Will Work For Art
Oct 29, 2010
From left, Amy Sillman, Katy Siegel, Matthew Brannon, and Marilyn Minter discuss the challenges of working a “day job” while building a career as an artist. Photograph by Tiffany Oelfke
The exhibition, Heatwaves in a Swamp: The Paintings of Charles Burchfield, included examples of the artist’s commercial wallpaper designs. Burchfield worked as a wallpaper designer from 1921-1929. He needed the “day job” to support his family, but considered it a major obstacle to his own creative practice. This not uncommon artistic dilemma was the subject of a Whitney round table, Will Work for Art, on September 28.
Artists Amy Sillman, Matthew Brannon, and Marilyn Minter participated in the discussion, which was moderated by Katy Siegel, Professor of Art History at Hunter College. The artists shared stories about their early efforts to support themselves after finishing art school. Sillman, for instance, worked in an Alaskan cannery, while Minter soldered plumbing pipes. Brannon tried to support himself as an artist’s assistant, but abandoned that path to launch his own graphic design business. He observed, “Art is like the least consistent thing you can do; but a consistent income helps alleviate a lot of that anxiety.”
Marilyn Minter told the audience that when she finished art school, she supported herself by working as a plumber’s assistant. Photograph by Tiffany Oelfke
For many artists, such as Barbara Kruger, who worked in the art department of several magazines and Andy Warhol, who first established himself as a fashion illustrator, their commercial pursuits have played pivotal roles in their creative development. Marilyn Minter, whose day job is producing advertising images for cosmetic companies and fashion houses, her exposure to the fashion industry has galvanized her practice and led her to create her most critically successful work.
By Alix Finkelstein, Education Intern