The Art World Dream: Alternative Strategies for Working Artists [Paperback]

Eric Rudd (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2001

What makes one artist great and successful, while another artist struggles? The Art World Dream - Alternative Strategies for Working Artists is a must read for serious artists and art students.

For hundreds of thousands of artists in this country, this book will stand out. Artist/author Eric Rudd tells it like it is - about real problems offering hard, practical advice. Read what one of the most important museum directors in the world says about the author:

Studio operations, gallery and museum options, new approaches and more, The Art World Dream examines artists' life and management needs from a fresh vantage point.

Every artist wants his or her painting to hang in the Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim, and the Whitney - if not soon, then sometime in the not too distant future. This would signify recognition, financial success and the artist's place in art history. How can you achieve this goal?

Whether you are just setting out on a career in art, or have been working for a few years and feel that you can't break free, this book will help you set up your life to allow the art - which you are capable of making- happen.

This book will help you undertake an artistic mission of the most serious nature, needing the utmost determination from you.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Artist Eric Rudd has built an incredible infrastructure to do his work. Thomas Krens, Director, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum -- Book endorsement

About the Author

Eric Rudd is a well known sculptor/mixed media artist. He is the creator of the Dark Ride Project, a 15,000 square-foot exhibition that includes an actual ten-minute ride on the robotic "Sensory Integrator" through "creative space." Eric Rudd founded and for ten years directed the Contemporary Artists Center, a not-for-profit artists' studio residency and exhibition facility. He has been instrumental in helping several new and alternative galleries and museums, has one of the largest studios in the country, has worked with many new industrial materials and processes, has created art during corporate and foreign residencies, and has taught, lectured and been politically active and idealistic as an artist. All these experiences and successes are shared in this book. Eric Rudd is the author of The Art Studio/Loft Manual - For Ambitious Artists and Creators.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Cire Corp Pub (September 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0970995903
• ISBN-13: 978-0970995902
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #825,072 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tough Love- A book for serious, ambitious artists, October 30, 2003

By 

"spyboynyc" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Art World Dream: Alternative Strategies for Working Artists (Paperback)

The Art World Dream is a book written for young, developing artists and should not be taken as advice or instruction for casual, weekend painters. It is essentially the real-life guidance counselor that art schools don't provide. The book addresses issues like how to make enough money to actually be an artist, how to find materials and new processes- again, the things that it is harder to learn in art school. The tone of the book is one of tough love, unabashedly tearing down the romantic notions of a career in the art world, unfettered by material and economic realiy.

In all fairness, no career advice book can help an inspiring artist, whether an actor, musician, painter, dancer etc. do great work. On some level, you either have it or you don't. So while this book may read as a bit harsh or didacdic to the more casual art-maker, it offers a host of real life knowledge and perspective for an artist embarking on what will be a long and fruitful career. There is also no book available that offers visual artists this sort of career advice.

Perhaps it is more interesting and helpful coming from a working artist who is admittedly not an "art star". As much as I hope to have the career of Julian Schabel, Lorna Simpson or Cindy Sherman, for example, the reality is that professionally, most artists will not experience quick fame and wealth. On that basis, the more sober, realistic sort of perspective that the author offers is all the more helpful.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What defines a serious artist?, February 13, 2002

By 

Nita Leland "nlstudio" (Dayton, OH USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Art World Dream: Alternative Strategies for Working Artists (Paperback)

Multi-media artist Eric Rudd is not writing for hobby painters or market-driven artists who measure success by the number of prints sold. He has written this book for artists with vision, who see themselves producing great art that has potential for recognition in museums and perhaps a legacy in art history. Rudd sees this as a relatively small group among those who claim to be artists and he pulls no punches in revealing the sacrifices and hard work necessary to achieve these goals. He details his own successes and failures both as an artist and developer of loft art studios from Washington, D.C. to North Adams, Massachussetts. His ideas aren't for the faint-hearted or the hobby painter but rather for the artist with a strong belief in the greatness of the work and a willingness to take risks to create a space where this can happen. "The Art World Dream: Alternative Strategies for Working Artists sets forth this premise."

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An informed assesment of Art World realities., March 18, 2003

By 

Stephen Hannock (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Art World Dream: Alternative Strategies for Working Artists (Paperback)

Making one's way through the art world is not for the squeamish. The wide-eyed optimism of art creation and the cold stare of business realities have to work together if one's art world dreams are to be realized. Rudd's book is the best "road map" I've seen for the artist who truly wants to make a mark.