Talking about your work

Art and design

The role and impact of curators

Artists as curators

Selecting work and considering the audience

Presentation of work

Reproducing art: postcards, prints and artist editions

Writing an artist statement

Promotions: how to publicise a show

This teacher-led unit concludes the course with a physical or virtual exhibition. Pupils, having been introduced to curating, will select work based on quality and criteria, explore presentation, and mount and frame their pieces.

Curating an exhibition

Artists only talk about their work to promote it in galleries and museums.

only when they are being examined at school

in galleries, museums, open studios, art fairs, or workshops

never - their work should “speak for itself”

In what contexts might artists talk about their work?

In Renaissance workshops, artists often had to explain their ideas clearly to get approval for commissions.

Plan what to say by thinking about your main ideas, techniques, and intentions.

Only talk about your work in galleries, never on social media.

Avoid questions from the audience to stay in control.

Which strategies are good for talking clearly and confidently about your work?

Why might talking about your work be useful for both you and your audience?

practising with a friend or recording yourself

avoiding all questions so you don’t get nervous

linking materials and techniques to your main theme

memorising a script word-for-word without understanding it

Which of these could help you prepare to talk confidently about your artwork?

Talking about your work

Lesson outcome