James Whistler used his flamboyant style of dress, the gray “feather” in his hair and his outspoken persona to draw attention to himself and his work. Unfortunately for him and the art world, those gimmicks have cast a shadow over his work resulting in one of the 19th century’s great artists is still considered a minor character popularly know only for the painting of his mother. His is a cautionary tale.

I guess when we do choose our public labels, which we’re all bound to do to some extent eventually, we need to be careful. Cycling, black, outsider, gay, Brit, etc… they all can have connotations we don’t intend and come across as gimmicky instead of genuine depending on the audience. (like media who clearly misunderstood the Black Brits concept, probably because the media skim for sound-bites rather than full stories!)

(this is all intriguing discussion because I’m working through Alyson’s “Artist Statement” worksheets right now!)

I have been accused of being gimmicky as I tend to work in series. My first being “Black Brits”- was about British icons and how the colour of their skin affected the way they were perceived by the public. It was labeled a gimmick by some media outlets, but that was because they did not get the point.

However it is perceived, as long as you are being true to yourself as an artist and you are producing quality work, who really cares?