The Importance of Artist Opening Receptions
I’m excited to bring you the final piece in our 7-part series: the Artist Opening. Writing this series has further enlightened me about what goes into putting together a solo show or any other art exhibition for another matter. Now, let’s get to it:
Have you heard the saying,
“People don’t buy the art, they buy the artist”
The truth is, many patrons of your artwork really want to get to know the person behind the creation. Although you’ll expect that your work will speak for itself, it doesn’t always work that way. You know as well as I do that the art we create is an expression of ourselves. There’s a little bit of us in there and collectors know that very well.
So it’s fair to say that buying art is not like buying a product, it is an experience. It’s not merely an exchange of money for a visual item. It involves sharing in the expressive work of another person.
Of course, some buyers do not care about the message or the person behind the work, the techniques and visual interest are enough for them.
But for those visitors to your solo show who want more than the work you’ve created, you’ve got to provide the means for them to get more.
Some ways for you to satisfy your fans’ need of getting to know you better include
Various Artist Events
- Artist opening receptions
- Meet and greet events and
- Artist closing receptions
- Artist talks
- Group presentations
So don’t ignore meeting fans of your work at your solo show or at any exhibition of your work, for that matter. Meeting admirers of your work helps you build relationships with them. Not necessarily personal relationships, but it helps fill a void in their knowledge about your work. Ultimately, it’s all about your work and helping them gain a better appreciation for your work.
It’s why we write artist statements and bios. But you must agree with me that artist bios pale in comparison to face-to-face meetings. Many buyers will become repeat buyers after learning more about the artists and the stories behind their work through face-to-face meetings. Because there’s something about these artist events that will reveal your personality in a way that written words and your artwork itself are not able to capture.
The famous French painter Cezanne is quoted as saying,
“ The most seductive thing about art is the personality of the artist”
I know that although many art buyers may nod their heads in agreement with Cezanne, many artists will cringe in trepidation at that statement. Because many of us creatives are private people (introverts) and the thought of making personal connections with art lovers is simply hard for us.
But let me say this, Calm down artists, calm down! I hear you and I totally understand. Just like you, I’m still learning this art of making connections. And it’s worth mentioning that it’s not a totally impossible feat to accomplish.
Let me just be clear, art lovers are really not interested in you baring your soul to them Remember that ultimately, all they want is to understand, identify with and appreciate your artwork better.
So how exactly do you start talking to people at an artist opening? Well, for starters when a viewer compliments you on a piece that they’re looking at, don’t just say “thank you.” Man, you’ve got to do more. You definitely don’t want to give them lectures, but you’ve got to say a few more sentences.
If you’re thinking to yourself, “But I don’t know what to talk to them about?” Then here are a few conversation starters to use at your artist opening or other events.
Conversation Starters at Artist Opening
- Inspiration for the art piece
- Story that you’re trying to tell with that piece
- Social issues you’re trying to address if any
- Materials & Techniques used
- The unique process involved in creating that piece
After my first event, I noticed that 80% of the questions people ask about your artwork are pretty much similar. You get these questions over and over again. If I’d known beforehand, I’d have prepared for them. But now that I know, you can be better prepared for your artist opening.
Questions to Expect at Your Artist Opening
- The significance or meaning of your art
- How do you make time to create?
- Do you do this full-time?
- How did you learn to do this?
- What are you currently working on/ Future plans?
- Are any of your parents of family artists?
You should keep in mind
How to Conduct Yourself at an Artist Opening
- Be comfortable
- Make eye contact
- Be genuinely interested in the people who ask you questions and to whom you speak
- When speaking use simple language not technical or artsy terms
- Don’t give long winding answers
- Speak to as many people as possible (Don’t spend too much time with friends, give others a chance to talk to you).
- Remain positive at all times even when others are rude.
In conclusion, relax! This is your opportunity to meet art lovers, artists, art critics and other people who can support you.
Enjoy your artist opening!!
That’s a wrap for our solo show series. Hope you’re better prepared for your next solo show.
Your Turn
What are some of the questions you’ve wanted to ask an artist? What questions are you frequently asked at an artist opening or other art events?
Warmest Regards,
You may also be interested in these other parts of the series
1: Planning for Your Solo Show
2: Curating Your Solo Show
3: Laying out Your Artwork
4: How to Promote Yor Solo Show
5: How to Write a Press Release
6: Installing/ Hanging Your Art Show
What great feedback I’ve had on the first part of this blog series about how to pull off your solo art show. The comments and emails have been very lively. And I’m excited to bring you the second article in this series. In the second part of Behind The Scenes of A Solo Show series, I’m going to continue with curating art work needed for the show.
Curating Art is Like Writing A Story
First off, let’s define what I mean when I say curating. Since I write a lot, a writing analogy will be appropriate. Curating art is like writing a story. You choose the right words, put them together in a way that makes sense and then edit out what’s not needed till you finally have a written piece that’s easily readable.
So by that token, my main aim for curating art for this show was to have a selection that is cohesive or easily readable to the viewer. In order to do that, I decided to come up with a theme. (Just like you’ll come up with a topic to write about). My theme as I talked about in this post was “Reflections”. However, that’s too broad. I needed to drill down a little more to narrow my focus. (Again, the analogy here will be – you need a subtopic when you write an article)
A Story About Black and White Stitched Drawings
My subtopic then for curating art in this instance became, “Black and White Stitched Drawings”. Each piece was going to be a stitched drawing. Each piece would have a twin, which is a reflection of the original piece. I decided that for each pair, one would be on a white background and the second, on a black background. That was about it. Everything else was free to evolve as I went along. And evolve they did.
Originally, I thought I’d have a black and white show. I thought I’d stitch an exact copy of the reverse side of each piece. But as I went along selecting and putting the artwork together (curating art work), I started thinking differently. I asked myself: “what’s stopping me from creating something that’s not quite an exact reflection of the front side?” That’s when I started creating multicolored reflections.
Multicolored Reflections Side by Side Might Look Better
Then as I moved on to creating multicolored reflections, I toyed with the idea of arranging each reflected piece next to the original. But as I arranged them on my design wall, I thought there was too much contrast in jumping from a white background immediately to a black background. This meant refining my curating yet again.
Also at this point, you’ll notice that I’ve started introducing some color into the purely black and white drawings. I was wary of creating a monotonous show. I felt adding a little color to some, not all of the pieces, will keep the viewer’s interest. You can see for yourself that there were so many angles I wanted to explore but because I’d set a theme to start with, that constrained me.
One of the things that make us creative is the multiplicity of our thoughts. We like the freedom to go where we want to and to create what we want. To put together a successful solo show, though, you need to find a way to rein in this tendency to wonder around endlessly exploring exciting and creatively interesting ideas. A show theme thus helps you in curating art cohesively and avoiding this pitfall. A show theme also helps in writing your artist statement and promotional materials for the show.
A Place for Everything, and Everything in Its Place
Finally, I decided to have one wall exclusively for the black backgrounds and another wall for white backgrounds. I felt this arrangement would be easier on the eye and more pleasing to the viewer. Yet believe it or not, when installation day came, this is not exactly how the pieces ended up being installed. (Check out installation photos here). It was a mix of all the ideas and arrangements I’d previously toyed with.
The lesson for me in curating art is that you can’t tell which pieces will work together till you see them together (which has had a major shift on my view of the jurying process and how work gets rejected). Personally, I was able to continually refine my selection and arrangement of the pieces for the show because I always had them up on my design wall. And I could see how well (or not) they worked together.
This also goes to confirm an important adage in art: “Visual decisions need to be made visually”. Although it’s a good idea to draw on paper a plan and artwork layout for all the pieces that are going to be in your show because it gives you a reference point to work with, nothing beats seeing the artwork together in reality (on a wall).
Your Turn
What do you think of the jurying process now that you’ve read my experience with curating art work for my solo show? Join the discussion below and look for subsequent parts of this Behind The Scenes Series. If you didn’t get to read part 1 in the series, you’ll find it here.
Warmest Regards,
You may also be interested in the other titles in this series:
1: Planning for Your Solo Show
2: Curating Your Solo Show
3: Laying out Your Artwork
4: How to Promote Yor Solo Show
5: How to Write a Press Release
6: Installing/ Hanging Your Art Show
7. Opening Reception