From the people that I have received something from,
It seems most are interested in talking about something more Philly related. I'm fine with that but I think that we need to be a little more general. IE.
What are the ramifications of making and showing art in a secondary market? Is there a possibility of success (define success?) in a secondary market? Does an artist working in a secondary market create a different type of work?
I've had the flu so I'm sorry there aren't that many posts but things are going to start speeding up quickly.
Okay, living in a second tier art city, the best an artist can really hope for is some discourse with tooth to it. A couple of people that will challenge him or her to really consider what they are doing. It's up to the artists to make their experience rich as possible. To me that is success. Art is an intellectual and dynamic activity - if you work hard enough you will get some acknowledgment - forget about making a living off of your work, very few artists can do that, even in NY - and even if you manage to do it- it does not last too long. Unless your a genius.
ReplyDeleteThe ramifications for showing in a secondary city is that there is less opportunity and funding available to the individual artist. Also less coverage of your exhibitions. Sales are at a minimum. I know I'm leaving some stuff out here, but I'm going to move to the next question regardless.
ReplyDeleteDoes an artist working in a secondary market create a different type of work? Hard to know. This is compounded somewhat -there are two ways that I look at this question. The work is inferior in some way. Or that because NY to some degree is a closed city, as an outsider you can not really participate unless you live there i.e. as an artist you must move to NY if you want to get accepted to school there. Artist whom I know personally have told me that if you want to be a part of this market and scene you must live here and go to school in NY. They never really say why, but that is what I've been told. Now in reality this guarantees nothing, but this is what advice I've been given as an artist.
ReplyDeleteTypically the way most of these artists get there is exposure is through networking among their peers. It's the artist that curate the shows, they some times will pick and choose who goes in the shows. But these groups are very close, many of them attended grad school together.
What would be the motivation for them to venture outside of NY?