Click here for A Few Notes on Curatorial Thinking 

Are you ready . . . 

to move to the next stage in your career, but you’re not sure what it is or how to get there? Are you frustrated in securing gallery representation? Do you want to know how dealers, curators, critics, writers, and editors select artists for exhibitions, articles, and reviews—and use that information to advance your career? Are you stymied by pricing or by whether or not you should sell online? Do you need to polish your resume or artist statement? Do you need an artist statement or catalog essay?

Talk to me
I am a full-time studio artist represented by galleries around the country. My background includes experience as a curator, juror, reviewer, essayist, gallery director, conference director, visiting artist and lecturer at the post-secondary level, and 20 years as a consulting magazine and book editor.

A 90-minute career consultation: $210

. Clarification of your goals and development of a plan to achieve those goals

. Critical but supportive review of your digital images, resume, and artist statement

. Discussion of your specific questions and concerns

A four-hour session: $480

. The career consultation plus an additional session 2.5 hour session, including . . .

. Editorial help with your written material (statement, cover letter, resume, biography and/or website text) 
. Critical feedback on your work or website

A custom package including career coaching and studio visit

. We’ll create a program for your specific needs, which could take place over the phone, in person, and over multiple sessions
. Each session would address a different aspect of your career, so in addition to the previously noted services, I can assist you with physical presentation, such as public speaking or finessing an interview, whether in person or on camera (yes, I went to "TV school" and I can share with you what I learned)

Where and how

The consultations take place by telephone. Phone consults are every bit as intensive as in-person meetings. We’ll work from a package you prepare, which may include emailed images or a link to a website, so that we can see the same material at the same time. Custom packages are geographically limited to the Boston area and New York City. Payments may be made by check or PayPal.

My clients are artists you know

Solo exhibitions, gallery representation, publications, academic visibility and, generally, a higher professional profile have resulted from the information and coaching I provide.

Catalog essays and other writing

I write clearly and cogently, creating a context for the art under consideration. Essays are my specialty. Here is a sampling (all publications may be read online at no cost):
. Digging Deeper for Depth Perception at the Cape Cod Museum of Art, 2017

. Constructs and Contradictions for Organic to Geometric at Endicott College, 2015

. A Few Conversations About Color, curator’s essay from the eponymous exhibition at DM Contemporary, New York City, 2015

. Extravagant Light for Swept Away at the Cape Cod Museum of Art, 2015

. Diverse Practices, Common Threads, co-curator’s essay forTextility at the Visual Art Center of New Jersey

. Individual essays for Betsy Eby, Kevin Frank, Sandi Miot, Jeff Schaller and others

Info
. My online resume has links to my curatorial projects and writing

. Contact me at joanne@joannemattera.com with questions, to set up an appointment, or for my essay rates

A Few Notes on Curatorial Thinking

.

Curating is an overworked word these days. Lifestyle magazines would have you believe that wardrobes and menus are “curated.” Curating by and for art professionals is something else entirely. It is realizing a thematic vision by means of the art of others, each work advancing the curatorial thesis with depth and breadth so that the installed exhibition immerses the viewer in a pool of ideas that are amplified by juxtapositions, sequential placements, and cross-gallery conversations. My article, Curatorial Thinking, from which this talk developed for the International Encaustic Conference (11th and 12th editions), is viewable here. Some highlights and additional links follow.

 The theme here: color. The title: A Few Conversations About Color
I selected seven artists, working in a variety of mediums, to develop the concept of this exhibition, which took place at DM Contemporary in New York City, 2015

If you are curating an exhibition

• A compelling theme or thesis is the foundation of a strong show

• Come up with an evocative title that conveys your intent

• It’s not enough to secure the venue; consider the physical infrastructure. Is the space set up for an exhibition? Is there access to deliver work? Is there parking?

• Consider the administrative infrastructure. One of the great things about curating for a gallery or museum is that administrative help is available. If you’re curating in a pop-up space, you’re on your own administratively—and it’s a daunting job

• Is the space worthy of your effort? Do you really want to put your curatorial time and energy into a venue such as a café, bakery, or restaurant, where the art is not on the menu?

• If you’re putting out a call to artists, be clear about what you’re looking for thematically. And state all the information up front: who, what, where, when. If artists will be asked to contribute financially to the exhibition, or if they will be expected to cover the cost of shipping their work one or both ways, note that

• Are you looking to broaden your visibility as an artist and curator? Then consider curating a show that's not just wax

• Don’t be afraid to say no. You are the curator. You don’t need to justify your selections

• It is, however, important to remember that artists have opened their studios to you. If you do not plan to include their work, let them know in a timely manner. They may have other projects for the work under consideration

• Once you’ve made your selections, create a reference document that each selected artist can refer to so that you’re not inundated with calls asking about delivery, opening dates, and such

• Produce a press release that you distribute to the various media outlets. State the name of the show, the name of the curator, dates, location, hours of the exhibition. Include a short description of the show and a list of exhibiting artists. Media are likely to include a photo or photos if you provide them.

. Be clear in your terminology for a show that focuses on encaustic. If you feel, as I do, that "encaustic art" has no place in art terminology (it's "art," no adjective required), state that idea clearly. For example:

All the artists in Organic to Geometric employ the medium of wax in their practice so their ideas, disparate as they may be, are united at least in part by materiality. Wax has substance, luminosity, even scent, and requires a specific set of processes to be workable. But for professional artists working in the medium, it is first and foremost paint. For that reason we avoid the terms "encaustic art" and "encaustic artist," preferring to identify ourselves and our work in terms of our discipline: painting, sculpture, or printmaking.

• Provide a copy of the press release to each of your artists, who will be creating their own posts and newsletters to promote the event. 

• Be clear to your artists that press requests should go through you. This is your curatorial project. You don’t want an artist creating her own press materials to make it sound as if she’s in a solo show, nor do you want the press to focus on one artist

• Additionally, you might create a list of talking points to enable your artists to describe the show cogently and accurately in their blog posts or Facebook mentions

• If you cave to pressure to include your friends, even if their work is not right (or not good enough), you are not a curator, you are a wimp

• Should you include your work? Some venues don’t allow it; others are more flexible. You just don’t want to be known as an artist who only gets to show when you create the exhibition

Sometimes you don't include your own work. For Textility, which I co-curated with Mary Birmingham at the Visual Art Center of New Jersey in 2013, museum rules prevented me from including my work in the show  

A few nuts and bolts

. Use hooks, such as Ook picture-hangers, which are available in different sizes to correspond with the weight of the artwork. If you hang with  nails or sheet rock screws, use two--one in each corner to make a secure hang

• Don’t overhang. This is a beginner’s mistake. Give the work breathing room on the wall, even if it means not hanging everything. (Include each of the artists you invited, but perhaps only one work per artist instead of several. Or select fewer artists in the first place.)

• Hang to an imaginary horizontal that runs through the center of each artwork. Typically the horizontal is 57 to 60 inches from the floor to the center of the artwork. Pick one height and be consistent

• A grouping doesn’t adhere exactly to this rule, but think about that horizontal and arrange the works above, below, and through it for visual cohesiveness

• If you go with a salon-style installation, you may take up an entire wall, high and low. Use Kraft paper to plan your arrangement, then hang

• Institutions hate pencil marks on the wall. Use a light gray chalk instead. You’ll see the mark, but it can be brushed off later

Organic to Geometric: Investigations in Structure and Surface, curated by Carol Pelletier for the Heftler Gallery at Endicott College in Beverly, Mass., 2015.  The gallery director hung to an imaginary horizontal, here about 58 inches from the floor to the center of each painting. In this way a variety of sizes can have unity. Pedestaled sculpture doesn't hew to the same rule

If you are invited to be in a curated show

• Do you know the curator? If not, do your due diligence. Do a Google search, ask your artist friends if they are familiar with the curator or the institution. You want to be part of a project that advances your career and brings something to the community, not unhappily surprised by a "curator" who doesn't have a clue

• Is the show one of those hybrids, which seem to be popular in some parts of the encaustic community, that includes invited artists as well as a juried show? Vet it carefully. As an invited artist you are there to make sure the quality of the show is high. But if the juried entries aren’t good, you could be embarrassed by your inclusion. If you’re submitting to the juried segment, know that other artists have been brought in as invited guests, paying no fee. You’re the worker bee

• What’s the title of the show? If it’s yet another “Encaustic Art” or “Waxing Poetic” show, you will not be served well. ("Waxing Poetic was a beautiful title in 1998; now it's a cliché.) Look for themes that go beyond medium, a great way to broaden your professional visibility

• Ask “Who else have you invited?" and "Who else will be in the show?” The two questions are not the same. You want to know who has turned down the invitation as well as who has accepted. If the artists you respect have turned down the invitation, you might contact them to inquire why. Most artists are willing to share this kind of information if you promise confidentiality—and keep that promise

• You want to be in a show that lifts you up with good work by good artists, not drag you down with the inclusion of hobbyists eager for an opportunity to show

• You owe it to yourself to place your work in the best possible light, both metaphorically and physically. The last thing you want is to be in a poorly lit, overhung show. Ask: “How do you envision the installation? How big is the venue?” 

• Priorities change. The exhibition you might have said yes to when you were just starting out may not be the one you want to be in now

• Respect the curator. Include her/his name in the exhibitions listing on your resume

• If you are contacted by the press, refer requests to the curator

• Remember: You are the lucky recipient of an invitation to show in an exhibition for which you will do none of the heavy lifting. That’s a gift!

© Joanne Mattera, 2017

Related reading

JM posts

. CuratorialThinking, Issue 12 of ProWax Journal: 

. Marketing Mondays: How Do I Get a Curator to Look at My Work? A conversation with Mary Birmingham:

. Marketing Mondays: A Curator Connects the Dots for an Exhibition. Mary Birmingham  talks about how she found artists for her Material Color exhibition.  

. Walk-through of the exhibition, Material Color 

. Walk-through of A Few Conversations About Color 

. Conversations, an Eight-Artist exhibition at the R&F Gallery:

. 50 Shades of Gray, an online curation

The topic more broadly

. Wikipedia definition of Curator

. Milwaukee Art Museum: “What Does it Mean to Curate?” 

. On Curating

. GYST (Getting your Shit Together): Curating for Artists

. The Guardian: Secrets of the Museum Curators 

. The Precarious, Glamorous Lives of Independent Curators


“I’ve always thought that if you want to be a curator—especially an independent one, without the job security of a museum structure—you’re fulfilled by your research, discoveries, engagement with artists, the magic of seeing a project come together, and the impact on others. It’s meant to fulfill your curiosity.”

Online links to catalogs referenced in the talk

. Depth Perception
. Organic to Geometric: Investigations in Structure and Surface 
. A Few Conversations About Color
. Sandi Miot: The Medium is the Muse

. Natura Viva: Flora, Fauna, and Us 

. Formal Aspects, an online “catalog”