Quote: (05-30-2014 08:06 AM)Ice Wrote:
Have any of you thought about becoming an artist?
There is actually quite a lot of money to be made in art. It's not that unusual for paintings to be sold for 100'000 USD.
Of course, it's not easy to break into the art world and be successful in it. The art world has its own unwritten rules and customs. You have to be able to connect with gallerists and collectors, and set yourself apart from other artists. In some way, it's like building a brand. You have to come up with a signature aesthetic that is recognisable and certain "values" that you and your art stand for. Art is not only the product itself, but also the story behind it and what it signifies.
What are your thoughts on the art world?
Before having started in the corporate world for real I worked 6 months for an Art magazine that was supported by the state and visited many exhibitions and galleries and also met the real clients.
I also met quite a few struggling as well as successful artists.
As with all things in our world, art is a market with certain rules.
The likelihood of success that you can actually live well off - not talking about millions of $ here - just survive making 50.000$ or more is minimal.
Tips:
- You have to be extremely talented and be passionate about it working non-stop
- you have to have found a unique style
- Being well-connected helps, being Jewish helps too, being Chinese helps nowadays
- Nationality is relevant - in some countries the rich have an inferiority complex and are not buying their own up- and coming artists - if you are born there, your chances of success fall tremendously - you would have to move somewhere else to succeed
- there are currently certain countries which are on the upswing and buy Art from artists from their own countries or at least from their heritage - i.e. American born Asian with Chinese heritage and language skills
- it is helpful to create a certain kind of artistic persona and personality about yourself - have pink hair, dress and talk weird - many artists suceed without it, but quite a few create themselves into some kind of surreal artist personality - you are more marketable then
- get into contact with foundations, big gallery owners, art critics and rich art collectors via smart networking - those are the people you have to impress - sometimes it is enough to have the support of one person within those 4
- some artists became masters of self-promotion for example painters doing scandalous performance art - one girl I met did a masturbation performance art in front of the mayor and other dignitaries. She later started to sell her paintings quite well.
While you may make it otherwise, the small likelihood of success is even more diminished if you do not adhere to the above mentioned rules. Art is just a business and even sticking to all the rules and being an highly creative extremely talented person is not even close a guarantee for success. On the other hand you should definitely try and be one, but also consider planning ahead if it does not work out.
Have a STEM degree or international accounting/finance degree in addition to that. A good trade is nowadays a valid career option too, since more and more jobs will be disappearing. Or be financially independent via some kind of business.