Are you confused about the difference between your artist biography and artist statement? I’m here to help!
biz basics
See if these explanations give you a better picture of these two documents.
[I've thrown some guidance on your About page for free.]
Artist Biography
Theresa Beckemeyer, Chautauqua. Oil on canvas, 40 x 30 inches. ©The Artist
Your professional artist bio is kind of like your résumé in paragraph form (but less boring). It highlights your top accomplishments — usually with the most recent and most important at top.
Your bio gets to the point. It’s not a place for you to share everything you’ve ever done or get into your personal life.
Your bio is written in 3rd person unless it’s an autobiography, in which case you’d use the 1st person.
Artist Statement
Your artist statement is about your art, not about you. More to the point, it’s about the current direction of your work, not a history of how you got to this point.
Your artist statement is written in the 1st person. After all, it is a statement.
About Page
About pages are an Internet feature where your artist bio and statement come together. They should be less formal than the proper bio you would use to share with a museum or gallery.
How you approach your About page depends on your goals as an artist, but there should be text about both you and your art on this page. I’m fond of About pages that use humor combined with an interesting twist on serious facts.
For inspiration, check out Kelly Parkinson’s About page. Yep, I know she’s a copywriter and not an artist, but you can (and should) be inspired by her approach.
Does this help? Do you have any other questions about these documents/Web pages?
Follow Alyson on Twitter
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Very good article Alyson! Thank you so much for sharing this.
Cheers!
My pleasure. Hope it helps, Kelly.
Thanks Alyson…ever so timely…just this morning I opened IRBITS to review the clear distinction regarding the bio since I have one due tomorrow for an o=upcoming exhibition…I recrafted what I had started in my rough draft…started before I got the big AHA to check your book on the topic… and now I feel ‘good to go’.
Donna: I’m so happy you got IRBITS out to find the answer. And I’m glad you found what you needed. Lots of people who buy IRBITS forget that many of the answers to their questions are right there.
I agree: it’s of high importance that an artist writes a good biography on his website/blog/page.
If you ever have French readers, they can check my blog as well. I wrote an article about that specific topic :
http://www.art2dot0.com/art/2010/09/les-5-regles-pour-ecrire-sa-page-a-propos-bio.html
Thanks for all your posts. Some inspire me for my blog.
Oh, if only my French weren’t tres rusty!
You can practice your French reading my blog
Thanks again, Alyson! Always such invaluable instruction. Know you also have info about tweeking our resumes; keep in mind I’ve been a stay-at-home mom for most of the past 22 yrs
Can you direct me to that article? Thanks so much!
Susan: Try using the search feature in the right sidebar. Also, click on some of the links in this post.
That’s where I started: “resume,” updating resume,” “writing resume”…am I missing it? Thanks Alyson…still looking…and thanks for clarifying and expounding on artists’ statement, bio and “about” pages.
Check out: http://www.artbizblog.com/tag/artist-biography