Art Management: Career Plan for a Young Artist - Term Paper Example

ART MANAGEMENT - CAREER PLAN FOR A YOUNG ARTIST and Art Management - Career Plan for a Young ArtistIntroduction Art can be defined as the imaginative human activities and the products that emanate from such activities. Art has been categorized in a number of activities ranging from the visual to the audio works. Examples of the audio include the plays, the music, films and dances among all other performing arts. This essay is going to focus on the visual part of the arts that involves the creation of the images and of the objects. The works in this category include the painting, printmaking, the sculptures and photograph. The essay will however focus on the painting works. This paper takes two parts. The first part will involve exploring the career of an established artist with reference to the art management. The second part will outline an exemplified career plan that a young artist could adhere to while borrowing the knowledge from the established artist career. An Evaluation of Damien Hirst The idea of managing art is well addressed by the English artist Damien Steven Hirst. He is known for art collection and for being entrepreneurial. The Young British Artist is a group in Britain that did dominate the works of art in the 1990s. Damien is known as being the prominent member in that group. His career can be traced back to the 1990s after he graduated from the Goldsmith College (Corbijn 2012, p. 5). He started his career through engaging in the warehouse shows, with the first one bearing the name, New Contemporaries show. This was followed by the Modern Medicine and Gambler shows that he aired alongside his friend Carl Freedman. Hirst’s first work was the work called the a thousand years which consisted of the large glass case that contained maggots and the flies that were feeding on a cow’s head that looked rotten After the warehouse shows, his career shifted to the contemporary art. He was being funded by Charles Saatchi. He developed the first work in the Saatchi gallery in the year 1992. The work sold for 50,000 dollars. The shark in his work is what later came to be the iconic work in the British art of 1990s. It is through that work that he was nominated for the Turner prize for that year, but lost it to someone else. The first major presentation that he made internationally consisted of a cow and the calf that had been cut into different sections. This was in the year 1993. It was not until the year 1995 that Hirst won the turner prize (Corbijn 2012, p. 25). He later published his autobiography in the year 1997 that also comprised of his art book. His work was however not based on the paintings only. In the year 1997, he had directed a short film. The year 2000 was marked by the dominance of his sculpture hymn that was presented in the Saatchi Gallery. Following a disagreement with Saatchi over the opening of the new premises in the county hall in London, Hirst presented his exhibition in the white cube gallery that was located in London. He made 11 million dollars. This was done in September 2012. He also bought back some of the works totaling to 12 that he had previously sold to Saatchi (Corbijn 2012). In December the same year, Hirst had designed an image that depicted the African child. In the year 2005, he had exhibited slightly over the 30 paintings in the Gagosian Gallery. In the year 2006, Hirst opened his first major show in the Latin America, that is, in Mexico, an exhibition that attracted a lot of media coverage. He also included the works of Francis Bacon in that gallery. He made the European record for exhibiting the very expensive art. This was in the year 2007 and the work of that art was called the lullaby spring. It was composed of a three metre wide cabinet that was made of steel. It was sold for 19.2 million dollars (Corbijn 2012, p. 36). He also opened a new work that was entitled Beyond Belief at the gallery in London. One of his major works known as For the Love of God that consisted of a human skull was sold in August 2008 to the London gallery. In 2012 summer Olympics, he was represented in the British Union flag. In January 2013, he is named the third artist from British that has designed the statue of the Brits awards. This was done using his signature (NEO-pop art style). This was inspired by the 2000 LSD painting he owned. He is known to be the richest artist living (Taylor 2012, p. 38). Career Plan for an Upcoming Young Artist Based on the career plan of Damien Hirst that has been summarized above, it is evident that career always starts from a low level ground going up. The young artist can start by making exhibition with the immediate friends or relatives. The goals he or she sets should be achievable. According to South (2013) the developing stage is characterized by step by steps processes. This could include arranging times for producing the work and contacting the galleries or prospecting for jobs in the same line. This is also the step for framing the works as well as designing the invitation. The artist has the option of considering the strengths and the weaknesses in line with his or her works. This is what will enable him or her to determine what skills are needed for the sake of advancing the training. The artist statement has to be defined. For instance, Damien Hirst works was specifically drawing sculptures and other related works. The statement of the artist will define what drawings the artist is doing and the reasons why he or she is drawing as well as the source of the ideas. In line with the career plan of Damien, the artist can start by developing drawings on high quality paper and framing that as well as giving the works various titles. The ideas could be generated from the past and current trends in the political arena. The figures drawn could be representing the various symbols of the political affluent individuals in their quest for power, for instance using animals as representation. The works could range from the moderately sized works to the commercial sleeved plastic folders (South 2013, p. 90). Due to the evolving technology, the work could comprise of the digital formats. The works or exhibitions should be submitted in the 35mm slides. A professional photographer can do the designing of the slides. The slides should contain the artist’s name, the title of the exhibition and the dimensions. The work should be well documented, probably stored in a photographic record. Damien in one time was accused of plagiarism and breaching of the copyrights. To prevent this, it is essential to keep more then one copy of the exhibitions either digitally or hard copy catalogues. After organizing the works, the next process is approaching the market (Marion 2013). It is essential to research on the market before approaching the galleries or dealers. For instance, the young artists could approach individual persons who are known have influence. Usually, the price brackets vary according to the different styles of exhibitions. The artists could start from the warehouse shows before advancing to the prominent gallery exhibitions. The internet forums are one of the best locations to learn about the experiences other artists have gone through. It is recommended that before one goes through with the dealing or negotiation with the publishers and the gallery; one should seek the knowledge of the financial advisors regarding the fine print (Rolseth 2010, p. 67). The artist could approach a gallery like the white cube in London. The artist should rather seek for the art that resembles their work in the commercial galleries. This help in identifying the galleries that would be interested in the work in the artist’s degree. The artist should do the eyeball viewing to be able to identify the correct framework. The framework will include the location and how well the exhibitions are doing in terms of the business. The artist should seek a recommendation from one of the artist. In cases where the artist has no networking individuals or close relatives, the absolute solution to them is cold calling the gallery (Marion 2013, p. 54). The competition that one selects should be suited to the work or the exhibition in question. The young artists are normally advised to check on all alternatives available for the purposes of gaining the exposure. This includes doing work for charities that normally go unpaid or doing desktop publishing. The local business and the cafes are also considered the best places to approach. For the purpose of making contacts, the artist ought to be included in the mailing lists of some of the favorite galleries (Rolseth 2010, p. 27). The following is the career plan of a young artist. Since I am a student of art, I always like to do thing which have not been done and embrace new opportunities. After all, our professors requirements do not differ from my approach. This system is fully compliant for me, because I am a person who appears to be very happy when experimenting and trying out new things. Thanks to my personality I am able to move on rather than staying at one place. Therefore, I have not dedicated myself to any special style or technique yet. But I can say that I prefer oil painting. I love to work with colors. My works usually dry for a longer period of time and I used to do various transitions on them. This technique also suits me well because oil paint does not lose its quality even after long drying. It remains almost the same color and will not fade like acrylic paints. However, I also like working with clay. I love the sticky texture. It feels like such a ritual… At first I am getting to know the clay and then I try if it is malleable and so on. Then I slowly start to work and try to blend with her, be her friend. I feel that its much easier than if I just roughly unpack the material. I love the classic artworks too but a little contrast may be the fact that I am beginning to discover the magic of computer drawings even though Im not really a technically oriented type of human. I want to try it as much as possible so I can just choose what I mostly prefer or combine more things. My journey to art started perhaps at elementary school. I attended art classes as an extracurricular activity since the first grade of primary school. I won an art competition and my teacher suggested to my parents that I should try out some art classes. And I am incredibly grateful for that. Its wonderful that she saw something in me and did encourage my personal development. Since that moment art was a spontaneous part of me and my life. Several things and factors inspire me. Sometimes its music, sometimes a great person. However, it is mainly nature and sometimes it just comes by itself. I love when I have creative people around and the energy is transferred. Nonetheless, I need to be alone with myself as well. New things are created from different experiences. Perhaps I can mention that my experiences are not always expressed on a canvas. Sometimes “it pulls me” to write, talk or even shout, dance and especially hail. I believe that drums are an amazingly beautiful tool and we can communicate through them. Plus dreams! They also evoke and provoke to draw down the inspirations. In addition, I belong to the group of people with a flourishing imagination, so I usually do not lack inspiration. Sometimes I need to have a cup of coffee and it comes. But … Im not saying its always easy. Once in a while it does not want to come and I can do whatever I want. I do not have any concrete plans. I stopped planning for a quite long time now. However, I probably should have some ideas or expectations about my future. There is an Erasmus program I would like to go next year – spending one semester in Poland. I already had an interview and it looks pretty good. Then I hopefully manage to complete my studies. Later on, I would like to study abroad and gain a lot of new inspiration and experience as many things as possible. I keen to know the culture, people, language and nature so I can finally translate my feelings and create. Maybe I will go back to Slovakia and teach if possible. I love working with children. They can give you so much energy. But these are very far plans. Ill see what the situation in Slovakia going to be like. I deeply hope for better conditions, more interest in arts. Nothing is planned Ill see where the wind drifts me. I will probably settle down somewhere for a while and if I begin to hear my homes voice I listen and obey. I will see. But anyway, I think art is still in my life. Am always happy in time when I can create and when I have the possibility to work with creative people. I am delving into one project right now. I am a co-founder of a club which is essentially an organization for the protection of wild life and nature in Slovakia. I am designing the club logo and doing all the art-graphic work indeed. In addition, I was asked by a young Slovak writer to illustrate his book. This is also at the beginning, because now I have to devote most of my energy to schoolwork and finish my BA studies. After the semester, I will hopefully be able to pursue such activities to the fullest. Conclusion According to the career plan from Damien Hirst, it is evident that developing career in the field of art, especially the painting and sculpture specializations is a gradual process. The benefits are reaped once the artist has established the market for his work. These markets are normally the galleries and the exhibitions that are run every year. Winning the prizes relating to good works comes with hard work and great designs. This essay has outlined how a career plan for a young artist can be developed and successfully integrated in the market. From the study done on the established artist, the conclusion is that art management can be achieved through persistence and hard work. Bibliography Corbijn, A 2012, Damien Hirst Biography, retrieved on April 2013, http://www.damienhirst.com/biography/solo-exhibitions Marion, B 2013, Choosing Art as a Career, retrieved from http://painting.about.com/od/careerdevelopment/a/artcareer.htm Rolseth, R 2010, How to Become a Successful Artist – The Five Year Plan, retrieved on April 2013, http://emptyeasel.com/2010/09/28/how-to-become-a-successful-artist-the-five-year-plan/ South, H 2013, Top 10 Steps to Developing Your Art Career, retrieved on April 2013, http://drawsketch.about.com/od/developyourcareer/tp/startartcareer.htm Taylor, R 2012, Thats A Very Pricey Souvenir: Damien Hirsts Gift Shop Sells A £36,800 Plastic Skull, retrieved on April 2013,http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2124244/Damien-Hirst-Tate-Modern-2012-Gift-shop-sells-36-800-plastic-skull.html#ixzz2QKd3hUE8 Read More