Grace Schwindt, Undead and Other Tales, 2016.

Talk

The presence of the artist

The Successful Artist? panel discussion

Saturday 23 June 2018 3 - 4.15pm

The Benjamin West Lecture Theatre, Burlington Gardens, Royal Academy of Arts

Free, booking required.

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Join art critic, Gilda Williams, Director at Marian Goodman Gallery, Valerie Blair, Artist, Tom Lovelace, and futurist, James Wallman for a panel discussion on the importance for artists working today of establishing a public persona and the role that this presence then plays in an audience’s experience of their art.

Contemporary society is increasingly led by an experience-based economy where experiences are becoming more valuable than products. In the arts, this could be translated into the audience's experience of the artist. When you "experience" an artist’s work this is often tied to their public persona. In the age of social media and celebrity culture, is the encounter with the artist now more important than the one with the work? Does an artist’s visibility and presence online contribute to their success? Who or what platforms help create a persona? What impact does this have on the artist’s success?

This discussion, with speakers including Director of Marian Goodman Gallery, Valerie Blair, futurist and author of Stuffocation, James Wallman, and chaired by art critic, Gilda Williams, will explore what it means to be a successful artist in this “economy of presence”, and whether achieving presence equates to success.

Gilda Williams is a contemporary art critic, teacher, and author of the bestselling art book How to Write about Contemporary Art. She is Senior Lecturer on the MFA at Goldsmiths College, London. Williams is also the London correspondent for Artforum magazine.

James Wallman is a futurist and bestselling author of Stuffocation: Living More with Less. He has contributed to various publications including The Sunday Times, New York Times and The Financial Times.

Valerie Blair is a Director at Marian Goodman Gallery in London. She previously worked as Artist Liaison for Gagosian Gallery, London.

Tom Lovelace is an artist and curator. Working at the intersection of photography, sculpture and performance, Lovelace explores the semantics of the everyday, revealing and reimagining materials, processes and histories. Recent exhibitions and displays include On the heights, Yorkshire Sculpture Park (2017), On Board, Crispr (Bogota 2017), *No Lemon No Melon, Flowers Gallery (New York 2017.) Lovelace has been nominated for multiple awards including the Foam Paul Huf Award, Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize and Prix Pictet Award. Lovelace is a visiting tutor at the Royal College of Art, London. Recently curated exhibitions include Concealer at Peckham 24 photography festival, 2018 and Timbral at Safehouse, London, 2017.

The Successful Artist? programme is proudly supported by Heritage Lottery Fund, as part of the new RA Collections programme.

Admission is on a first-come-first-served basis for those with tickets. We would recommend arriving at least 15 minutes before the start time to avoid disappointment.

Free, booking required.

Sponsor statement