Business Is Not the Enemy
Courtesy of Atelier Éditions
What do artists need to succeed? How do you define success as an artist? Maybe success isn’t always about making a living from your work, but wouldn’t that be ideal? Amy Davila doesn’t talk about “success” in her genius and tremendously useful book, The ArtSmart Method, but rather “business autonomy,” which boils down to making smart financial decisions when it comes to your studio.
It’s been said, “Art is the only supply-side sector.” The phrase doesn’t really hold water in terms of global economics, yet it points to the phenomenon that artists often create art where there is no established market demand for the work product. Operating a business without a market demand would generally mean financial failure, but as we know, art markets don’t follow typical business expectations: A demand can be created, and art can fetch prices well above (or below) the established conventional rules of commerce. Regardless of harboring any disdain towards capitalism (or late-stage capitalism, etc.), the fact remains that everyone needs to make a living. Thankfully, this doesn’t have to fall into the old school category of selling out. The ArtSmart Method provides some guardrails against compromising your ideals, no matter how outlandishly delicious they are, and whatever external forces are trying to influence you to succumb. An enormous strength of Davila’s is that she understands artists and looks logically at the often seemingly illogical choices they face.
Furthermore, the historical myth of business and the arts being at odds with each other is truly worth debunking, for everyone’s benefit. Business, as Davila reminds us, is just a system empowering artists to do what they want to do and still eat; the reality is that any creator needs to have some business savvy in order to thrive.
Courtesy of Atelier Éditions
In art school, the general curriculum includes the meaning of ideas like deconstruction, quality of line, and juxtaposition, rather than “cost-benefit analysis,” so the concepts might seem at best foreign and sometimes even like the enemy. But have no fear if a budget and spreadsheet scare you: The ArtSmart Method puts this all into a shape and form that creatives can not only find easy but maybe even satisfying and empowering. Think of them like a puzzle to solve, and better yet, Davila takes the paralyzing emotional side of being an artist into account, yet out of the equation.
At the core of this practical guide is the firm belief that there is money out there, abundance can be had even with a double major in poverty (read: art and philosophy), and you just need to find it. So, leave your existential crisis behind, step out of the self-critique mode, and just get down to brass tacks—yes, those go with whatever composition you made.
Davila launches the book with the Flaubert quote, “Be regular and orderly in your life, so you can be violent and original in your work.” And she tells you how to do it in an accessible way.
Money, support, and exposure make up the secret sauce of ArtSmart’s golden triangle. And from the overall strategy, she provides so much wisdom in this book. It contains a blueprint for “Business Plan Lite,” what to do about insurance, contracts, legal entities, fabrication agreements, and much more. This book might be the only business guide an artist will ever need.
Courtesy of Atelier Éditions
The basics of Intellectual Property rights are outlined in a clear way, but with AI, we all know image ownership is already the wild west out there, so make sure you protect what you can before the tsunami hits. Expect an expanded section on this in a future edition of the book.
Throughout the text, Davila gives examples from real challenges her clients have faced to illustrate how situations might play out. She also clarifies confusing language used by galleries, such as “off the top of the sale.”
What this book doesn’t do is tell you what to make, how to make it, or how to find the right market for your work (I mean, not everyone wants a slice of shark in formaldehyde in the living room), but Davila also doesn’t discriminate or condescend—getting noticed on TikTok or being placed in the MoMA, at a local nonprofit or a gallery in Paris—whatever channel is right for you to find exposure or support. Additionally, the book won’t tell you how to get gallery representation or create a social media channel you can monetize. Luckily, there are plenty of other resources for the latter. For the former, an artist might start with their People Map (p.34) for insights and guidance and maybe even connections.
There are too many useful tools and gems of insight in this book to list, from the ArtSmart Oracle that aids in assessing opportunities to templates for contracts—Davila added a QR code so anyone can download a template (or ten). I wish I had this book or a mentor like Amy Davila, when I came out of art school, but then again, I’m not sure if I would have been ready for it.
Whether you like the idea or not, being an artist is a business, but you don’t need to sacrifice your practice or your headspace to get the business side in order. What you do need is to take the emotional aspects out of financial decisions, and The ArtSmart Method will help you do just that.
