Read the following section and reflect on findings within your Learning Log: The Purpose of the Art Crit in Sarah Rowles, Art Crits: 20 Questions, A Pocket Guide (2013) Q-Art London.
This is a very valuable and thought provoking material to read. It is comprehensive and engaging. I even felt disappointed I hadn’t found it or was required to read it earlier. I find reading essential at the very early stage of the OCA degree path. I had little experience in Art Crit during my studies, partly because I was not proactive in finding it, but partly because the culture of peers’ Art Crit at OCA needs to be reinforced. Students have to be educated with this material before they participate in any of the Art Crit sessions.
Another point is that the Art Crit sessions are not easy to find. The session I had while doing the Advanced Practice course was far from fruitful because comments were very scarce and not aligned with what was described and suggested in the reading. I didn’t get valuable, eye-opening, refreshing and new perspective feedback; this experience prevented me from exposing my work to peers. I opened my page on the Padlet app, on the OCA branch, and invited an Art Crit Feedback. I also wrote to the OCA program leader to help me arrange a peer art crit session.
It was interesting to read the following passage from the reading: ” Crits are important because if you don’t have a context for your work, if you don’t have a group of peers around you, talking to you, visiting your studio, corresponding with your ideas, then your work can become utterly meaningless. It can be just floating around in a void of meaninglessness. Alison Jones (Goldsmiths College,[Rowles, Sarah. “Art Crits: 20 Questions – A Pocket Guide.”, p.25]. It is astonishing how many authorities in the art world who write books and articles manage to place slogan-style statements such as this one above, without any objective support from real arguments. Any artwork’s context usually has different objectively existing contexts: historical, cultural, social, personal and artistic. ( Lee Down, “The Role of Varied Context in Understanding Art”, online on http://www.artartistsartwork.com, [accessed on April 30, 2025] Any artwork’s context and any type of it exist independently of any art criticism. The statement of Alison Jones above imposes on us a strange formal logic: the context is created by exposure to art criticism, which absurdly means that artists should chase as much art criticism to create a context for their artworks. It strangely implies that some artworks have more context and some artworks have less, depending on the number and volume of art criticism received. Of course, the more art critics reveal their opinion about your work, the more nuances can be opened and discussed. However, the context is not the same as opinion. Any artwork is created within a cultural, social, historical, personal and artistic context which is intrinsic to it. These are essential, primary preconditions for any artwork to arise. Thus, the artwork can not be “meaningless”; it is full of contextual meaning from the moment of birth. Art critics engage with the artwork; they help open up the context and decipher the rich details of different types of contexts, but they don’t create meaning. It is worth noting that art criticism is based on subjective opinion, which can “create a context”, or it would be more precise to say “explain the context”, which can be absolutely misleading and invalid to the artwork. I find Alison Jones’ statement academically inaccurate and confusing for art students. I prefer the explanation of art critic’s role from Gavin Coates in his article “Art Criticism: Understanding and Evaluating Contemporary Art”: “Art criticism plays a vital role in fostering dialogue, encouraging contemplation, and sparking discussions on aesthetics, politics, race, religion, and gender. It enables viewers to engage emotionally with art and understand its impact on society and culture. By critically examining artworks, art criticism can highlight social issues, foster understanding, and contribute to a deeper appreciation of contemporary art.” (https://naturalist.gallery/blogs/faq/art-criticism-understanding-and-evaluating-contemporary-art) [accessed on April 30, 2025].
Research Task: Artist-led Spaces and Organisations
Read the Artquest information about artist led spaces. If the web resource has moved, search Artquest to find this.
Below are two examples of artist-led organisations that have built up powerful networks and advocate for artist opportunities, rights and recognition.
Research these two examples. What does the term ‘artist-led’ mean? Return to the research you conducted earlier on artist-led initiatives, are there any of these organisations within reach in your local area? Analyse the benefits and opportunities your own local organisations may offer and make reflective notes on your findings in your learning log. Relate your reflections to your own experience and aspirations.
This exercise made me look for art platforms more, and I have also found another one and opened an account there. It is an ARTPRENEUR.COM platform for visual artists from all levels to showcase their work, find information about open calls, educational articles and potential client exposure.
What I understand now is that today, a visual artist has lots of high-quality options for exposing and showcasing their art to the public and connecting with art professionals such as art critics, buyers, and collectors. You don’t have to create your website; you can use the links to your pages on platforms that function like a website.
JeanArt 