CV writing for new artists

[xelAlvis]

Okay. Galleries want CV's. But WHAT do you do IF you have next to nothing to list?? Doesn't everyone start here? Most artists have been creating all their lives. But when you want to go pro...and there are no fellowships, grants, scholarships, awards, publications, gallery affiliations, shows AND no education if you're self taught? Some memberships, some private collections....sure.

[tobias]

So this is what your gonna do... Forget about it! CV s are bullshit. I'm self taught. Did some stuff had some fun wrote it down. No one but stuck up jerks care. And the problem with stuck up jerks? They don't buy art they just sit around and talk about it.
If the work is good it's good that's it! No one can argue if your satisfied with it you make it for your self ,they like it, stroke your ego, maybe give you some cash to continue and you do it again. Your a sculptor not an author screw the writing. Make up a CV if they need one
eg.
2007 group show on Moms fridge receives critical acclaim
2008 published selected works in "Up my Ass " magazine
2009 continued group showings now at raunchy Rons and Moms kitchen
2010 break out year finalized 3dimensional design and staged gorilla show in city park ( sculpture survives for 6 days unattended) met with great response ( garbage man kept all 4 works)
2011 artist detaches from mainstream due to massive success. Fires all galleries and spits in the eye of art critic while pissing on stuck up jack ass s SUV
Tell them I said it would be ok and to just show the frigging work if they like it!

[xelAlvis]

Thanks Tobias. I need to be lightened up every now and then, and get some instruction for attitude development. Besides, if I got too caught up in doing everything that is "supposed" to be done, I'd have no time to sculpt. That would suck.

[rika]

While Tobias' "CV" is very funny and it may work for him, it doesn't necessarily apply to you or someone else. In my opinion is important that you come across as genuine, as yourself, so start there. Be honest. If that gallery wants you, they don't want you for your CV. You already have something on that blank sheet: that specifict gallery! quite an accomplishment. Other than that you may want to enter juried shows and group shows in your area that you can put on your CV. You mention that you have work in collections, definitely worth to mention. If you have taken any courses or trained with someone that is known in your community, mention it. Also, include a statement about your vision, in what direction you see yourself going, a bit of a background, short bio, all good "fillers" and probably more interesting for your audience to read than dry data. Be creative but stay true to yourself.

[Mack]

I think Rika nailed it!

[Chris_Johns]

Basically a CV if a means of selling yourself, it's a way of presenting what you can do in a from which can be read and digested in a few minutes.

If you're self taught summarise the process you went through, did you learn by working with other artists, experimentation on your own, reading books, courses...

What are you aiming to achive both artistically and professionally?

Do you have a well defined style or do you experiment a lot ?

What sort of work do you produce at the moment...quantity, scale, materials, content, inspiration etc etc ?

What are your professional goals ?

What skills do you have ? As well as technical art skills the ability to write, run workshops, project manage etc are all relevenat to a professional artist.

The simple fact of being able to put together a concise, informative and well laid out CV can tell a potential client/employer/gallery a lot about you.

also bear in mind that a gallery is a business and being able to demonstrate that you are reasonably well organised, motivated and generally together is likely to be a big selling point.

It's often very useful when writing a CV to take a mental step back and see yourself from the point of view of a complete stranger...what are they key defining points about you as a person, an artist and a professional that you want to get across.

It may also be useful to come up with a few different CVs for different audiences, you might want to put a differnt CV on your website, say, to the one you give out to galleries

[evaldart]

You build everything on the back of your ever developing relationship with the rigors of aesthetics. From that there will appear, elsewhere in your life, some objects that make their way into venues, or receive various kinds of mentioned acceptance and/or praise...mark that stuff down (usually in chronological order). And while all this stuff only addresses the secondary (or THIRDly) matter of a "career" - the success of which is determined (so superficially) by generated money, it is pleasurable to be able keep your "life" as near to your studio as possible. So it is effectively a resume. Its not hard to learn to write it well and will require only a crumb of the originality that you plunder in your artmaking (they appreciate that out there in "business").
And no, its NOT totally about the work (generated physicalities left-over from the process). You might well be doing absolutely amazing things that will go unrecognized by some of the less potent minds of those who do the (art) business. And by that same token, your may be very well received by the art business, and sell very well, by ghastly work that has in no manner at all improved you one bit. Every opportunity is different. You will be served well by the intellectual flexibility to build different CV's. Or, since it is only a matter of career, let someone else write it; you supply the data.

[xelAlvis]

Thank you all so very much for your input. It helps me a great deal to hear such good (and very creative) suggestions for how to present my work/self. I do have plans to apply to juried shows this year and am very excited about doing so. Right now it is hard to wait...this in between time from the original creation of my sculptures to having them produced and all the other things - it's like getting on a rollercoaster and climbing up that first really huge hill on the track...slowly up and up and up...before going down...(screaming, sure...but in a good way) After after (a year of) months they're bronze - what patinas? Do I photograph them myself or have them professionally photographed? The CV issue, and marketing - a website, business cards. What galleries, what shows? and - the majority of people I have met in the "art world" have been as excited about my work as I am and have been so very generous with their knowledge and their time.