Be an Exhibitionist!

I just read an entertaining, informative, thought-provoking book that should be on the shelf of any artist, struggling or not. Show Your Work, by Austin Kleon, presents quick steps to getting your art discovered. . .in a nutshell, by showing it. Kleon debunks several myths, such as the “lone genius” and “selling out,” all in lively, fast-moving format. I breezed through the 10-chapter, 212-page book the first time in about an hour. Now I’m going to go back and savor it.

Among other endeavors, Kleon, creates poems and aphorisms by blacking out text in newspapers (Newspaper Blackout) leaving the words he wants. He is also the author of Steal Like an Artist, which, like Show, dismisses the idea of the lone genius in favor of an “art ecology” (e.g., you must take advantage of social media, he explains) and posits that “art is theft.”

In hopes of more effectively showing my own work, I plan to follow much of Kleon’s advice.

He recently appeared on KQED’s “Forum” program ( http://www.kqed.org/a/forum/R201404011000). His website is http://austinkleon.com.

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