Replies: 64 Comments
on Wednesday, November 8th, Oscar said
Hi Paul,
I agree - I've been an artist now for only about 5 years and I have to say that art fairs are a complete waste of time. I've been trying new avenues to get my work out there and I've come to realize that the Internet and now emerging mobile technology are a great medium for artists to share/sell their work to the public.
I just entered a wacky contest called ZANNEL FEST - on Wednesday, November 8th, jose said
p.s. but i definitely agree with what Kelly Borsheim posted... and with Kurt's initial statement.
on Wednesday, November 8th, jose said
hi Paul, lost out on all the action because i was moving house and studio and my service provider screwed-up big time in passing my internet account to my new address. anyway, i now realise that what i'm going to today, and revisiting the next couple of days, is not realy an art fair as you describe it but a a gallery fair - some 60 or so galleries (mostly portugal, spain and germany i believe)will be represented at the lisbon trade fair venue to promote their artists and (i'm hoping) allow new artists to approach them. as to what you describe here, i couldn't agree with you more - i went through that as we all did and reached the conclusion that they were a waste of time and effort... i don't even include them on my cv anymore, though i admit i did in the early stages.
on Monday, October 30th, Sandy Early said
More than a few of us in the Denver area got fed up with the rise in the booth fees for the 3 day fairs, and the fact that they were so labor intensive brought us to this solution. We all pooled our booth fee money and rented an empty store front on a busy street. We are each taking 2 days working there a month and can now show our work 7 days a week for 2 months in a controled environment. We had enough money left over after we invited artist to join us for a small fee and a low commission to send our thousands of postcards and press releases. It is a good positive group and so far we are having fun. I'll let you know how "Art Nic" turns out. We have a cool place and it opens Wednesday. It has not been any more work than one show for any of us!
on Sunday, October 29th, K said
Who am I kidding. No one else leads the artist life like I do. Least not that I know of. I unlike most, didn't choose art. It's just all I've ever done. There's nothing else I can do.
So just keep going Paul. You're ok. Never mind me y'all, it's just that genius disease thing again.
on Sunday, October 29th, k said
With closing, I must add, that I commend Pauls devotion to arts. Thank you.
on Sunday, October 29th, K said
Vick, I suppose you may be a bit right in your accusations of my tossing personal atacks against Paul. It does grate my nerves that one would write a book "living the artists life" and be so far off from my life as an artist and also of those I know.
on Sunday, October 29th, K said
Paul, I don't think I'm off topic with your blog. What my focus is, is what type of work gets accepted to these art fairs. There is a mighty wide spectrum between the crafts and sharks in formaldyhyde. It might be helpful to your readers to explain further just what type of work does get included to these shows.
on Sunday, October 29th, Paul Dorrell said
Andrew: Sure, I do prefer the actual "Sun Also Rises" over a conceptual Hemingway novel of blank pages (although truly I prefer Joyce and Welty). Sharp writing juices me. But conceptual work causes me to question my values, beliefs, and approaches in a way that traditional normally can't. So I dig both, and see the validity in both.
Vick: No worries. Good suggestion. Hence, in December I'll get into blockage, avoiding stagnation, dealing with depression, etc. Although I'm not sure that my writing will prove as insightful as yours.
Brad: 1913 before your time? Heck, man, I was there--two years before I enlisted in the Lafayette Escadrille (think I was shot down over Flanders). We'll cover art fair options in greater depth next time. For now just go to artshow.com--and remember to be selective. These people owe you competent performance, not the adverse; you've already done your job.
Erlene: Astute observations. Yeah, I suggest you do ask just how many artists return to the same show each year (though many are prevented from doing so to keep the shows "fresh"). Yes, many of the artists who gain commissions in certain regions do so more because of contacts, or being "in," than actual talent. Others gain them because they worked their butts off, are "in" for legitimate reasons, and deserve the commissions. That knife cuts both ways.
However when I structured the H&R Block Art Program, I ignored who was in and who was not. Hence the committee and I juried in both the known and unknown based strictly upon their work. This meant that I had to go into the inner-city to find a few artists who definitely were not with the in crowd, but I think the proof of our efforts is evident in the finished project.
Kurt: Avant-Garde is widely defined. In 1910 what passed for A-G would be considered conservative today. It's always evolving. Now it's sheep floating in formaldahyde and carved sculpture in human excrement. I have no problem with any of this. As I mentioned to Andrew, I'm interested in any approach, for a variety of reasons. But this is really off the subject, and has little to do with this blog.
You're obviously a highly intelligent man with profound ideas. I suggest you approach Absolute about submitting a blog of your own, and then cover these subjects with your own readers.
By the way, the world will always need defenders of High Art. Otherwise standards grow lax, and new ideas are not born. But what I value just as much is being a mentor to inner-city teenage artists who are struggling just to make it through high school, with enough to eat, and a decent shot at a career. In light of their struggles, all this seems a bit self-absorbed to me. There's room in this world for all styles of art. Being a devotee of contemporary or traditional work is not a qualifier of a person's worth, but how they treat other people is.
on Sunday, October 29th, Vick said
So, Kurt, I think Paul asked rather nicely for this string to get back to the topic of the blog. If you want to continue your stream of discussion why not start your own blog? It's not really fair to anyone for you to continue to hijack the blog and you seem to have a real chip on your shoulder about Paul in particular. It's getting old.
on Sunday, October 29th, k said
Paul, just what do you consider the Avant Garde? I can't help it to say, I'm offended by your columns. You make me roll my eyes. Art fairs are basically craft fairs. You seem to try to make everything else inferior. I am and always will be, a strong defender of high art. You do hold the more common position. I can't ask you a question without tons of not high art people screaming. Why is high art snobbish to you? Please, I'm only asking Paul. Also if you could, extrapolate your definition of craft and fine art.
on Sunday, October 29th, k said
I thought it was fun! Paul you still skate past my questions but hey, so what! Vick, that blockage thing, you know Freud said we talk about what we are, so, I hope it passes for you! Just a heated discussion on the relevance of craft versus art. Same ugly displays occurred in college aesthetics classes. Those insecure crafstmen always tend to yell. Remember, if it don't mean a thing, it aint art! Peace love and happiness in the world.
on Saturday, October 28th, dreamwoman59@yahoo.com">Erlene
said
Hi Paul:
I loved this article. After years fringing in art, I started back seriously to really build a resume in art. I agree with you about Art fairs- i've worked on them and participated ini them-- as I climbb back I found out that a whole lot of what is called art fairs here in MO is a money making adventure for the persons putting on the show. I would only add to your article, ask the person putting on the Fair-- how many repeat artists from last year are returning- Boy does this tell a story. IF they won't tell you -- more than likely it is a bunner.... I like your writing style and I am glad that someone will admit that a whole lot of people in art are really snobs -- I am not iin the in crowd here and boy have i had to work for recognition. i truly believe that a lot of people make shows because they know the people running the show-- especially here in the Kansas and Missoui venues.
on Saturday, October 28th, Brad Michael Moore said
Paul,
Well, I left for a few days, and all sorts of weather have passed since my return...
You're right, I may confuse art fairs with juried exhibitions. I just haven't seen any of the latter - the 1913 Armory Show was a bit before my time. I guess my question is - how many good shows could an American artist know for certain will transpire annually? Are there any good annual events carried on by a regular venue? Or, are they more like the old Pop Festivals that just came and went - never in the same place in a decade? Where can one look for such events to be advertised? Thanks…
on Saturday, October 28th, Vick said
Paul-- I will apologize for not staying on your blog topic, but not for anything I have said here. Actually, I think your next blog (after the rest of the art fair piece) should be about art blockage and how to overcome stagnation and disappointment when you feel that well dry up in yourself. There are a couple of other blogs on the side part of this blog that also deal with that topic (the individual artist blogs). A blocked artist defines that line from the Langston Hughes poem: What happens to a dream deferred? The depression, the rage, the disappointment...all worth discussing maybe in a more appropriate blog.
on Saturday, October 28th, Paul Dorrell said
Man, I've never seen such a pissin match. I come here to share ideas and information, and you, Kurt/JR, have turned it into some warped series of personal attacks. Some of the others chiming in on you ain't helping things, either. In fact I'm disappointed in several of the exchanges, and the lack of consideration they exhibit.
Hell, anyone can stoop to childishness. What I prefer, though, is mutual respect. Most everyone who comes here prefers the same, and acts accordingly. So if it ain't asking too much, I'd like to steer this bloody thing back to an intelligent exchange, and have you all take your feuds elsewhere. I don't expect this to happen, but it would be nice if it did.
Meantime, I'm going to the sauna. When I check back to tomorrow, how fine it would be if a modicum of respect was returned to this forum--perhaps even apologies exchanged where due. Nothing is gained by hurling insults and petty criticism, but much is lost.
There's enough resentment in the world. Please don't add to it. Disagree, sure, but do it in a civil manner--and that's coming from a former boxer, who's anger once damned near did him in.
on Saturday, October 28th, Kurt said
Hey Vick, this might blow your Chakra loving mind! How about the old art adage, "one must destroy in order to create". The white canvas must be destroyed to make the painting, etc. Today, as well as writing, i've spent the day deciding which works I'm going to cut up. I picked a large 22 year old piece and another large 16 year old piece to destroy. ha ha scacrifice baby! hows that go over in your new age rhetoric?
Making mindless crap is soooooo last millenium!
on Saturday, October 28th, Kurt said
Vick, one brutal obstacle to making work is having a huge inventory. How old are you? Have you really studied this Chakra stuff you purport or what? Yes I have made society changing work. It sits still unaccepted. No I will not show it here. Here, on this forum, my art is/are words!
on Saturday, October 28th, Kurt said
But i'm just an old man who once saw people moving on to better things. Now I'm just an old man. Just as the pendulum has swung politically in the U.S., so too will the pendulum in art. uh...maybe
Maybe we are moving backwards at such a profound speed that we will never get back to thought being more than an aesthetic experience. Cultures are clashing today. If we don't start using our heads, it's over! As artists, we have a power to move and stir others. I say 25 years of mindless art is enough. There needs to be better ideas, better ways of doing things. I have always felt it is the duty of the artist to conjure thought among the people.
I'm surely not going to influence very many here. I just hope for that one person reading to start packing in the thought in his/her work. It's a hard road to follow! But you won't be following, you will be leading the rest of us.
on Saturday, October 28th, Vick said
Hmm, well, I think your art does factor in when you continue to talk shit about everyone else's art. Have you been to your studio today? Because you seem to answer any new post within about 2 minutes, so I am guessing that you have not been to the studio, you perch and hit reload and lie in wait like a spider waiting for a fly. Don't want to make objects? Fine. Then go to your studio and come up with that one big mind-bending humanity pushing concept that will alter the course of civilization as we know it. Only you apparently are up to the task and can achieve this goal, get crackin'. We are relying on you, Obie-Wan...I mean Kurt.
But really... I have nothing but compassion for you right now, sarcasm aside. You are so blocked you cannot see your own blockage. That is a unique form of artist hell and you have my sympathies. The only way out is through. You have to get back this block and get back to work. Start small, just start. You are going to self destruct otherwise. That big concept you are searching for does not reside in intellect. It resides in the human heart and the is translated through the hands. Plumb the depths of your own soul and that despair and if you are honest and authentic and do not try and protect yourself with intellect, you will come back with something real. You have got to get away from the intellect and be willing to expose your own guts to yourself. It's hard brutal work sometimes. You are lashing out in pain and that criticism you are heaping is really just externalized self-hatred.
on Saturday, October 28th, Kurt said
My art should have nothing to do with this argument. What if I were an art critic, or an art historian? Would my argument have less or more validity?
Examples? Pottery is craft for the form is function and function is not meaning. Photography is craft for the form is also given (the 2d representation). Most glass pieces are craft because once again the form is given. Pretty pictures are craft because pretty is not thought, pretty is an aesthetic experience.
25 years ago when the Craft Movement was newly on the rise, these arguments rang loud. Today, everyone fears losing their constituency and just goes with the flow. It's easier that way. Everyone wants easy. Mass propaganda, advertising, has successfully reduced the masses to quivering jello ready to absorb the next hot dog or bodily experience it can find. No one wants to think. Those who do, are ostricized.
Have you noticed more people are responding against thought in art than for it? Have you noticed how many are in favor of the mindless object? Pack the meaning in to it! Lets move forward once again!
Bring thought back into art!
on Saturday, October 28th, clancŭlârĭus said
Kurt
Many of the words you write have no meaning i.e. no content and your rhetoric has absolutely no originality. Your argument has no basis on which to stand without a well thought out position to hold up the argument. In other words it lacks meaning.
It appears that many here will not take you seriously, pehaps due to the way you communicate. To belittle,as you do, will produce sharp responces against you personally as you have read. You decree this and mandate that without,and this is a key point, anything to back it up: words or your art.
Maybe I've got it completely wrong though... are you the classic example of the misunderstood intellect/ struggling artist? The master? My impression from you is that all the rest of us are just inferior wannabes incapable of creating meaning.
I know, I know we won't see a thing of your art and you won't be able to respond to this in any meaningful way. I guess that'd be way too much to ask for by a persona non grata.
on Saturday, October 28th, k said
For those of you just tuning in, the argument is basically that art fairs are actually craft fairs and craft is not art! What separates art from craft is content, ie., meaning.
on Saturday, October 28th, k said
Hey Vick, my studio has electric how about yours? You think you found an angle to discredit everything I've been saying, but you haven't! I am not a craftsman. I will not produce objects for the sake of mere object. This world has enough stupid objects! This world is cluttered with mindless crap. The galleries are full of these mindless crafts.
Some have been chosen to be fine artists. Most have chosen to be craftsman. Give me that lobotomy and I'll make mindless pretty pictures like you Vick! Thanks for calling me kid!
During that age of conceptualism was a world moving forward. Today, well look at us! More of you battle against wits than with them!
on Saturday, October 28th, Vick said
Namaste.
You have paralysed yourself and your own creative juices by thinking if you aren't creating High Art that it is not worth creating at all. You are hamstringing yourself by overthinking it all.
JUST GO TO YOUR STUDIO RIGHT NOW AND START DOING SOMETHING. And don't think about it. Thinking is different than making and doing. Just do. You aren't giving anybody here a pep talk and probably most of who you are trying to address are in their studios now, making stuff. Do they care if it lives up to your particular standards or not? No, I don't believe they do.
Get off the computer and go to your studio right now and just be. Do not pressure yourself to create that one magnificent piece that is going to push humanity. Just do. Okay, kid, you are on your own now...I'm off to my studio, too.
on Saturday, October 28th, k said
You all are pushing the American Crafts movement. Quite strange how a non arts movement has morphed into the prevalent art movement. Art without meaning is craft - period! Pretty is not meaning. Function is not meaning. Yes meaning is conceptual. Yes, fine art HAD meaning prior to the backward progression, cave man, crafts movement! This retro grade crafts movement allows the common man entrance into the arts because you don't have to think anymore! Art is meaningless with the craft movement! It's safe now! Everyone can walk into a gallery and feel comfortable now. In the mean time, the forward progression of humanity has been stagnated!
on Saturday, October 28th, k said
So Vick, I push out this "turd" as you call it and go make mindless pretty pictures! That's more important than sparking thought on a conceptual forum isn't it?
on Saturday, October 28th, k said
Why do you call a pep talk, hostility! Do you lack meaning in your work so much that you have to result to vulgarities?
on Saturday, October 28th, Vick said
Dude...go to your own studio and start cranking. If you feel this much hostility toward other artists, I suspect you have a huge impacted turd in your own artistic flow that needs to be flushed out. There is no one more bitter than a blocked creative. You are frustrated with yourself and your own inability to create right now. It happens, you have to keep at it and work through it.
on Saturday, October 28th, Kurt said
Push yourself by creating art that means something! Couple that beauty with meaning! Make people think instead of merly gushing over your pretty colors. This is how humanity expands and grows, by thinking!
on Saturday, October 28th, Vick said
Again with the humanity pushing. I get what you are saying, don't make dull repetitive pictures. No one in this age is a true impressionist, so let's all stop pretending we came across this field of flowers when really it's a Walmart with a few dumptsters behind it. We might appreciate the impressionists of over 100 years ago but our reality is different so we should stop living in the past, right? Well, impressionism was ground-breaking at the time and a new way of looking at the world. Maybe it's trite to you because you have seen it your entire life, and mediocre artists still cling to it. Mediocre art will be the stuff created by the artist on auto-pilot, where the artist knew the answer in advance and colored within the lines.
However--and I have struggled with this mightily because it was such a frickin' taboo in art school and it haunts you long after--there is nothing wrong with pretty. I don't mean the designs printed on potholders. I mean some color combinations happen unexpectedly and are just breathtakingly beautiful. Some lines inspire you to dance, some technique is beautiful in itself. Beauty is an avenue in, too. Like a human being with all it's flaws, a "beautiful painting" can only be beautiful because there is also some ugly in it. A truly 100% beautiful piece would cause you to lose interest almost instantly because beauty without substance is vaccuous and boring.
I personally don't feel like I am responsible for pushing humanity. I do feel responsible for pushing my own work every day in every way. If that drags the rest of humanity along for the ride, okay then, let's go. To expect an artist to constantly push humanity is to set him up as an oracle or god, it is to defer your own personal power to define for yourself what moves you. Push yourself.
on Saturday, October 28th, kurt said
Granted, pure conceptual art has no object. That's not my point. My point is, is that you all are pushing the American Crafts movement. Quite strange how a non arts movement has morphed into the prevalent art movement. Art without meaning is craft - period! Pretty is not meaning. Function is not meaning. Yes meaning is conceptual. Yes, fine art HAD meaning prior to the backward progression, cave man, crafts movement! This retro grade crafts movement allows the common man entrance into the arts because you don't have to think anymore! Art is meaningless with the craft movement! It's safe now! Everyone can walk into a gallery and feel comfortable now. In the mean time, the forward progression of humanity has been stagnated!
on Saturday, October 28th, Andrew said
Paul, I regret digressing from your subject, but the discussion of conceptual and object art is here, and has a few holes in it that need to be filled.
Objects produced throughout the history of Art had concept and content as a fundamental building block of their being. You cannot say that the Mona Lisa or any other truly great work is only craft like a well sewn shirt. What lifts it to the level of art is its reference to the unseen things that while not physically there, form an essential part of its composition.
This is kind of like comparing a book by Hemmingway to a conceptual one with blank pages. The burden of excessive narrative has been lifted altogether, one of the goals of many artists who call themselves conceptualists. Or a conceptual billiard master, who in his mind sees the shot and thus has no need to actually grab a cue and physically demonstrate what he already has the concept of. What fun it would be to watch a match of two highly skilled and talented conceptual billiard masters!
These become philosophical excersizes, and far from the Greek definition of fine arts, 'kali technics'. Kurt, you said it yourself; the definition of art has been lost. What needs to be done for those who would like to eliminate the 'hands on' approach to art is to create a new category, and not use the word 'art'. 'Art' is by definition the hands on creation of objects. Look it up. Or maybe we can change the meaning of all words. Perhaps we might call cats dogs, and allow our language to evolve in its natural path toward a sort of entropy.
on Friday, October 27th, Paul Dorrell said
Andrew: About the plant not bearing fruit, well put. Unfortunately most of us enter a new enterprise, be it gallery or art fair, with absurdly high expectations. On second though that might be fortunate, if one pays attention to the lessons learned via hardship and error.
Peter: Sound advice. It partly depends on how well you select the fair/show, whether the venue is really suited to the sort of work you do, and whether you're willing to sustain the initial bouts of disappointment in weathering through to goals realized. But that of course requires adaptation, initiative, and application of what one observes--things which are sometimes used up in the creative process alone. So yeah, there are no easy answers--except the fact that most of these bloggers likely live in the U.S., and therefore have opportunities that artists in the rest of the world only dream of.
J.R./Kurt: Actually I dig conceptual art, and prefer it in our installations--when it fits. But it's not something I'm willing to starve for, or ask my family to do the same. Were I not a father, that would be different. Do I find work of that sort more challenging? You bet your arse, at least when it has real guts behind it. I'd like to believe my novels have the same sort of guts, which is probably why the gutless publishers in NY have for so long insisted that I water them down.
Vick: Damned well put. Why don't you write a future blog?
Kelly: Interesting point. When I first opened my gallery, in '91, I was uncomfortable waiting on the public, had few sales-related skills, and ran the joint alone. Lo and behold, after one brief year, my comfort with the public became relaxed, to which they responded in kind. Previously I never thought I could pull it off. Well it's just like my grandpappy in the Ozarks used to say: Never quit learning, boy. I'm pretty sure that grandpappies everywhere say the same.
on Friday, October 27th, k said
..and the movement you cling to Andrew ... the crafts movement....is better?
on Friday, October 27th, Fred Turner said
When object presides over content, craft is the result. Meaning, or concept, or content, all the same; encompass art. When art has no meaning, the result is not art but craft. Pretty is not meaning. Pretty is an aesthetic experience. What separates art from craft is content.
on Friday, October 27th, George P. said
See Ooog make art.
Ooog make object.
Object good. Ya object good.
Ooog, what object mean?
Mean?
Object no mean, object is!
Ya, object is art!
Ya
on Friday, October 27th, Kelly Borsheim said
One benefit to doing shows that I have not yet seen posted here is that the artist has the potential to improve his speaking and interacting skills with the public. I actually enjoy hearing what people have to say (or watching their expressions as they pass by) after viewing my work directly. Also, everytime I think I have heard every question about or interpretation of what I am trying to do, someone stumps me. I would rather have these experiences in a relatively low-key environment than when I am actually at one of my galleries' receptions. People often make me think - even the "stupid" ones. Fairs have helped prepare me for the next steps while I built an audience, one person at a time.
on Friday, October 27th, Vick said
My, what a pissing contest going on here.
I am piping in from the peanut gallery regarding conceptual art being a dead movement. It's not. A truly great conceptual piece will be timeless like any good art. It isn't a fad, it's a way of turning something on it's head and making people think about something in a new way. It's strange to think of something so monumental as being contained within a period of time and called a movement, as if now it's shelf life has expired and no one can have concepts anymore because concepts were so 70's.
on Friday, October 27th, Andrew said
You should. Now try doing something creative for a change instead of clinging to some thirty year old movement which was interesting for what, three years?
on Friday, October 27th, k said
...ugh....
I quit.
on Friday, October 27th, Andrew said
Conceptualism. A great word. Hides a lot of sins. But you still need to get the concept out of your head and into someone else's face. Answer? An object.
on Friday, October 27th, Peter Togel said
Well, just like direct sales to museums, sales through galleries, online web sales, art shows are an avenue you can use to sell your art. If you are successful depends on the art show, your art, your setup, your marketing & sales skills, and the weather. For the longest time, we had an g digit income just from online sales. We now use art fairs in addition to other sales channels. It helps to bring the word out. It also helps spreading the word on artist marketplaces like www.artbyus.com . So why not? If your art is unique, you have a good chance adding to your income through art fairs. But you have to look at what show you go to. Not all are the same. It takes some research to find the ones that are worth it....
on Friday, October 27th, Kurt said
Andrew,one word: conceptualism.
Still hoping for answers to the questions I posed to Paul.
on Friday, October 27th, Andrew said
The content of an artwork is made visible through its objectness, and therefore object and content are not separate issues, and neither is more important than the other. Visibilia ex invisibilibus. Or, your idea results in an object coming into existence. If it does not, then no one gets to see your work, or have any experience whatsoever from it.
on Friday, October 27th, Kurt said
If Paul does not want discussion then he should not respond to comments just as Michael Corbin does not respond to comments on his Absolutearts blog. When you write a book called "Living the Artists Life", a few are going to raise questions.
Paul;
Is represenation craft?
What is your personal feeling about the crafts, is it all art? Are you from the school of thought that everything is art? Does comfort make for boring art? Do you place object over content?
on Friday, October 27th, Kurt said
...and why can't we have discussion with out show and tell? So absurd that you people place the object above content. How about the size of my...er...suv...wanna see that too? D-i-s-c-u-s-s-i-o-n. Remember talking about, commenting, or even arguing about topics? Perhaps we all did that in um...grade school!
on Friday, October 27th, Matt said
Kurt or is it JR ...? What's with the jabs and grand bold statements while hiding behind anonymity? You seem to always talk the talk but not much else as we've not seen your work yet. Please show us.
on Friday, October 27th, Kurt said
What a politician, Paul. You mastery glaze over all difficult questions or comments.
Are you saying that representation is craft? It is!
on Friday, October 27th, Kurt said
There is product, ie. crafts and there is content, art! Isn't fertilizer crap?
on Friday, October 27th, Paul Dorrell said
Brad: I agree that most art fairs are craft-oriented, and are best suited to those folks. Yeah, it does take much energy, and there always is a following for certain artists--whose work is normally of a shallow sort. This doesn't make them inferior as people, that's just how they work. But please don't confuse art fairs with juried exhibitions. The latter, when in the right environment, can indeed result in a major line on your resume, though few sales may occur at the actual event. Example: the 1913 Armory Show, and its phenomenal impact.
Lisa/Matt: Profound observation, but that's the UK, generally a less market-oriented culture than this one. As I mentioned above, art fairs here tend to be "Arts and Craft." Juried art exhibitions--especially those in the major cities--are a different gig. In many of the more established ones here, it's also hard to get in without gallery representation. But others are more open while still of high standards, and those can help you later gain gallery rep--not that that will provide all the answers. Depends on the gallery, and staff. In the end the advancement of an artist's career is up to the artist, not his/her galleries. That's why I wrote the book: to assist in the process.
Theatres, upscale restaurants, upscale salons? Sure, I advocate as much in the book. Then you have a captive audience, and you're the only artist showing. But that's another subject.
Kurt: Check our installations at OPCC on my gallery's site. The edgier ones at H&R Block haven't been posted yet, but soon will be.
I feel it's wise to avoid blanket assumptions. My staff and I help both avant garde and representational artists to price and sell their work. The relevance of the one school doesn't negate the relevance of the other. When done well, both have merit to an open mind.
But we've not seen your work yet. I'm curious, as I'm sure the others are. Please show us.
Andrew: Get to you later. Thanks for the photos, by the way. Stunning work, and obviously the result of intense discipline.
on Friday, October 27th, Andrew said
Paul, part two will sharpen the focus on the target, but what I'm reading here in the comments semms to translate as an avoidance of responsability. Art fairs are another venue with potential for sales. It would be wise not to forget that or dismiss them as a waste of time. As with any place, be it a gallery, your living room or studio, or a hotel lobby, you have to know who's going to be there, and how they will react to what you put in front of them.
At the same time, think about what your goals are in being there. Does the potential match your expectations? I get the impression many artists are not doing either of these two things, and just expecting a windfall to drop out of the clouds. That's just childish and will only lead to further disappointment, unless you are as dumb lucky as Forest Gump. So Gumpers, figure out what kind of fertilizer to use, and stop blaming the plant when you don't get any fruit.
on Friday, October 27th, Matt said
I think there may be a difference between art/craft fairs and art fairs like we have in Europe eg. Art Basel, Art Ireland, etc. As Lisa states, it's not such an easy task to get in an art fair unless you are invited and/or represented by a gallery that will take part.
on Friday, October 27th, Lisa, UK said
Art fairs as you describe them seem somewhat different from in the UK where I'm writing from. Here its almost impossible to get into one of the few art fairs held every year without a gallery representing you there. As such the Art Fairs are already somewhat juried while filling the important role of being a means to bring art outside the galleries, which, lets face it, only a small part of potential art buyers visit, often for good reasons.
While currently being represented by 2 galleries I have always enjoyed showing in alternative venues; theatre bars, cinemas, resturants, and indeed art fairs, because of the extended exposure and truly genuine appreciation and/or honest opinions you get of your work there. Sometimes hugely ignorant, but the gallery environment/visitors aren't by default any less so.
on Friday, October 27th, Brad Michael Moore said
"(This column will be continued on 11/23, when I'll discuss how you learn about the better shows, and some of our experiences at them.)"
---
I will wait for your second part, Paul. I never could see myself fitting in public shows - and I never found, or even heard, of hi-brow dates where artist's I knew became excited. I guess I always saw these events more geared towards to craftsman. Just cause I haven't seen it, doesn't mean It ain’t there. Bit it does sound to be an effort that is a labor of love. I sometimes show my art at people's homes, with small groups of other artists in other mediums. Those who sold the most of their art, had their following to begin with, and the artist was well up on keeping their flock appraised as to up and coming events. With the public - you could have the same luck if you were so prepared that you were not expecting to be greeted only by strangers. This is not for the faint of heart or the unorganized. You must be adventurous in several ways and have support in so many ways, from selling, moving, setting up, security (regardless of the promised security), and transportation needs, parking, and sleeping, god, and luck, desire, and fortitude. If you have all of that - I'd love to know you better - I have an idea, and you seem to have everything else - then again - you might not need me - unless it's you gig, and nature is always with you in all things you endeavor... But that’s just me – and I can’t brag. I haven’t the energy…
on Thursday, October 26th, Kurt said
By claiming a wrongness of the statement "in a group of five or so people, if they all like your work, then you did something wrong!" one approves of mainstream, boring art! The statement is used to train an artist to produce challenging work. Work that may be remembered versus pretty little pictures that fill run of the mill, picture above the matching sofa, commercial galleries. Cleary Paul, you see product over content!
on Thursday, October 26th, Paul Dorrell said
Mark: Our experiences parallel yours.
Mary: By all means.
Ssmilen: It all sounds very familiar.
Lise: Profound advice. Once we quit the fairs, I opened my own gallery.
Kurt: I think your prof was both right, and wrong. You see, he had a salaried position. Most artists don't.
Vick: I like the part about the wine. Very good marketing.
on Thursday, October 26th, Vick said
I knew someone in California who made a large amount of her yearly income off the Sausalito Art and Wine fair. The problem was she came to rely on that too much and if the weather sucked that year, she was financially behind the 8-ball for the whole year. Also, she noticed that her sales increased tremendously the year she was positioned next to one of the wine booths. Now, how is that a commentary on your work? People standing in line to get even drunker buy your work because they stared at it for more than the 2 seconds they would have just walking by it like the rest of the booths. She asks to be by the wine kiosks now!
on Thursday, October 26th, Kurt said
Art fairs prosper because the definition of art has been lost. The misguided common belief that craft is art, elevates art fairs to unearned distinction.
As for juried shows and juries as a whole:....
I remember an art school professor telling me that, "in a group of five or so people, if they all like your work, then you did something wrong!"
Make your own work! Not crap to placate jurrors!
on Thursday, October 26th, Lise said
I did art fairs 15 years ago. Quality work and somewhat innovative work just does not sell, even for a juried show, no matter what the medium. The one thing I took to art shows was one quality stand-out piece and that helped win me awards. Once I won awards, I approached galleries and never had to sell at another arts fair.
If you want to get out of art fairs and into galleries, this would be a good way to do it. However, I'm not always completely enamored with galleries either. It beats all the tearing down and setting up, building displays, the need for a huge vehicle, etc, but galleries have their own issues: high commissions, pieces not shown to their best advantage or misrepresented, weird hours, weird philosophies that are so completely divorced from the clientele of the area.
So, I don't think galleries are always a step up unless the gallery is crazy about your work, you, your talent and believes in you so much that he (or she) will go the extra mile.
Here's another way to go: I know a painter who paints hot air balloons in beautiful settings. She started out at art fairs & hot air balloon festivals and her work was so popular that she was able to open her own gallery (her husband was able to quit his job and help run it). So, you don't always need someone else's gallery to do what you love.
In other words, do what makes you feel happy.
on Thursday, October 26th, SSmilen said
Hi:
I agree with you 100%. I started doing some fairs around 1979 with high hopes of success, being discovered blah blah. Sorry, didn't happen. I used to truck my originals in my car,sweat like a pig hauling them down to pack them up;Sometimes after packing the car, the battery would be dead in colder weather and so on and so on.
Once I got to these fairs I would set up and wait- I got promises of returning to buy; I got arguements about how I did my work; that a part of the piece should be positioned differently because it looked like a dog and dogs don't hang upside down etc etc.
On a positive note for those interested in still doing these fairs- whatever you do make sure it can be tucked under someone's armpit and toted home. Anything that is too cumbersome to haul home,no matter how wonderful and creative would rarely make it out of your own personal collection. People use these fairs alot of the time for something to spend their time doing on a Sunday or Saturday and don't tend to bring lots of cash with them. You'll meet all kinds and your skin will grow alittle thicker each time you decide to shell out $500 to let your art take in alittle fresh air with you during a weekend somewhere. Go get 'em.
on Thursday, October 26th, blastmama@yahoo.com" target="_new">mary g lapan said
hello, i seen your blog on absolteart.i am impressed .would love to talk to you ifeel i can learn alot from you.and im sure i could share some things with you. you can reach me at blastmama@yahoo.com">blastmama@yahoo.com thank you m g lapan to: paul dorrel
on Thursday, October 26th, blastmama@yahoo.com" target="_new">mary g lapan said
hello, i seen your blog on absolteart.i am impressed .would love to talk to you ifeel i can learn alot from you.and im sure i could share some things with you. you can reach me at blastmama@yahoo.com">blastmama@yahoo.com thank you m g lapan
on Thursday, October 26th, Mark said
I did "Art Fairs" about twenty or more years ago. I thought they would be helpful, I was wrong. I showed only originals and I could not compeat with the reproductions. Some of the fairs were juried some were not, but I realy saw no difference between them. If the fairs, as most do, also had the craft side of art, paintings do even worse. Truth is I dont miss them. As far as fairs helping one to get into galleries, maybe? It did me no good, in fact when mentioning fairs, way back then, galleries looked at me as if I was nuts thinking that was a serous venue for an artist, and that it would impress them, it didn't. Should an artist do the fairs? Sure if you want to, and if you show reproductions you may do well. I know an artist who makes a good living off his reproductions at fairs, but then his work is very photo like and of historic places so they have a general appeal, and that helps. Maybe fairs are different today, it has been a long time, but since the art world hasn't changed that much I don't think so. What do others say?
I frankly consider most art fairs a waste of time for the serious artist. Even so, if you intend to sell, you will in all likelihood still have to do them. I’ve done them. Most of my artists have done them. Most artists I know have done them. They provide you with those necessary lines for your resume, and you’re going to need plenty of those lines before any of the better galleries will consider your work. 
