The Difference Between Vision & Strategy

Artists make images, but they often don’t look at look at the Big Picture.

The Big Picture is about the Long View, where the artist wants him or herself, and their artwork, to be in 10 years and 100. And it involves seriously considering how they are going to get there.

That’s precisely why Klein Artist Works exists – to teach artists how to have a career, on their own terms.

Among other things, it’s good for artists to separate their “Vision” from their “Strategy.”

Vision is the stuff that’s nonnegotiable; the need to make art about the human condition, or comment on war, or about the beauty of the unseeable, etc. These are the “Core” issues that are different for each individual.

On the other hand, “Strategy” is up for grabs and should be molded to serve the artist’s vision. Strategy could be how big the work is, what color, how much it sells for, where it is offered, to whom, the color of the patina, etc. Vision and Strategy vary from person to person.

By dividing one’s thought process into Vision and Strategy an artist can better grasp what they want from their art and how they are going to achieve it.

It’s important that artists trust their vision. It’s what makes all of us unique, the ability to be ourselves – different from everyone else.

And by extension it’s a good strategy to make work that is unique and discernible from all other artists. Among many, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Kara Walker, Chuck Close, Sarah Sze, Kerry James Marshall and Ron Mueck (image above) have intentionally found unique aesthetics that are not confused with other artists.

It’s hard to make your mark on history – or in a collector’s mind – if you are confused with someone else.