How To Write A Good Artist Statement - Artspace

6/11/2018 "Don't Quote Deleuze": How to Write a Good Artist Statement | Art for Sale | Artspace
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"Don't Quote Deleuze": How to

Write a Good Artist Statement
By Loney Abrams
MARCH 15, 2017
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Writing about art is hard. Writing about art that you made can be
even harder. We hear artists say, “If I knew how to describe my
work in words, I’d be a writer, not an artist.” While this may be
HE SAID, SHE SAID:
true, what’s “truer” is the fact that at some point, you as an artist COLLECT TEXT-BASED
will be asked to write an artist statement—and whether or not it ART
SEE MORE ▸
is good, will matter. So, what makes an artist statement “good”?
Whether you're applying for a residency or grant, or you just
want to perfect your elevator pitch, here are a handful of

things not to include in your artist statement, plus a few tips to
make the process a little less excruciating.
1. Your Artist Statement Is Not “A Piece” "BEAUTY" AUTHOR

STEFAN SAGMEISTER'S
GORGEOUS ART
Resist the temptation to use this as an opportunity to write a
WISHLIST
poem or subvert the “institution of the artist statement.” We get SEE MORE ▸
it; you’re an artist. We really do just genuinely want to know
what your art is about. Please tell us.
2. Oh, You Loved Art as a Child? Join the Club
The worst way to start an artist statement is with the following

words: “Every since I was a little girl, I’ve always loved making
art.” Unless you were literally raised by wolves or grew up in a
hermetically sealed suite a la Bubble Boy, this is not interesting
information. Most kids love art, and regardless, having a long
love affair with your craft doesn’t mean much—it’s what you
have to show for it that counts. There is really no need to explain
when you became interested in art.
3. Avoid These Words:
Juxtapose
Humanity
Human condition
Concerns
Chaos
Uncanny (unless it truly, truly is uncanny. Look up the
definition.)
Notions
Speculative
Explores
Rupture
Troubled
Liminal
Controversial (unless it actually sparked controversy.)
Deconstructs 
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4. Just Use Fewer Words in General
Don’t convolute your sentences by beating around the bush. For

instance: “My art practice is concerned with exploring notions of
gender” really means, “My art is about gender.” Or, “I’m PRINT ▸
interested in investigating ideas and concepts surrounding
notions of race” becomes “I investigate race.” Be specific and
don’t use vague words that keep you from getting to the point.
5. If Your Work Is About You, Why Should We Care?
If you’re making art about your personal experience, fine. But the
question you have to ask yourself is, “Why is my personal PHOTOGRAPH ▸
experience relevant to anyone but me?” What does your
experience say about the world you live in? What can people
learn from your story that might be useful to them? Use your
experience to illustrate some larger issue, topic, culture, or idea
that others can relate to or learn from.
6. Find Help
PAINTING ▸
Not everyone is a good writer, and that’s totally okay. You
shouldn’t need to be able to recite the Chicago Manual of Style
verbatim to write a good artist statement. But don’t let your
lackluster writing skills be an excuse for a sloppy statement. Find
a wordsmith, buy them a beer, and ask them to help you edit
your text. Not only will a poorly written statement make your
ideas harder to understand, but grammatical errors could also
come off as evidence of apathy and irreverence towards whatever
SCULPTURE ▸
opportunity you’re vying for.
7. Don’t Say Your Work Is Interesting—We'll Be the Judge of

That
Remember what your middle school English teacher told you—

show, don’t tell. Describing your work as meaningful,
MIXED MEDIA ▸
captivating, groundbreaking, beautiful, or interesting doesn’t tell
your reader anything about what your work actually is. (Plus, it
comes off as a little cocky.) Instead, write about your work in a
way that shows how it’s interesting.
8. Don’t Reference Deleuze Unless You Absolutely Have To
In general, it’s probably best to avoid relying on the ideas of WORK ON PAPER ▸
other people to prop up your work. But if you really must
reference a philosopher, critic, or theorist, make sure to write a
very brief (could be five words) description of who that person is.
Don’t assume everyone who reads your statement had the same
liberal arts education you did. In terms of referencing other
artists: if your work intentionally and deliberately references
other artists, and these references are integral to the meaning of

your work, by all means, name the artists you reference.
Otherwise, do not compare yourself to other artists, e.g., “Like
Picasso, I paint…”
9. Know What “International Art English” Is, And Void Using

It
In 2012, Alix Rule and David Levine brilliantly and hilariously

wrote about what they called “International Art English”: the
“the curious lexical, grammatical, and stylistic features” too
commonly found in art-world press releases. Here is a tiny
excerpt, but do yourself a favor and read the entire thing:
“IAE has a distinctive lexicon: aporia, radically, space, proposition,

biopolitical, tension, transversal, autonomy. An artist’s work
inevitably interrogates, questions, encodes, transforms, subverts,
imbricates, displaces—though often it doesn’t do these things so
much as it serves to, functions to, or seems to (or might seem to)
do these things. IAE rebukes English for its lack of nouns:

Visual becomes visuality, global becomes globality, potential
becomes potentiality, experience becomes… experiencability.”
10. Write About the Most Interesting Aspects of Your Work

(Not All Aspects Are Interesting)
Explaining your process can reveal something about your work

that isn’t immediately known by just looking at it. If this is the
case, explain away. But for most artists, this play-by-play account
just isn’t necessary. For instance, if you’re a painter, there is really
no need to mention that you begin your day by priming your
canvases, or that your artwork always begins with “an idea” or “a
sketch.” Figure out what makes your work unlike other people’s
and focus on that. For some artists, that is their process, for
others it might be their research methods, or concepts, or
relationship to art history, etc.
11. Keep It Short and Sweet

If you’re applying for an opportunity like an artist

residency, art FIRST ORDER
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school, or a grant, chances are your artist statement will be one

of many. Keep in mind that the person reading your statement
may only have time to skim the first few lines, so if you can
succinctly describe your practice in four sentences, do it. Less is
more. You don’t want the success of your application to rely on
whether or not your panelist can read 2,000 words in 60 seconds.
12. Your Love for Making Art Doesn’t Justify its Worth
Please, please, please don’t write about how much you love
painting, or how fun it is to be in the studio, or how ceramics is
a form of therapy. Don’t get it wrong—we’re very happy for you
if you feel these ways, and we understand that working creatively
can be a very uplifting and joyful process. But here’s the thing:
your experience of making your art in no way influences our
https://www.artspace.com/magazine/interviews_features/art-bytes/dont-say-deleuze-how-to-write-a-good-artist-statement-54662?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=articles&utm_content=w… 10/17
experience of looking at it. This may seem counter-intuitive, but

an artist statement is not about you, the artist; its about your
work, the art.
13. Talk It Out
If you’re having writers block, don’t give up. Download a voice

recording app on your phone and record yourself talking about
your work out loud to a friend (or your cat.) After you transcribe
your speech and edit out the likes and ums, you might be
surprised with how good it sounds. And if not, at least you’ll
have something down on the page that you can work from. Text
that is conversational and seemingly effortless is easier and more
fun to read that text that seems like it was painstakingly
laborious to write.
14. Obviously, Describe Your Work
If someone was standing in front of your art, what questions

might they ask you? What could you tell them that would give
 Write
them a richer, more informed viewing experience? GET 10% OFF YOUR FIRST ORDER
about
your work in a way that will add something to the viewing
experience, not just summarize it. If you’re having trouble
getting the juices flowing, here are a few questions you can
answer to get you started (just remember, you don’t need to
address all of these in your statement.):
Why did you make the art that you made?

What does it say about the world?
What does it help people understand?
What does it look like?
What did you make it out of and how did you make it?
How does it address the history of its medium?
What sort of culture, topic, or issue does it describe?
What do you expect your audience to gain from it?
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6/11/2018 "Don't Quote Deleuze": How to Write a Good Artist Statement | Art for Sale | Artspace

Search artists, galleries, shows... 

"Don't Quote Deleuze": How to

YOU MAY ALSO

Search artists, galleries, shows... 

GET LIT: NEON

Leonid Pasternak's The Passion of Creation

want to perfect your elevator pitch, here are a handful of

1. Your Artist Statement Is Not “A Piece” "BEAUTY" AUTHOR

2. Oh, You Loved Art as a Child? Join the Club

The worst way to start an artist statement is with the following

3. Avoid These Words:

4. Just Use Fewer Words in General

Don’t convolute your sentences by beating around the bush. For

5. If Your Work Is About You, Why Should We Care?

7. Don’t Say Your Work Is Interesting—We'll Be the Judge of

Remember what your middle school English teacher told you—

8. Don’t Reference Deleuze Unless You Absolutely Have To

other artists, and these references are integral to the meaning of

9. Know What “International Art English” Is, And Void Using

In 2012, Alix Rule and David Levine brilliantly and hilariously

“IAE has a distinctive lexicon: aporia, radically, space, proposition,

do these things. IAE rebukes English for its lack of nouns:

10. Write About the Most Interesting Aspects of Your Work

Explaining your process can reveal something about your work

11. Keep It Short and Sweet

If you’re applying for an opportunity like an artist

school, or a grant, chances are your artist statement will be one

experience of looking at it. This may seem counter-intuitive, but

13. Talk It Out

If you’re having writers block, don’t give up. Download a voice

14. Obviously, Describe Your Work

If someone was standing in front of your art, what questions

Why did you make the art that you made?

10 Of The Most Infuential MFA Programs In The World

You might also like