Been
There, Done That
by Maury Kettell
When I enter art shows, I often have this unclean feeling. It makes me
wonder whether the feeling is akin to what a prostitute must feel while plying their
trade. That may sound strange, but that is how I feel. I think the feeling originates
because the whole experience takes on aspects of prostitution—in this case—art
prostitution. Pretty strong words—and I’m sure many artists out there in
Internet land will take exception to them—but it is my quarter; bear with me.
As a practicing artist, I have some experience with art shows, and have entered my
share in the 20 some years I’ve been at this art thing. However, these days, I
don’t spend a lot of time on that endeavor, mainly because of the feelings I’ve
expressed in the preceding paragraph.
Let’s cut to the chase. Why do I have this unclean feeling? I value my artwork, as
I’m sure you value your artwork. When I take a piece to an art show, it is kind of
like a prostitute walking the sidewalk—waiting for someone to come along and
appreciate the merchandise. The pimp and the customer have no clue about the inner being
and probable worth of the prostitute, and a judge at an art show has no idea of the
struggle that was involved in the production of my artwork. The judge may look at the
piece of artwork for 30 seconds, or look at it several times—but in any case, I
wonder if the time it takes does justice to the effort that went into the work. When you
get right down to it, the artwork is a piece of myself—it is my being on
display—just like a prostitute is on display. What am I
worth—nothing—honorable mention—20 bucks—who knows?
About two years ago, it dawned on me that I was the main culprit in this whole
matter—I was the one enabling the whole process. If I believed the process was
beneath my dignity, then it was I who should put a stop to the whole thing. I haven’t
entered a show where works are juried for inclusion since that time. I still enter art
shows where all works entered are hung—the public gets to decide my worth.
There are other things that bother me about art shows as well. In any good competition
there are very many good works of art entered—more good works than will be selected.
I wonder how the juror faced with that quality of artwork will make his or her decision.
However the juror’s decision is made, it will be a very subjective thing—and
many good works of art will be rejected. Which leads to my next thought—is the whole
thing a crapshoot? At the level of accomplishment I see in artwork these days, and the
limited space available for most shows—I’m thinking that it is impossible for a
juror to accept all pieces that are of comparable quality. It comes down to the bias of a
juror—and I think that is a crapshoot. If you roll the right dice and your number
comes up—then well and good—if you shoot craps, tough luck.
I understand that process. What is bothering me is what the whole thing means. If it is
really a crapshoot like I think it is, then whether you are accepted or rejected is
meaningless. It just happens that your number comes up or doesn’t—all random
chance.
That isn’t the worst of the matter. It seems in my state, the process isn’t a
crapshoot for everyone—at least on this level. If you are an artist of some
reputation, then you find your work included in most shows. Not that the pieces of work
aren’t deserving—they are—but they aren’t any better than the work of
many artists that get rejected. I think that speaks louder than anything I can say
here—the jurors are at such a loss to make a distinction between the quality of
artwork they have to just be on the safe side and include work from artists of reputation.
This is not to say that there aren’t any works that should be juried out—there
are. However, I’m not going to enter that water—there are a lot of questionable
calls I see in shows—and that is another whole epistle.
Not to be completely negative, I see one good thing about art shows—visibility.
Visibility can result in increased sales and a better reputation—and with that
reputation a better chance to be included in the next art show.
But in my mind, I wonder if visibility is worth the price. It is for some of us and
isn’t for others. The way I feel about my artwork, it just doesn’t feel right to
go through the process—especially a process I feel is a crapshoot. When I think of a
juror looking at my artwork, I wonder if they understand that I’m a human being and
have dignity. Do they understand that I work hard at my artwork and the painting presented
for their acceptance was something straight from my heart—something I struggled
greatly to make happen—and the emotional commitment I’ve made to get this
particular piece of artwork in front of them?
I don’t have an answer to that last question. I do know that if I’m investing
a lot of myself in an endeavor, I want some confidence that the process of valuation is
more than an exercise in random chance. I don’t see that in art shows. So I’m
left with working on the marketing angle and at this point in my artistic life, the
exposure I get in art shows isn’t worth dealing with feeling I get when going through
the whole process.
Visit Maury's website
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