Chris Goes on Stage

Whereas I love working with pigments, textures and composition I am far better with words. All my life, words have earned me all my advantages but they have virtually always been utilitarian. I never took risks; I couldn’t afford to. There were lots of technical writing jobs and they paid the bills. But then I “retired” from the rat race and decided to do some of the things I had been putting off all my life including a project I’ve alluded to in my past two columns.

I’ve written, am producing and “perform” in my show Knock Knock. I wrote nine songs and hired two of Vancouver’s best singers to sing them, Susan Anderson and Warren Kimmel to perform with me. Knock Knock chronicles the drive within me to find my fabulous birth mother who, in turned out, starred in movies with people like Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastroiani, Jane Fonda and Ann Bancroft. It’s a great story of conviction rewarded so you’re very happy at the end. My show happens at the PAL Vancouver Studio Theatre April 18-21, 2013.

If you think you know me by these columns, you have no idea. But you will, after you see the show and I hope it will interest you to come if you live in Vancouver or are going to be here in April. It’s easy to get tickets online from BrownPaperTickets.com. Just type in the title of the show, Knock Knock, and choose which of the four performances you want to see and print the tickets on your computer.

I know writing about my show seems only self-serving, but it isn’t really. I will not earn a cent from the production. I am the production costs so that 100% of ticket revenue can go to a Vancouver charity that provides subsidized housing to veteran artists who need it.

There’s a lesson here for you too. At age 65, I am taking the biggest artistic risk of my life—and one I was afraid to take all my life. So please let my example inspire you—it’s never too late to take on even the most daring challenge. I hope I see you there and if you come, please say “hi” before or after the show. I’ll be easy to spot. Tickets here.

Are you a Loner?

Being good at drawing or painting is what we think it takes to be a successful artist. In fact, besides being good at composition, colour theory and technique, a successful visual artist (however you define successful) must have:

• Some basic financial security to underwrite your development
• A specialized space to work (temporarily or permanently)
• Great photography skills and access to specialized equipment
• Excellent writing skills for:
• Artist statements
• Appeals and negotiations with gatekeepers
• Marketing
• Communications
• Compelling oral communication (and public speaking) skills for dealing with gatekeepers, public programs, marketing, sales and self-promotion
• Administrative skills and an orientation to detail for:
• Inventory recording/record keeping
• Bookkeeping
• Graphic design skills for branding, advertising and packaging
• Decent time management skills

There are many artists selling successfully who are not skilled at composition, colour theory or technique; conversely, there are many highly skilled artists selling no—or very little—work, and there are artists are every point along the continuum. Being a “professional” visual artist means that you have to have to be good at all of the skills listed above or you must trade or buy the skills and services you lack.

I often feel that the greatest obstacles we face are ourselves; too many of us thing that we can do all it takes to be successful on our own. Few people can. I have a lot of the skills listed above, but when it comes to applying them to my own career and work, I can’t do it.

I have a show opening in April 2013 in Vancouver. I have hired five professionals to provide essential services, I have two other professionals donating their accomplished services for two modest components of my show and I am paying an honorarium to a friend for services way beyond the value of her reimbursement. I also have several skilled volunteers helping me. I am doing what I do best and by involving colleagues I am bringing excellence to every aspect of the project.

Few emerging artists can afford what I am doing and the irony is that they need the professional skills more than an experienced person like me. So what can an emerging artist do? To me, the answer is obvious.

You become an active part of a community of artists (in the real world and or online). The key word in that last sentence is “active.” CARFAC, artist run centres, visual art collectives, arts councils, sales/marketing collectives, etc.—these are valuable assets for visual artists. Each one of them can provide you with access to peers and from their human resources you can create a community for yourself from whom to learn and with whom to network. Don’t try to be it and do it all. Join a visual arts organization and get involved. Help them; help yourself.

"You like me! You like me." My Sally Field Moment

Two Ways To Get A Show

Method #1

Teaching at Emily Carr University exposes me to many artists beginning their visual art careers and a great many of them are very interested in being shown in either a public or private gallery. Consequently it seemed wise to me to encourage my students to capitalize on their inexperience.

I encourage my students to seek partners with whom to work and not just any partners, but other artists whose work allowed them collectively to develop a really strong artists’ statement for their exhibition. And know this: a strong curatorial statement is very appealing to exhibition gatekeepers.

Should you decide on a group approach, be sure to choose partners apt for your thesis. The thesis is critical. The work of each of your exhibition proposal partners should enhance the thesis in a unique and insightful way; your partners should not be chosen by convenience (because they are friends or acquaintances).

I ran a public gallery for six years and administrated the development of several exhibitions and I vividly remember a young woman who presented herself at my door. She looked so young and naïve that I couldn’t imagine being interested in an exhibition proposal from her, plus I preferred to consider applications that were mailed to me. But when she presented her proposal, I was immediately enthralled.

She was a screen printer and she was proposing an exhibition of portraits. She and four other artists had each made four portraits of each member of their group (except themselves)—head on, left profile, right profile and one of the back of the head. Hers were screen prints and each of the other artists worked in a different medium (drawing, painting, collage, and pastel). Plus each group member did a self-portrait. The best part of the resulting show of twenty-five images was that we re-hung it several times, shuffling the way we presented the images, and each hang gave viewers new insights.

My favourite exhibition applications—the ones that provoked the greatest interest in me as an adjudicator—were about an idea. And when the proposal came from a group, the best ideas allowed each participant to reveal a unique aspect of the thesis.

If you are an emerging artist, getting your work exhibited as part of a group show is an appropriate was to begin. It takes much more than a great statement to make a successful exhibition proposal—many other factors are involved with the exhibition selection process—but a well-written and cogent thesis (artist statement) is a vital component of any exhibition.

Method #2

Artists who are represented tend to value their work at wholesale prices. When they create a painting, they may know from their history with their gallery that the painting they are creating that will sell for $2,400, has a $1,200 value to them.

Unrepresented artists tend to think in retail. When an unrepresented artists is asked the value of their work, they thing of market or retail value because their experience tends to involve a lot of direct sales for which they pay no commission.  

All artists should really think of the value of their work at wholesale levels (roughly 50% of retail or market value). Unrepresented artists who sell directly to their customers still pay a commission on their work, but it is far less visible. Their commissions are paid in the form of entry fees, self-promotional expenses and other marketing costs.

One approach to securing an exhibition and sale opportunity is to use the commission you would normally pay as form of leverage.

Using the example above of an artist creating work with a market value of $2,400, consider what a show by this artist would be worth if it were comprised of twelve canvases each worth that amount. Such a show’s gross retail value would be $28,800 and if it sold out, the gallery and the artist would each earn $14,400 if the commission were fifty percent.

Having inventory worth $28,800, I think of the $14,400 commission payable as a way to earn the interest of an exhibition partner and my favourite partner to pursue is a charity.

Commissions ($14,400 in this example) can be a powerful motivator so my approach is to arrange for an exhibition in the space and for the “donors/friends” of a charity with a large database. Ideally, the charity and the subject material of my work is a good match. They get the commission instead of a gallery, and I get access to their rich database of donors.

I am taking this approach with my first play that happens April 18 – 21 at the PAL Vancouver Studio Theatre. It is called Knock Knock and I hope that you will come to see it. Instead of paying the charity a 50% commission, though, in this case I am giving the charity 100% of the sales. I hope you might be interested in coming to see it. For further information, please drop me an email at cloranger@shaw.ca.

Chris Tyrell Loranger

http://visualartmerchandising.blogspot.ca

Art School Ads

Team Detroit is the agency that created these ads for College for Creative Studies. The edgy ads, styled in the 1980's anti-drugs PSAs, warn parents to talk to their kids about art school ... or else!

Making (New Years) Resolutions Work

February is notorious for “resolution failure,” just ask any gym, weight-loss program, or smoking cessation program staff.  That makes this the perfect time to consider how to make your resolutions successful.

If you are a regular reader of this column, you may recall that I recently wrote that I assign the making of a pledge in my professional practice course at Emily Carr University. A pledge is a resolution, and I am revisiting that topic for several reasons:

• Many of my students develop, as their final assignment, a proposal for an exhibition that includes their own work plus the work of at least two other artists. In December, two former students who pledged to make their proposal become a reality wrote to say they had succeeded.
• When I last wrote about pledges/resolutions, I feel that I did not place enough emphasis on “disclosure.” 
•  I want to invite you to see the outcome of a disclosed pledge I made last year.

So many artists want to be exhibited and they work hard to that end developing inventory, but their artist statements and their approach to obtaining the exhibition experience they desire is often misguided.  Artists who have no or very limited (or dates) exhibition history can impress exhibition gatekeepers by doing two critical things:

• An artist with limited or no experience should only rarely (read: never) propose a solo exhibition. Proposing your work as part of a group show dramatically increases your chances of success.
•  Develop an impressive and compelling thesis (artist statement) for your show and use all resources possible to vet it and make it irresistible.

The most important part of my students’ assignment to propose a group exhibition that includes their own work, is their collective artist statement. An exhibition shines when good work is contextualized by an artist statement that makes you itch to see the work or reveals insights that profoundly impress you.

I mention all this because a resolution to have a show is incomplete and bound to fail. There is no investment in a self-promise to have a show. If, however, you follow my suggestion above, you will immediately involve other artists to exhibit and other people to develop and test the perfect artist statement and all these compatriots will keep you focused and moving forward. Your resolution will not fail in February or ever thereafter.

There is a lot of competition for available opportunities in the art world currently, so if you are inclined to make a career-related resolution, be sure to take time to craft one that is truly achievable. Test it with peers to ensure that it is as compelling to others as it is to you and the other participants. 

And it is this involvement with others that leads to my second point: disclosure. Telling your friends and colleagues, writing on your wall on Facebook or Tweeting your (carefully developed) goals is a vital part of a successful resolution or pledge. Your friends provide support, direction, encouragement and reward.

Resolutions or pledges that are not shared are secrets and easy to abandon. But disclosed resolutions are far more successful. And whereas it takes a lot of time and hard work to find the right artists with whom to exhibit and together develop a compelling artist statement, it is easy to disclose. All you have to do is make a few calls, write a post or call a few friends.

So if you made resolutions last month that you really want to happen, I suggest that you revisit them and express them in a seductive or provocative way that lures us into your inquiry or exploration and then declare your ambition to friends and or professional peers—whomever will provide the most encouragement.