Yesterday I devoted the day to marketing my art. I committed to one full day a week and it seems to be effective. I started out giving myself permission to read art blogs particularly Edward Winkelman where they were talking about the state of the art world. There is a lot of talk about the speculative nature of the art market and its deleterious effect on new artists. Apparently speculators drive up the price of fledgling artists they have chosen and skew the start of their career to a point they could never return from then they drop em for the next big thing. In the comments section John Powers referred to a chapter in Freakonomics called “Why Do Drug Dealers Still Live with Their Moms?” he says “Replace “foot soldiers” with “emerging artists”, “drug king pins” with “art star”, and you have a pretty good description of the conditions (and delusions) most young artists labour under.””the ‘disease’ is a perverse set of incentives that, like the crack trade, offer a very few outrageously large rewards, attracting lots of desperate players willing to risk life and limb for a shot at the top slot. But the problem isn’t that the New York artworld functions like a crack gang, the problem is that the New York artworld exists inside of a nation that functions like a crack game.”
The current gallery system supports a relatively few artists. I don’t have the passion it takes to be one of the chosen few. I enjoy painting, I find I have to do it to maintain an emotional balance and it would be nice to sell them and know others were appreciating them. I just have no desire to attend the openings and socialize.
Good news is I may not have to. Just as musicians are finding ways to thrive outside the old system so are visual artists.
check out this link
1000 True Fans by Kevin Kelly