Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Art quilt labels, the end of the series


Labels, part three

One more go around with the labels, then I will move on to something else.  One of the opinions that arose in the SAQA list discussion was that art quilters (textile artists) should just follow the status quo of the established fine arts world, and just put your name and title on the piece, nothing more.  The more I think about that, the more I dislike it.  If I were buying a painting, new or old, I would like to know more about it than a name and title.  As an art quilter, this is one area where I don’t want to emulate the greater art world.   

I also feel that informative labels might help in our crusade to gain more acceptance in the greater art community.  What a great way to educate potential buyers who are unfamiliar with art quilting.  This is yet another way to be good ambassadors for our chosen form of expression.  When I see an art label with some background about the individual piece, it tells me that the artist really cares about it, and wants other people to care too.  Not that lack of a label means the artist doesn’t care, but I like it when I see someone go the extra distance. 

As I asked in my last post, what sort of legacy will you leave as an artist?  If you don’t want art collectors (or museums, galleries) to know about your work, why are you making things?  The information on your website is only going to last as long as you keep paying for the site hosting.  In what other venues do you have your biographical information as an artist?  I used to work in an art museum in a major Midwestern city that has an extensive archive on artists that either were born in that city, were educated there, or lived for more than one year there.  Someday, I should find out if similar artist archives exist elsewhere.

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