r/ContemporaryArt

Ever wondered how to get into the Whitney Biennial?

Apparently you just need to find a dealer that's in a romantic relationship with the curator.

In all seriousness though, does anyone find this at all acceptable?

Maybe I'm too jaded, but at minimum this is ethically questionable. At worst, it's an example of someone in a position of power at a non-profit institution - a Whitney curator - colluding to help his partner, a private art dealer, bring recognition and sales to his gallery.

The biennial is known to accelerate an artist's market. The 31 year old dealer David Pagliarulo, barely in business for 2 years, somehow gets 2 artists included in the current biennial.... but according to the article his romantic relationship with the biennial curator Drew Sawyer had nothing to do with it.

Am I wrong to think this is totally unacceptable? Should this curator be held accountable in some way? Or do we just have to accept this is how things work?

I have been renting a studio by myself for several years until several months ago. The first couple of years I shared it with a fellow photographer/painter, he left after a couple of years to pursue his art dreams in Europe. Great studio relationship with him btw, no issues whatsoever. So far in total I've been nearly 10 years in this place, great relationship with neighbors and landlord. Early this year I had a long stint out of country and decided to sublet a portion of my studio space (to help with the studio payment. I would return periodically and use the studio for a couple of weeks, my stuff is still there). Several people were interested, but I decided to go with a young woman painter (she's in her late 20s 30s) (I am a man, 40s). She is young and upcoming, good social media presence, and has done shows abroad and locally, met her through a mutual friend several years and I thought we were friendly colleagues. Pretty solid curriculum. The studio rules were simple. You can use this area, this other area is mine, don't touch anything without permission, pay on time, that's it.

All seemed ok the first couple of months, got payment in time and everything. Then I started getting noise complaints from neighbors. I look into it, it seems she decided to renovate the space without my permission. First red flag I ignored. My landlord was not pleased but since our relationship was positive throughout the years nothing happened with my lease. I noticed in her social media presence that she was using my equipment (easels, furniture, projector, etc). I confronted her about this, she apologized and said she wouldn't do it again. After this things went downhill, she insisted on making her be part of the lease (never part of our agreement). I denied this every single time (she pressured me almost weekly). Then a couple of weeks ago she invited the landlord over to visit the studio (I do not know how she got his number, I assume she asked one of the neighbors), and there told the landlord that I don't live in the country anymore and that she wants to be exclusively on the lease. This also coincided that she hasn't been able to pay the last two months of the rent in time. She's not been there for even 5 months, and what should've been a stress free situation has been hell for me being abroad. Her contacting the landlord and trying to kick me out was the final straw.

I made a pause in my travels and returned to my country and I'm finally kicking her out. I lawyered up, told her she has until a certain date to leave. As you can guess it's not easy getting her out of the studio. I've been doing an inventory of the studio these last couple of days and to my dismay after checking my things that I had in storage, a huge amount of my oil paints are missing, of course she's denying any responsibility (I have messages from her just before I left telling me she went through my storage space to help me "organize it" so she can store her stuff too). I'm so fucking angry. I want to cancel her so bad! But she still hasn't left. What would you guys do in my situation?

Recently I asked some artists about their experiences at other residencies. one started talking about how there are two types of residencies - one for working and one for socializing. Another person started talking about a rigorous residency where at the end collectors/rich people came to the dinner and the artists were just vying for their attention. She's not an artist herself (adjacent field) but she thought it was very transparent. I would've thought the same. But i asked him if that works for them and he said yes.

I started to wonder again about all the unwritten social rules in the art world. A lot of what is deemed popular/hot in art is muddled to me. I always assumed that the artists were just really great at socializing with the right people. I have even wondered this about gallerists and curators who I think are complete phonies who still manage to exist with some degree of credibility - is it just their relationships to the right people? how did they develop those?
I am not sure if I can eloquently convey my thoughts/questions around this, but I guess what I'm curious to learn more about from your anecdotes is how do people who eventually find success in the artworld socialize with the right people? it's hard to capture the intrigue of gallerists, curators, etc without there first being some hype to your name, being offline and mysterious works for a very few amount of people, and if everyone is vying for the same person's attention who actually gets to have it?

I guess more explicitly/succinctly asked: how do artists who eventually do capture the imagination of curators, gallerists, collectors (beyond just making solid work) behave? i'd love to hear a range of stories - from people who were kiss asses to people who just were themselves in a no holds barred way.

Well this is going to be my little venting paragraph, but I went to an interview today and I didn't get the job, all because I didnt know color theory enough (i knew color theory)and because I lived in horizon city (it was a 40 minute drive to the frame shop). They told that I would be better off working at a hobby lobby since its in the east side. Im starting to feel like el paso doesnt have enough creative jobs and how do I even recover from that? I know people would say "welcome to the real world" or "move on" , but as a person that is sensitive has anyone went through this? Or am I not taking art in General seriously.

I’ve applied to NAP literally 17 times (please don’t judge me or chastise me for the amount of $ I’ve spent on application fees. A ton of my friends/peers have gotten in and I haven’t and I genuinely do think my work is good enough). Does an artist’s social media presence/popularity influence their decision? Do they blacklist people (lol)? I know it depends on the juror so I’m just kind of frustrated I guess. I might throw in the towel after the next cycle for my region. I also know that it’s been going downhill in recent years.
Any suggestions for other publications that aren’t such a rip off are welcome!

I have been trying at getting a residency for like, four years. The last and first one I got was in 2023 and it was a really shitty experience for reasons I won't go into. Now that my work has evolved in a lot of ways, I'm working on getting another one and have been putting in consistent applications for a while.

It seems like everybody around me is getting multiple residencies, fellowships, etc. It honestly burns me so bad, and it makes me feel like shit about my own work/myself. I don't know what I'm doing wrong, and I know that ultimately I'll just have to keep trying, but the whole thing makes me crazy. I have a lot of stuff on my CV, but not enough residencies, and right now nothing but that feels important. I'm trying to work harder, plan more, and write in a way that's more compelling, but I just cannot get my shit together and feel like in order to get a residency I'll need to apply with work that only a residency would give me the time, space, and resources to make.

Does anybody have any advice around these issues of residencies and envy and self hate and getting over it? I'm trying to not just apply for the big names and also try the smaller stuff, but the smaller stuff I often don't know about. What are some suggestions to write a compelling residency application, even if the work might be lacking? Thanks.

I was sweating for the last few days trying to get a shipment across the border before tomorrow. But going forward, if the tariffs are implemented and stick, what do we do?

Time to take our work elsewhere? Look for galleries in Europe? Asia?...

Most of my work is sold in the US, and I am worried.

I've been painting for many years, but have only started putting work into shows for the past year or so. Since I have so much work accumulated, I've been able to get into a lot of them in a small amount of time, and sometimes they sell and sometimes they don't. I'm just curious about what people's perspective on this is, if the piece doesn't sell is that the fault of the gallery not cultivating the right audience? Or is it the fault of the artist for not making it relatable/schmoozing/etc? Or is this just the wrong way to think about it and if somebody buys the work it's completely random?

It's not like I'm offended or feel bad if work doesn't sell even if it is considered "my fault", my goal is moreso just to get more exposure anyways, but I'm curious how people think about it

Hey, Ive seen this take a few times, people saying it's not good to use a psyeudonym that sounds like a real name. Is this accurate?

I do not want to use my real name but assumed having a real sounding name would be preferred in galleries over a studio or gamer tag sounding name.

The \[Metropolitan Museum of Art announced\](https://www.metmuseum.org/press-releases/john-galliano-horizons) that Galliano would be the subject of the Costume Institute’s next exhibition, scheduled to open May 9. It is an exceptional honor. Only two other living designers have been so celebrated by the Met: Yves Saint Laurent in 1983 and Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons in 2017.

I’m planning my first solo show - so I don’t know anything at all, obviously.

If you’ve had more than one solo show, what are some things you know now that you wish you would have known then?

I’m mostly thinking about conceptualizing, planning, and executing the show creatively, but open to all advice.

I began painting after a near-death experience. Eleven years later, I’m still trying to understand where the imagery comes from.

I started painting in 2015, directly after a near-death experience changed the direction of my life.

What has interested me ever since is not simply what I paint, but the way the imagery arrives.

Certain forms keep recurring without being consciously planned: cellular structures, pathways, branching forms, dots, spirals, symbols and markings that sometimes feel more like fragments of a visual language than conventional abstraction.

Only years later did I begin noticing curious visual similarities between some of these spontaneous markings and very early forms of human symbol-making and writing. I’m not suggesting that I am somehow painting an ancient language, I’m much more interested in the question this raises.

Why do certain forms seem to recur across cultures, consciousness and time?

Are artists drawing from accumulated visual memory? Archetypal forms? Pattern recognition? The unconscious? Or is intuitive image-making simply capable of producing unexpected parallels with things we have never consciously studied?

More recently I’ve begun creating Soul Frequencies, portraits in which I deliberately don’t paint the person’s physical appearance. Instead, I try to translate my perception of them into colour, structure, movement and symbolic form.

After nearly eleven years of painting, I feel less interested in providing answers than I am in following the question:

Where does an image come from before the conscious mind has found words for it?

I’d genuinely be interested in hearing how other artists, curators and people working with contemporary art think about this.

My work is here for context:
www.nicolemeeuws.com

I'm looking for videos (preferably) where artist are talking about creativity (their own process or in general )- best of all if it were inspirational!

Hello everyone! I’m looking for a university worldwide where I could pursue my MFA.

I’m an artist primarily focused on printmaking and papermaking. Alongside these, sustainability is an important part of my artistic practice. I’m particularly interested in working with natural materials, experimenting with plant-based fibers and other locally sourced materials, and exploring ways of making materials myself.

I’m therefore looking for an MFA program that would support this kind of material-based and sustainable research, ideally with strong printmaking and papermaking facilities and opportunities for interdisciplinary experimentation.

The main limitation is language, as I would prefer an English-speaking program.

Which universities or MFA programs come to mind that might be a good fit for this kind of practice? I’d really appreciate recommendations based on your own experience or knowledge of the programs. Thank you!

Hi! Is there any good podcasts about curatorial work or more critical thinking, or even art in general that you could recommend?
Thanks in advance