Self promotion counts
Wannabe artists need a lot more than talent these days. Think about the best known modern British artists and what they all have in common; figured it out yet? Well, David Hirst, Tracey Emin, Grayson Perry, even Banksy for all his secrecy, are fantastic self promoters.
You’ve got to have a bit of attitude about you if you want to be the next enfant terrible of the art world. Being a great painter, photographer or sculptor will probably allow you to make a living from your art, but it won’t make you famous. It won’t get you into the Tate Modern. And it certainly won’t win you the Turner Prize.
So how does the young artist, fresh out of college, get themselves noticed? Publicity stunts are a good way to go; a friend of mine from art school decided to create a huge painting by covering his naked body in paint and then rolling around on the canvas. He even made the national tabloid press, but has now disappeared from view. One blast of naked ambition was not enough to keep his star burning brightly…
Banksy has the right idea, and before him the graffiti artist and Warhol-collaborator Jean-Michel Basquiat; you have to make people curious about you. The art community are unstoppable gossips, and if you create works that are shrouded in secrecy or mystery then they won’t be able to resist. Both Banksy and Basquiat created works in the cities where they lived or worked, either unsigned or signed with symbolic nicknames. The art community couldn’t get enough of these guys! You don’t even need to wander round the streets with spray cans and a loyal look-out any more. You can achieve the same effect with a few colourful vinyl stickers in strategic places, and before long you could be hearing your name mentioned in the same breath as some of the modern greats.
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