Quality of art, when artists have too many shows?

[thecreep]

I know that many artists have to be in as many shows as possible, to help get their art seen and work their way up the ladder.

What I'm wondering, is do you think the quality of the art goes down when an artists has to make so many pieces per year? Effectively giving them less time to work on each one. Sleep deprivation and so on?

[thewalrus]

I think it depends on the artist...i.e. how quickly they work in general. That said,
I'd rather go to an artist's show and see 10 quality pieces over seeing 20 so-so pieces.

[highbrow]

you also may have to think about planning, is it not possible for an artist to work a full year or more to stock pile then have three or four shows he would have little or no painting to do?

[jakewaldron]

I was thinking about something like this last night. I had completely forgotten about Craola's show back in march or something at mmodern. Three solo shows in a year of such a high quality with that many big pieces was just crazy to me. I was definitely impressed.

[Bytor]

Nov 8, 2008 23:01:28 GMT -8 thecreep said:

I know that many artists have to be in as many shows as possible, to help get their art seen and work their way up the ladder.

What I'm wondering, is do you think the quality of the art goes down when an artists has to make so many pieces per year? Effectively giving them less time to work on each one. Sleep deprivation and so on?

I do agree, me and my husband have been really thinking about my art and what I want to get out of it. I have been pushing myself so much and working so many hours with no time off that I think I could really do better if I wasn't under the gun so much. I totally turned the other cheek like a few weeks ago and have a new approach to my art. I will have less pieces in the shows I am in and I am going to do less show, but I am going to have the time to do extensive sketching and color theory work on each piece and take my time on each one to make sure that everything is as exactly as I want it and I wouldn't settle for anything less. So , I will keep you posted on my progress and you can see first hand if your thoughts on this are correct , well in my case at least.

[dangler]

Nov 11, 2008 16:43:00 GMT -8 Bytor said:

Nov 8, 2008 23:01:28 GMT -8 thecreep said:

I know that many artists have to be in as many shows as possible, to help get their art seen and work their way up the ladder.

What I'm wondering, is do you think the quality of the art goes down when an artists has to make so many pieces per year? Effectively giving them less time to work on each one. Sleep deprivation and so on?

I do agree, me and my husband have been really thinking about my art and what I want to get out of it. I have been pushing myself so much and working so many hours with no time off that I think I could really do better if I wasn't under the gun so much. I totally turned the other cheek like a few weeks ago and have a new approach to my art. I will have less pieces in the shows I am in and I am going to do less show, but I am going to have the time to do extensive sketching and color theory work on each piece and take my time on each one to make sure that everything is as exactly as I want it and I wouldn't settle for anything less. So , I will keep you posted on my progress and you can see first hand if your thoughts on this are correct , well in my case at least.

I think you have to strike while the iron is hot. Especially right out of the gate, you definitely have to hit the ground running. To have any artwork on display in a show, or to sell a piece is a real blessing. To make a career out of it takes keeping up with the buzz, and usually getting your work out to a lot of buyers... it takes a team and lots of game planning. So... in my opinion, an artist just has to roll with the punches in the first year or 2... do your best quality work as fast as possible, in as many shows as they can handle. Work small if that is what it takes. Even though the first couple years has been a real challenge and took a lot of adapting... because in college and what I (and many artists) prefer is taking my time with a painting. I went from taking 2 to 3 months on a painting to only having 2 to 3 days... think about it.

Anyhow... I am sure a lot of artists can relate to me in the fact that, at this point in my own career, about 2 years deep I'm starting to slow down. I have been involved with illustration projects on top of gallery shows as well, it would be stupid to be in a show every month from here on out. My solo show next week for example only has 10 paintings. I had the same strategy as "Bytor" - to take my time with the pieces and produce quality not quantity. If they sell or not... who knows... but I think they have a much better chance then 20 mediocre pieces. Be on the lookout from here on out... you'll be seeing some surprises.

[sleepboy]

Dec 6, 2008 16:17:13 GMT -8 dangler said:

Nov 11, 2008 16:43:00 GMT -8 Bytor said:

I do agree, me and my husband have been really thinking about my art and what I want to get out of it. I have been pushing myself so much and working so many hours with no time off that I think I could really do better if I wasn't under the gun so much. I totally turned the other cheek like a few weeks ago and have a new approach to my art. I will have less pieces in the shows I am in and I am going to do less show, but I am going to have the time to do extensive sketching and color theory work on each piece and take my time on each one to make sure that everything is as exactly as I want it and I wouldn't settle for anything less. So , I will keep you posted on my progress and you can see first hand if your thoughts on this are correct , well in my case at least.

I think you have to strike while the iron is hot. Especially right out of the gate, you definitely have to hit the ground running. To have any artwork on display in a show, or to sell a piece is a real blessing. To make a career out of it takes keeping up with the buzz, and usually getting your work out to a lot of buyers... it takes a team and lots of game planning. So... in my opinion, an artist just has to roll with the punches in the first year or 2... do your best quality work as fast as possible, in as many shows as they can handle. Work small if that is what it takes. Even though the first couple years has been a real challenge and took a lot of adapting... because in college and what I (and many artists) prefer is taking my time with a painting. I went from taking 2 to 3 months on a painting to only having 2 to 3 days... think about it.

Anyhow... I am sure a lot of artists can relate to me in the fact that, at this point in my own career, about 2 years deep I'm starting to slow down. I have been involved with illustration projects on top of gallery shows as well, it would be stupid to be in a show every month from here on out. My solo show next week for example only has 10 paintings. I had the same strategy as "Bytor" - to take my time with the pieces and produce quality not quantity. If they sell or not... who knows... but I think they have a much better chance then 20 mediocre pieces. Be on the lookout from here on out... you'll be seeing some surprises.

Yah I notice that alot. New artists - lots of shows, then they slow down. I think it's natural. You have to get your name out and are eager to do any show at all. Not sure if quality goes down. It seems for some artists, less shows just means they are able to do larger pieces.