The Deal with Self-Promotion

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A while back I was having a conversation at an art gallery with the curator and another artist. As I am trying to explain my vision and technique the artist said in a sarcastic tone: “You like to talk about yourself a lot”. Although I wasn’t talking about myself I replied: “Yes, I do. You are not going to promote your work for me, are you?”.

1378061_10150322435744956_1463205766_nThe deal with self-promotion is not about talking about yourself or self-adulation. The deal with self-promotion is that no one else can explain or describe your vision and ideas better than yourself. We all have a way to explain what we do. I can be very passionate when explaining what I do. I add a little drama to my explanations too (that might be in the blood or the comedian in me… or both). Explaining my art is no exception. I get very excited when I describe my ideas and process of each piece. I like to tell the stories of the people I teach and encounter and their testimonies because I truly enjoy seeing people happy and satisfied with the experience of art. I am not talking about myself, but I have to talk through myself.

I came across an article by Nathan Hangen, The Art of Shameless Self-Promotion. Hangen stated the difference between self-adulation and self-promotion. The first is when people exalt themselves and their accomplishments in a prideful manner. The second is when people share their vision, concepts, and ideas. The last inspires something. It is important to share the ideas when people fit into them.

It is not about you or what you know. It is about what you do with your knowledge. Powers don’t define a hero. Superman and Zod have the same powers. Each one decided what to do with them. Ideas, vision, and knowledge are like superpowers and part of who you are. What you do with them is up to you. I won’t mind wearing a symbol of hope on my chest. I will wear it shamelessly not for my own sake but for the sake of others. Finding some enemies on the way is just part of the deal.

I Believe in Dreams

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1048761_10150297618294956_649251649_o“Here comes that dreamer”… I believe in dreams. Dreams give us hope and aspirations. Artists know everything about dreams. It seems like as artists we are constantly living in one. It is common to come across people who say: “You are dreaming if you think you can make it as an artist.” I hear that a lot but my favorite one is: “What else do you do besides art?” Have you heard that before? Have you said that to someone?

People is always impressed when I tell them my story. I’ve been drawing since I was very little. In third grade I could already draw by looking at stuff. In fifth grade I spent the year painting history related murals in the classroom. I was always involved in something ‘artistic’ in school. However, when the time came to apply to college, I applied to study civil engineering. The day I was filling up paperwork for the application my father sat next to me and asked me what was I doing so I explained. His response was:

“Why? You love art. You are going to be miserable if you do anything else.”

He was right. After the first year I was already leaving civil engineering and moving into arts. (I’ll save the story of that transition for a different post.) Needless to say I’m here now with a long journey in front of me still. My dream is not complete yet, but I can say it is getting there.

This journey makes me think of Joseph. The first time I heard the story of Joseph I became fascinated with it. Yes, it is in the Bible (Genesis 37 and on). Joseph had dreams and the gift of interpreting dreams for others. His character also had to be tested because of that. First thing I learned from this story: Be careful who you share your dreams with and how. Joseph made enemies out of his own brothers because of his dreams. Sadly, we are going to make enemies because of our dreams, gifts, and abilities. Rest assured, “the haters” (it even sounds funny when I write it) will one day bow down. That’s not the point or what we are looking for. I am learning to pray for the success of “them” and grace, just like the one I received.

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As I mentioned before, Joseph’s character had to be tested. We go through life trying to make sense of the paths we have taken and how it all fits into our dream. We might be living the roller coaster life and on each turn it seems like we are about to touch our dream and we miss it. We take another path, and another, and feels like just isolated experiences. Maybe we are collecting the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle and one day we will make sense of the bigger picture. Hold on to your dream!

The Way of the Masters?

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If you study the life of the masters from the perspective of their contemporaries, you will find a commonality in many: We love the masters now, but people hated them in their time. Yes, some of them were well respected for their skills and contributions to the arts. However, their attitudes and personality were rarely well received. We talk about Leonardo, Michelangelo, Bernini, Caravaggio, and other high caliber geniuses almost as if they were gods. Historical facts reveal that very few embraced them for who they were as people. Of course, what they did was amazing. Their work would probably never be surpassed in our lifetime, but is that worth it?

Artists in our time want to live the life of the masters, the way of the masters. Their arrogance is so detestable than even the screen bleeds rubbish when they write in group discussions. They attack and criticize others and their art, but rarely show their own work. On the other hand, you would find people who measure the success of an artist based on how much they sell. I was mocked in a LinkedIn discussion by someone because I stated that my reward is the appreciation, love, hugs, kisses, and support of those who come to celebrate with me in the show. Sales are extra blessings (no lack in that area).

I watched a clip of the episode of Dr. Who where Van Gogh was brought into a museum in our time. He saw his paintings elegantly hung in a majestic room. People admiring his masterpieces while he was astonished and confused. Then he heard the curator speak marvelous things about this amazing artist. With tears in his eyes and overjoyed, Van Gogh hugged and kissed the curator and left. Beautiful scene nevertheless! But who wants to have a completely miserable life, broke and rejected to be recognized in the future by people he never knew and never knew him? Who wants, like Bernini, to be so recognized and “loved” in death when in life people hated him for his arrogance and dislikable personality? That same attitude that announced the demise of some. There is wisdom in this:

Pride goes before destruction,
            And a haughty spirit before stumbling.

Proverbs 16:8

IvanTiradoI want to be remembered not as a master in my craft after I die. I want people to think of me as someone they can approach, a friend, a dad, a husband, a brother, a son, a nice guy… now, not after I die. I measure my success based on having nothing and being entitled to nothing. I believe in grace. I don’t deserve it. Therefore, everything I receive is extra. I am thankful and even when I have or achieve is a chance to remember grace and being thankful. When you give thanks you guard your heart from arrogance and pride. Count everything as a blessing. As for me, I want to join the apostle in his vision:

Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith – that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Philippians 3:8-11

Artists are Communicators

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There is misunderstood belief that artists have to be isolated from society instead of being connected to it. Some artists believe that art should speak on its own and if people don’t connect with their art there should be no need to provide explanations. As artists we speak through art, I agree. People should connect and find meaning in the content of an art piece on their own. However, we can provide insights in our source of inspiration, our creative process, our artistic influences, methods, and techniques. That gives us power to be communicators. Not everyone is educated in the arts. We have the power to be influential and an inspiration to others. If we decide to connect with people and share our knowledge and feelings (funny coming from a man) we can expand the power of communication of our art. Artists gave away this power to agents who turned the art into a market trade product with no substance of life behind it.

1378061_10150322435744956_1463205766_nIn Frames of Mind: Theory of Multiple Intelligences, Howard Gardner mentions interpersonal intelligence as the skill to connect with others. As in any field of practice, you can be successful and have all the skills but by not having interpersonal intelligence you might be closing doors to yourself. It is fine to let art speak by itself. It is a great experience. Nevertheless, it is not a license to be a contemptibly obnoxious person or a self-made social reject. Some artists need an ego-check. There is a very fine line between eccentric and just plain weird. If people can connect with you, they will connect with your art. It is time artists come out of obscurity and mingle with people and be more than a signature at the corner of the paint, to regain an influential social status and use our sensitivity to guide others and inspire future artists, and why not? Future clients as well.