Posted by This week Thursday we went to the Atlanta Contemporary Art Museum. This has probably been the most beneficial visit to my project that we have done. We went on a tour of the current Biannual exhibition and even found out about an internship opportunity with ACAM. But the best part in my opinion was when we went out back to the studios. There we talked with Kojo Griffin, who was Agnes’ Kirk Visiting Artist until last year. I am very mad I wasn’t able to take a class with him. While at ACAM, we got to see his studio, which is apart of him being a resident artist there. His workspace was great; you could see how every work was touched and skeletons of different pieces. He told us how he worked with different venues in displaying his art. Much like what we heard while visiting Whitespace, he told us that working with galleries is a lot like a marriage.
What was really interesting was how real Kojo was about the industry. He told us how galleries aren’t just looking at talent but who is being talked about. Because at the end of the day, they are trying to generate revenue. So every time an artist is on display, critics, collectors, curators, as well as the public are invited, because each tells the other about the work and the galleries pay attention to that. The more critical response, the better. Kojo also put a new spin on that age old criticism on careers in the Art world. He said that being is an artist is hard. But that shouldn’t discourage you because doing anything other than art is not an option for you if you are an artist. The career sort of calls to you. This was the first time someone has said something about how being an artist is hard was comforting to me.
