Impasto Burnt Orange Array
by Brad Malone 2007
As the first day of the GO Art Festival approaches, we've been furiously preparing all of the final pieces of the art puzzle that will be our booths. As I said in my last entry, staging an art show is like opening and closing a small business in a matter of a few days. There are so many little chores to do that you might lose sight of the forest for the trees.
So, here's the list of To Do's leading up to the show as presented in my last entry:
1. Make art
2. Find a show to do
3. Submit your art to the jury
4. Design a booth
5. Take care of business items.
All the work necessary before the show even begins is a bit daunting. What I have decided to do is to relax. First and foremost is the art. The business side of decisions will work themselves out. Although lots of money would be nice, I'm not doing the art show to satisfy some kind of economic need. I'm showing my art.
If people love my art, that's wonderful. Hopefully someone will buy something. If people think my art is mediocre, that's too bad. I'm not so much a narcissist to believe that everyone will love what I do.
Critiques and criticisms will undoubtedly happen. Will they prevail? No. It is what it is. No one can take the pure joy of creating art away from me.
Continuing the discussion of "How to Stage an Art Show," we get to #6: Decide what pieces you're going to put into the show. In the final days leading up to the show the actual creation of art slows to a crawl or stops altogether. I've got lots of artwork that I want to show, but it can't all go into the 10 by 10 booth.
This ain't' easy. I like everything -- sort of. But, a few pieces haven't turned out well. They haven't printed as I thought they would. The color is off. They're fuzzy. They are mediocre. They're out. Bye-bye.
Some pieces are too good to leave out. Put them in.
The final consideration in what art goes into the show is: are you going to confuse people? Have your art been progressing from one style to another? Has it transformed from one thing to another? You might confuse your audience with that transition. Show your older pieces carefully or not at all. Stay with the new.
Last year I made the mistake of trying to have too many pieces of art in my space. It created a sense of confusion and looked unprofessional. So, this year, I'm limiting my total number of pieces to no more than 30.
One of this year's rules is that I will only show one (maybe two) things that I had in last year's booth. Everything else is new. Out with the old.
The seventh step is staging an art show is: Get your art ready. Unfortunately, for me to stage everything the way that I want to, some of my pieces will have to be printed in large format and framed. That's going to cost a lot of money. I don't have a large format printer. So, I've had to research who does that sort of thing and how much they charge.
For the last two years, I've used a great printer in Dixon, New Mexico who is completely Internet savvy and can do most everything digitally. Jeff Spicer at Oil & Electron has been instrumental in helping me get large format pieces into the show at affordable prices. He makes giclee prints in sizes above 20" across. Giclee is a digital printing technique that uses dyes instead of inks. These are considered archival, museum quality prints. Last year, I used Jeff to print my Twin Towers Memory piece. This year, I used him to print a 30" by 50" print of Manic Marigolds.
Since it wouldn't be wise to clutter my booth, I know that I can limit my expenses by framing a certain number and leaving a small number unframed but mounted and matted.
Getting the art ready can be a purely financial process unless you make some tough choices. For example, if I could only afford to have two pieces of amazing art in my booth versus a dozen so-so pieces, I would only have two pieces. As I've said before, don't let the pure business side of things govern your art. Show your art.
The final step in staging a show is simply this: show your stuff, baby. GO! Enjoy yourself. Welcome people into your booth. Talk to them about your work. Give them space and watch them react to your stuff. Answer their questions. If you're a salesman, then sell. Otherwise, let the art do the selling.
My next post will be pictures only. Hope you enjoy some of them.
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