In today’s art world to hold the upper hand and gain the desirable established position in the market it’s crucial to put top art management skills and knowledge into use. Being differentiated with a creative strategy is proven to be much more helpful in this regard. To keep pace with or to win the growing competition in the art market it’s recommended to apply an integrated art management system to ensure artworks are presented to the market successfully by art curators.

Curating art exhibitions has a vital role in the success of art supply to the market and increasing sales. Therefor the role of an art curator is far more than just choosing artworks to display, he performs a whole process of artistic and cultural mediation. In general, a curator could be compared to an author who writes an art exhibition like a book, only in a visual manner and presents it to a live audience. Drawing on my own artistic discipline, painting, and taking into account my experiences in holding diverse and numerous visual art exhibitions, I review curating from the perspective of a painter and gallery manager to present advantages for making a distinctive core competency. The first step in holding an art exhibition is to consider the goals of the event, formulating a strategy, and determining its main idea. An important issue that needs to be thoroughly explored is what the exhibition should achieve in terms of its organizers, participants and visitors. After determining the goals, the strategy and the main idea, you need to choose the content, topic and the main forms of art (painting, photography, sculpture, etc.)

A curator should always look at an art exhibition as a certain project with all the details to be managed, specially the economic aspects. With such an approach an art exhibition should be both efficient and effective. Efficiency looks at the outcomes of the exhibition and effectiveness is concerned with the allocation of the resources and the ways they are invested. In other words, efficiency tells us what kind of exhibition we should hold and effectiveness shows the best ways to hold it.

 The next step is to select the artists and artworks represented. An important point to keep in mind at this stage is the appropriateness of the invited artists and selected artworks to the content and theme of the exhibition – they should be in line with the goals and strategy of the artistic event.

To select the artists it is beneficial to categorize them in 3 different groups as follow:

1-Emerging Artists: Usually they are recently graduated and have participated in few group exhibitions. They may have one or more solo exhibition in their resume too. Emerging artists and their artworks are being recognized by art galleries and better say the art community. They are establishing their own position in the market and you may hear from them in the news and social media regularly.

2-Mid-Career Artists: They have their personal style and are professionally involved in art. Mid-Career artists are well recognized nationally and to some extents in the international art market. There are many group and solo art shows and exhibitions in their CV and they can be heard of in the news and social media frequently. Mid-career artists have their own new built position in art market and their artworks may be found in some museums and international art galleries too. There is a demand for their artworks in the market with reasonable prices. In this stage their artworks can also be auctioned and demanded by some first class collectors.

3-Established Artists: They are well recognized nationally and internationally and have their own desirable position in the art market and art world. Their personal style may inspire other artists and their artworks are being copied by many young artists and art students. There is a market for their artworks with its own economics. They are usually talked about in the national and international news and social media. Most of them are also teaching art and have many apprentices around. Their artworks are usually auctioned by national and international auction houses and may be found in museums and famous collections too.

Usually, during the finalization process of the list of invitees and works, the curator is faced with challenges that manifest themselves in the form of various questions such as: Should the exhibition only include the works of well-known and established artists, or what matters is the level of the artwork itself, regardless of its creator? Can emerging artists also participate in the exhibition alongside established ones? Who are the main viewers and how can you communicate with them? What communication campaign should we use to achieve the goals of the exhibition in relation to the art community and its sensitivities? What are the economic goals of the exhibition? In addition, an art exhibition should be stimulating and contemplative for art buffs, and have a positive, motivational effect on other artists. Moreover, an art gallery should, as much as possible, encourage laymen visitors to try their hands on the creation of art.

The important points that should be considered in choosing the final list of artists and works of the exhibition are:

1- Classifying artists based on their level and position in the art community, as well as their personal style of work

2- Creating as many opportunities as possible to display works that have a desirable quality, regardless of their creators’ fame, and are compatible with the goals, content and theme of the exhibition

3- Making possible the participation of emerging artists alongside the established ones, so that they can have a chance to grow and be promoted

4- Attending the advertising potentials of the participating artists, as well as their personal branding

5-Providing suitable facilities for a useful and lasting experience for the visitors of the exhibition

6-Paying attention to the economic goals of the exhibition and principles of art economy

7-Receiving constant feedback so that shortcomings could be identified and remedied

8-Finally, creating a checklist for all the details of execution including the arrangement, installation, lighting, labels, brochures, reception, etc., which are generally assumed to be fixed parts of running an art show.

Behdad Najafi Asadollahi

Painter and Contemporary Artist, Art Gallery Manager