Examples of Artists' Statements

Have you ever wondered what the artist statement of famous artists look like?

Jeff Koons, Artist, New York City,
Studio Portrait by Chris Fanning

I've been developing a page devoted to Examples of Artists Statements on Art Business Info for Artists. Or should that be "Artist Statements by Artists"?

Anyway, I think it's a great idea to see examples of what famous and successful artists have to say about their art - it can be very instructive.  It's also very interesting how websites and what artists have to say about their work changes as their careers progress and they become more and more successful.

So I sat down and did an exercise of looking and looking at the websites of various artists. It was fascinating and had some unexpected results.

Famous Artists

These include artists in the USA and UK and one from Germany.

• Jeff Koons
• Cindy Sherman
• David Hockney
• Anish Kapoor



Gerhard Richter
Fotograf: Hans Peter Schaefe

• Peter Doig
• Richard Long
• Damien Hirst
• Banksy
• Tracy Emin
• Gerhard Richter

Professional Artists

I then started to take a look at the artist statements of various well known and successful professional artists including:

• Duane Keiser 
• David Leffel 
• Kevin McPherson
• Albert Handell 
• Ken Howard
• June Berry 
• David Curtis

I intend to keep developing these lists - not least because how artists write about their intentions and their work is absolutely fascinating!

To that end I'm now looking for

• any recommendations of artist statements on the websites of famous and/or successful professional artists you like - and 
• great artist statements for artists outside the USA and UK

If you've got one that you'd like to recommend please highlight it in a comment below

READ MORE about artist statements on my website: HOW TO WRITE AN ARTIST'S STATEMENT

• What is an artist statement?
• Why you need an artist's statement
• How to write an artist statement (TIPS)
• The language of an Artist's Statement - serious and humorous
• What you need to include - and what you need to leave out
• Visual matters: how and where to present your Artist Statement

Tips about how to write an artist statement

What's the best way to write an artist statement is a perennial topic of interest to artists.

That's why I put together a compendium of all the best resources which are available for free online - see How to write an Artist's Statement. [Note: Links in this post have been updated due to a move of the content to a new website]

It contains:

• an explanation of What is an artist statement?
• an explanation of Why you need an artist's statement
• lots of links to various helpful and informative articles - and lots of tips - about how to write it -in TIPS on how to write an artist statement
• The language of an Artist's Statement contains the serious and funny side of language for an artist's statement.
• information about the sort of information it should contain - see What you need to include - and what you need to leave out
• a review how to present an Artist Statement - see how and where to present your Artist Statement
• Examples of Artist Statements

61% of people who reviewed the (previous) site said it helped them with writing an artist statement. [The new one is better!]

Plus for those feeling depressed about trying to write their artist statement there's also one or two lighthearted links for you to view.

Links to my blog posts about writing an artist statement

• MAKING A MARK: Is my artist statement done?
• MAKING A MARK: Translating and Updating an Artist's Statement
• MAKING A MARK: Marketing Art - How to write an Artist's Statement

Is my artist statement done?

I like this Infographic Is my artist statement done? about working out whether or not your Artist Statement is both completed and accessible.

I've added this resource for artists into What should an Artist's Statement contain? on my website Art Business Info for Artists

Is my Artist Statement done?
Designed by Dana Jeri Maier

Browse more infographics.

[NOTE: Who's made a mark this week will be tomorrow]

Translating and Updating an Artist's Statement

Here are three links to some sound resources for artists who are pondering on How to Write an Artist's Statement

An Artist's Statement is essential - but lots of artists dread writing a statement about their art!

First a video - which deals with the translation aspect of the language used in an artist's statement by Charlotte Young (Today I made Nothing), a UK visual artist

UPDATE - Video #2: Ilaria highlighted another video in the comments and this is also worth taking a look at - yet another artist having an ironic view on the topic of constructing an artist's statement].



Second - a very sound proposition from Joanne Mattera (Joanne Mattera Art Blog) which is recommended reading - Marketing Mondays: Rethinking the Artist’s Statement

Finally - an article by Carolyn Edlund on Artsy Shark which neatly summarises 6 Ways your Artist Statement can Work for You

All of these links have been added into my very popular resource How to Write an Artist's Statement [updated link] which attracts huge traffic round about the time fine artists graduate - but there's no reason why students should not look at it earlier in the academic year!

Below you can find what it covers - click one of the links to find out more (this section has been updated and revised for new links on the new website)

• What is an artist statement?
• Why you need an artist's statement
• How to write an artist statement (TIPS)
• The language of an Artist's Statement -serious and humorous
• What you need to include - and what you need to leave out
• What records you need to keep
• Visual matters: how and where to present your Artist Statement
• Examples of Artist Statements 

After that, you might find it useful to take a look at How to write an Artist's Resume or CV (revised and updated link)