Who decides your work is art?

Who decides your work is art? Is it you, the artist? Is it your audience? Is it an art curator? Is your work not art unless it is or has been displayed in a gallery? Who decides?

There are those who argue that art is what the artist decides. If an artist creates something with intent, it is the intentions of the artist that make something art. There are those who argue that it is the audience, the viewers of the work whose decision makes something is art. If they don’t determine the work to be art, then it doesn’t matter the intentions of the artist. There are those who say it is the powers that be, critics, journalists, curators, gallery owners because they are the trained and educated eyes.

For me, it is a combination of at least two of those groups. Certainly, the artist has a play in it, but what about people like Vivian Maier? She probably never intended her work to be considered art and yet today her work is displayed big name galleries. In Vivian Maier’s case, it is the “powers that be” and the audience who decided.

Since not all of us will ever have our work displayed in the big name art galleries, it comes down to our intentions as an artist and our audience. The size of our audience is often irrelevant as long as it extends beyond ourselves.

Certainly we should listen to the powers that be, the critics, the curators, and the gallery owners as they may help us to grow and mature our art, just as our audience. Without the outside influence and views of others we do not grow and mature as artists. Listen to your audience and the critics to grow your art into the masterpieces you dream about.