An Interview with Phil Linhares: Small Works Juror
AN INTERVIEW WITH PHIL LINHARES
by Amy Spencer, Exhibition Director
Unlike many exhibitions juried online, the scale of the work for Small Works actually translated very well to a computer screen. Where you thinking about this as you viewed the works?
The submissions came off pretty well. Years ago I dealt with juried shows where the actual artwork was brought in. It was a real hassle. For the centennial of the San Francisco Art Institute Annual we had 16,000 artworks brought in to be juried. So for the Small Works exhibition, being that the works are a small scale, it was especially effective to see them online.
The way I jury a show is I look at everything first to understand the range. Then after looking at the whole field I go back a few times to start making selections. For Small Works we ended up with nearly 60 pieces. If we had more room in the gallery I could easily have selected more.
Some of the artists in the exhibition always work on a small scale. While others work in varying sizes and simply selected a small work to enter. What did you observe about how different artists approach scale?
Some of the works entered in Small Works looked like small works but others you could blow up to six feet and they would still work very well. In some regards art needs to justify its size. Most of the submitted artwork I did not recognize who the artist was by simply looking at the piece.
What do you think artists can learn from participating in juried exhibitions?
Juried shows give artists an opportunity to present their work in a public sphere. It gives them a line on their resume that could allow them to go beyond that venue. I think people have a lot of respect for the Richmond Art Center. It’s important for artists to show work with their peers, meet other artists, and look at new work for inspiration.
What do you learn from jurying exhibitions?
There’s always something unexpected. Something that stands out. Something I continue to think about long after the jurying is over. Looking at new art sustains me everyday.
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