Need Help! How to Write An Exhibition Proposal!?!?!

[mtbbrian]

I am trying to get some exhibits going at some galleries.
Part of the ususal required information is an Artist Statement or Exhibit Proposal.
Some like you to talk about the "Evolution of the Work", "General Concept" and stuff like that.
This the area I am having the most trouble with!?
What do I include? How indepth should I get? What should I talk about!?!
Anything anyone(Mr. Hlavac) can add would be great!!
Thanks!!
Brian

[Asylum Steve]

Brian,

More BS is thrown around writing Artist Statements and Exhibition Proposals than probably the entire running of the bulls at Pamplona each year...

Still, at some point (especially if you plan on exhibiting your work), people will expect you to put into words what you are trying to express with your images, and perhaps what types of things motivate you to take pictures and show them to the public.

Putting these sometimes abstract and intangible concepts into a nice, tight, well-written handful of paragraphs can be an artform into itself. But unless you have a gift for literary flamboyance and/or can skillfully embellish basic facts into an incredibly impressive treatise d'art without sounding too pretentious (trust me, hard to do), you're much better off keeping your statement simple and honest.

Forget about proclaiming any totally new or unique ideas or visions. Truth is, It's ALL been done before, and so the vast majority of photography is simply rediscovery. You're on your own path, and what excites you now about image making is most likely the same thing that has excited thousands of other shooters before you.

When mentioning facets of photography such as light, form, texture, movement, or subject, don't think of them as cliches, but rather universal thruths. They are things the average viewer may not instantly think about when looking at your work, but certainly should be able to relate to when it's pointed out to them.

BTW, that's a major role of the artist's statement: to flesh out your work and perhaps try to explain it in more detail...

If it makes you feel any better, the toughest thing about writing an artist's statement is to find a starting point. It should then get easier over time. You mention terms like evolution and concept . Well, these are probably things you didn't give much thought to when you first started getting serious about photography. Yet at some point you should start to sense a "method to your madness", maybe something as simple as a pattern to how, what, and when you shoot. That in a nutshell is a "concept".

Over time you may notice things that change in your work. You may decide to try shooting earlier in the day to get a more directional light. You may decide you like using artificial or street lights in your shots more than sunlight. You may decide people just clutter things up and concentrate solely on deserted scenes. That's the "evolution" of your work...

Both of these things (hopefully) occur naturally the longer you shoot, but I understand fully how hard it is to verbalize them in writing. The problem is it takes a lot of thinking about something you may well do instinctively.

Now an Exhibition Proposal is a slightly different thing. It can contain some of the same text as your statement, but as it is almost always trying to sell your work (and I mean sell as in convince someone of your work's merit), you have to be much more specific and (usually) lay it on a bit thicker.

Even if you enjoy being spontaneous when you shoot, people that run galleries and exhibition spaces need to have a sense that you have some kind of vision or strong idea or direction that ties your images together. This in turn, helps them sell you to their customers or patrons. You'll also find a desire to label you and your work: to somehow identify your place in the pecking order of all the other art that is out there.

So, the clearer your idea of what it is you're trying to do, and the more specific, the better.
Even if it's not entirely true or slightly exaggerated, it may simply be for the benefit of someone else and that may help you in the long run.

If you're really stuck on any of this, simply do some detective work online. Go to artists, or better yet, gallery sites, and look at how they describe their exhibits and their artists...

[mtbbrian]

Thanks as always Steve!
Your information is always helpful!
I will definately be doing some of this!
Brian

[gahspidy]

Brian, I have had to do this from time to time, and would offer up some help, but Steve has really summed it up well. The important thing to keep in mind when attempting to get an exhibit is to keep your work tied together in a definite theme. Galleries like to exhibit works by an artist that tie around a unique idea or concept, rather than having a loosely layed out collection of works that may have some b&w's a landscape, some portraits etc.
So first start out by deciding on the particuliar theme you would like to exhibit, such as your Holga shots, or Artistic mountain bike photography etc. . .and then put together at least a dozen photographs tied to that theme. Then , you can begin putting your thoughts together in your head first about why you like to create these images and a little about what you do to achieve your results. As steve said, BS is neccessary to a degree and can go a long way. This is the part of the whole deal that I dislike the most, the statement. Good luck!