Writing an Artist Statement & Biography

Whether you are planning to create your own website, selling your art, or entering an Open Call competition for gallery space, it is important to have an artist statement. In fact, the (not so simple) act of creating it can help you to focus as an artist, and know what makes you different.

An artist statement is always written in third-person, so should talk about you as though it were an article written by someone else. It should less than 150 words, and it should encapsulate everything about you that you want to convey. This is, above all else, your sales pitch.

It’s not easy for most of us to write an artist statement, and the first time you write one you might feel like you are ‘pretending’ to be an artist, but if you are at the stage where you are writing down what makes you stand out from the crowd, then yes, you are an artist.

Try to cover everything you want to say concisely and simply, including ideas such as the way in which you work, why you create, or even what brought you to do it in the first place. If you specialise in portraiture or abstract, for example, then mention it. If you are proud of your work, tell us why. Try to make it cover who you are, and what makes you stand out in a world full of artists.

I have personally rewritten mine many, many times, as my skills adapt and my experience needs adding. I also use slightly different statements depending on the usage, leaning them toward my climate change work, or my more traditional painting. My current statement looks like this:

Tin Stanton is an acclaimed artist and Master of Arts from the UK. Variety is the key to his work, from his powerful, climate based collection, to his more fun realism works, many of which have been displayed in prestigious national and international galleries.

An artist biography is similar in some ways to a statement, as it should be less than 150 words, and is again written in the third person. If an artist biography is asked for, it should just be a quick statement covering your brief history as an artist, such as length of time creating, any studies of experiences and gallery showings. It may be sparse to start with, but even as a self taught artist there is a reason why you create, a length of time spent creating, and a story of your journey.

Lastly you may be asked for a description of the piece. The length of this will be determined by the application or space available, but keeping it concise is the key again, and that 150 word limit often applies. I think it’s helpful to ask others for help on this, as they may point out things in your painting that you don’t notice, or feel. This description should cover all the technical aspects of your work (the medium, size etc.) but also the narrative of the piece - Think of the following: Why did you create it? What does it make you feel? What does it mean? Is it colourful? Drab? Moody? Dark? Bright? Happy? Etc…

Of course, the best way to get an idea of what to write in statements, biographies and artwork descriptions is to read other peoples, and they should be easy enough to find on all artists websites.

An artists statement can make an enormous difference to the way the art you produce is viewed, so try a variety of statements first, and be ready to adapt and change that statement as your art journey continues…