CV)
• Keep it succinct and focused only on art/
design related activities.
• Customize multiple resume versions for
each kind of activity for which you apply.
You might have a version for exhibitions,
residencies, employment, commissions…

4. Resume
Avoid gimmicks, borders and "fancy" fonts.
Use a clean sans serif font 10 pts or larger.

5. Resume
Clarity trumps design and novelty

6. Resume
Clarity trumps design and novelty

7. Resume
• Lead with education/credentials
• Typically do NOT include "strengths",
"professional attributes" or "skills" for
exhibition or residency resumes. For
employment resumes include any skills at
the end that are not evident or strongly
implied by the other listings.
• Next list arts related employment and/or
Gallery Representation

8. Resume
• Next list exhibitions. If you have a lot and a
great variety, break them down by type,
otherwise simply list them all together in
reverse chronological order.
1. Solo Exhibitions
2. Two Person and Small Group Exhibitions (<5)
3. Large Group Exhibitions
4. Juried Exhibitions

9. Resume
1. List exhibitions with enough info so that readers
have a sense of their significance. Providing
somewhat more info is better than less. Do not
over inflate your accomplishments or mislead by
omission.
2. Include the names of jurors/curators where
available and their title. For juried exhibitions list
the number of entries and the number accepted.

10. Resume
Examples:
Solo Exhibitions
2013 Siren’s Song, Malone Art Gallery, Troy University, Troy, AL.
(full gallery installation)
2012 Subimago, Overbrook Art Gallery, Muskegon Community
College, Muskegon, MI. (10)
Juried Exhibitions
2011 Toledo Area Artists 93rd Annual Exhibition, Toledo Museum of
Art, Toledo, OH. Jurors: Amy Gillman, Head Curator of
Contemporary Art, The Toledo Museum of Art, and Brian
Kennedy Director, The Toledo Museum of Art. 757 entries,
8% accepted. (1)

11. Resume
• Next list works in permanent collections,
professional commissions and consultancies
including murals and outdoor sculpture.
• Only include listings that add to your professional
standing. Give enough information to convey the
significance of the activity. This might include the
remuneration, size/scale of the project or the
importance of the commissioner/organization
(Typically these are paid. A good gut check is if
you feel you the need to misrepresent through
inflation or omission do not include.)

12. Resume
• Next list residencies, workshops, artist talks and
other invited, selective, activities such as requests
to jury or demonstrations. This can include
participation in selective art fairs.
• If you have a lot of activities break them into
categories, otherwise put them under one listing.

13. Resume
• Next list publications that have included you or
your work. Only list catalogs, articles and books
that mention you or your work by name or include
a photo of your work. Include URLs for online
publications. Do not include personal sites or un-curated
online galleries (such as Deviantart).
• Collins, Kianna, “Stimulating Exhibit”, Tropolitan News, Troy, AL,
Vol. 87, Is. 2, p.5, Aug. 22, 2013. Includes photo.
• Vo, Ngoc, “Siren’s Song Ends with Inspirational Reception”,
Tropilitan News, Troy, AL, Vol. 87, Is. 8, Sept. 26, 2013.

14. Resume
• Finally list awards, grants and other substantial
forms or recognition that do not fit into the other
categories. Make sure to include enough
information to make the significance clear.

15. Resume Summary
Your Name
Adress
Phone
Email/ website
• Education/ credentials
• Arts Related Employment/ Gallery Representation
• Exhibitions
1. Solo Exhibitions
2. Two Person and Small Group Exhibitions
3. Large Group Exhibitions
4. Juried Exhibitions
• Permanent collections/ commissions/ consultancies
• Residencies/ workshops/ artist talks
• Publications
• Awards, grants and other recognition.

16. Artist's Statement

17. Artist Statements
Purpose/ Function
self analysis
personal “mission statement”
marketing
propaganda

18. Artist Statements
Purpose/ Function
self analysis
personal “mission statement”
marketing
propaganda
introduction

19. Form
Artist Statements
Length
Narrative arc
Focus

20. Artist Statements
Style: Consider your audience(s)
Discursive approach
Rhetoric
Specificity/generality
Over-reach/hyperbole

21. Artist Statements

22. Artist Statements

23. Artist Statements

24. Purpose
Writing an artist’s statement is difficult
because if the work is any good, it is
very often complex—operating on many
formal and conceptual levels.
A successful statement in most cases
cannot accommodate all these levels,
so it must condense, prioritize, and
often ignore some of them. Do not think
of the statement as “capturing” or
“defining” the work. You are not trying
to explain the work away. Think of it
as a roadmap that helps viewers
orient themselves to your work and
concerns.

25. Purpose
An artist statement should serve as an
introduction to your work and concerns
Avoid TLI and TMI

26. Purpose
An artist statement should serve as an
introduction to your work and concerns
Avoid TLI and TMI

27. Purpose
An artist statement is not:
a justification: If you feel like you need to justify the work then you
should probably be making different or better work.
an artist bio: Include personal history only as it directly relates the
work.
a résumé: This is not the place to talk about any awards that the
work may have won, or shows it was in. Usually it’s bad form to
quote from reviews. It’s always bad form to quote yourself.
a catalog raisonne or a work chronology: “First I did this, then I
did that, then I did the other… It’s ok to talk about process or how
one work leads into another but you need to talk about how or why
one thing led to another.

28. Preparation
Before you attempt to write the
statement, take some time to write out
answers to the following questions.
YOU ARE NOT WRITING THE
STATEMENT YET! Just get your
answers down on paper. Do not over
think it or worry about grammar.
Really dig. Do not let yourself off the
hook with superficial answers.
Spending some time answering these
questions will pay off in an artist
statement that is more informative and
compelling, and it will make writing the
statement MUCH easier:

29. Preparation
Why do you do what you do?
Why, of all the things that one could
choose to do and be in the world
would anyone, let alone you, want
to be an artist?

30. Preparation
Why the materials and processes
you use? Why paint and not
prints? Why clay? What’s the
attraction? Why wheel rather than
hand built, or additive instead of
subtractive? DIG! “…because I like
it” (it feels right, I enjoy it, because
I hate…, I was drawn to) does not
answer anything. WHY? Is the
question you need to answer.

31. Preparation
Who or what are the most
important influences and
experiences that have shaped
your life and your work?

32. Preparation
What does the work look like?
Take a representative piece and
describe it as if you were talking to
the blind or to your mother on the
telephone. Use descriptive
adjectives and dynamic verbs. Do
not overlook the obvious.

33. Preparation
What ties most of the work
together? What identifies your
work as yours and not hers? Look
over a long span. Are there formal
or conceptual threads that many of
artworks seem to be revisiting over
and over again?

34. Writing
Use the “sap to syrup” method.
It takes over 40 gallons of sap to
make 1 gallon of syrup. Write 2 to
5 pages. Boil that down to a page
and a half. Then edit that to a
page. Edit the page to a
paragraph. This works especially
well because you really need 3
artist statements:

35. Writing
Three Statements
1. The “academic” version. 500-1500 words.
Good for applying to academic positions, for catalogues or brief
presentations.
2. The “gallery” version. 200-500 words.
Good for catalogues, applying for shows, wall statements
3. The “press” version. 25-100 words.
Good for fliers, press listings, promotional material, exhibition
listings. Often combined with a distillation of the artist’s bio to form
the “blurb”.

36. Writing
• Don’t write “I think”, I believe”, or
“I feel”. You are writing it! It’s a
given. Avoid over-equivocation.
•Try to avoid over use of “I”, “my”,
“me”, “mine.” Use instead “These”
and “The”. Over use of personal
pronouns makes you sound like a
spoiled three-year-old.

37. Writing
Avoid too many comparisons to
well known artists. You will usually
lose in the comparison.
Always distinguish how your work
or concerns are different from
theirs, as well as any similarities.

38. Writing
Avoid pseudo adjectives:
interesting, beautiful, distinctive,
exciting, personal, unique,
pleasing, harmonious etc.
Also avoid redundant modifiers
that just pad the sentence.
Examples: painful toothache,
sharp needle, weighty concrete,
colorful paint, etc.
Here’s the test: Does the modifier
clarify the image?

39. Writing
Limit yourself to using the
word “juxtaposition” only
once in the statement.
Better still, try not to use it.

40. The Takeaway
If you haven’t learned anything
new about your work in the
process of writing an artist
statement then you are not
digging deep enough. You need
to be more perceptive, critical,
descriptive and self-reflective.

41. The Takeaway
An artist statement should
serve simply as an
engaging introduction to
your work and concerns.

42. The Takeaway
Share your mania.
Focus on what motivates you to
make the work that you do.
Make your interest, investment
and excitement infectious.

43. Bio

44. • Bio- a brief profile that includes a summary
of an artist's background and professional
achievements. Typically written in the 3rd
person.
• Blurb- a brief profile that combines the artist's
bio with elements of the artist's statement
to produce a profile of the artist and their
professional concerns.

45. Bio Form
<Full Name> is a <type of artist> originally from from
<city, state> who <one sentence description of artistic
activities> . <Last name> <authentication background
to include education and/or other training/transforming
life experiences> and has been included in <2-4
important exhibitions or achievements>. <Last Name>
currently lives in <city, state> where they <one or two
sentence description of current occupation, pertinent
activites or life situation> <If there is a big achivement
or professional change on the horizon, end with that >.

46. Bio Example
Daniel Freemarket is a painter originally from from Pottsdam,
Nebraska who specializes in bird portraiture. Freemarket was
abandoned as an infant and was raised by a flock of starlings until
age seven when he was discovered and subsequently adopted by
a family of migrant workers. These early experiences have fueled
his lifelong interest in ornithology and identity politics, both of which
figure largely in his work. Freemaket's delicate and disturbing
paintings have been included in the last two Whitney Biennials and
graced the covers of National Geographic and SQUWALK
Magazines. Freemarket currently lives in Slome, Norway where he
teaches painting at the Arkenstuck Institute and serves on
Norway's Stronen Commission for habitat preservation. The first
major monograph of his work will be published in Spring 2016 by
Aneuthstussen Press.

47. Blurb Example