the difference Between An Art Viewer and An Art Audience

Paddy Johnson viewing Mike Kelley’s, “More Love Hours Than Can Ever Be Repaid” at The Whitney Museum of Art

No, this is not semantic hairsplitting!

In fact, confusion around these terms might be the most common cause of wheel spinning amongst artists who want shows. 

Here’s the distinction: 

A viewer is anyone who looks at your art. It includes the randos who might see your work at an open studio event, the mindless instagram scrollers, and yes, the more dedicated art lovers.  

The average art viewer is likely far less attached to your work than you. They may enjoy it, but that’s about the extent of it. 

The average art viewer is not your audience. 

Your audience is anyone who is interested in showing your work or supporting your work. They are not an average art viewer, though they will look at the work, just as the viewer would. 

Why bother making this distinction? 

Because if you’re not getting the shows you want, the cause is most likely not the quality of your art, but the quality of your promotion. 

If you want to show, there are venues for virtually art, at any level, for all mediums. 

But if you don’t know your audience, well, good luck getting more shows. 

So, what can you do to attract your audience? 

I’ve got a reel that offers a few tips and a highlights section on Instagram that expands on these thoughts. 

If you want to learn the full framework I use to help artists get more shows, look for my upcoming webinar, Three Steps to Getting More Shows which goes live Monday June 12th. It will give you all the information you need to take your career to the next level.