A biography is a quick yet important summary of your CV. It belongs in your portfolio. It will change and transform as you change and transform. It is a summary of how you got to where you are in life. It is written in prose and in the third person (like a novel or story). Basically you are writing about yourself using the ‘he’ or ‘she’ form. The Artist’s Bio may also say something about key themes to your ‘inner artist’.
It is one to two paragraphs and is usually around one half of a page. The bio (also known as biog) gives information such as where you went to school, what degrees/education you have, if you've led or participated in any workshops, major exhibitions where your artwork has been exhibited and any major collections that your work is a part of.
Sample Artist Bio
CLICK HERE
STEPS TO WRITING A BIO Key information in an artist’s biography:
· Your name & where you are from
· When you were born
· What you are creating; the medium that you work in(or are interested in)
· A sentence about the key themes, concerns of your practice
· Your background in this medium (schooling, past projects, shows, awards…)
· Your education (include art related education)
· What you are working on currently (themes, projects, ideas…)
· Other interesting information relevant to your practice or career as an artist (e.g. collaborations or arts collectives, aspects of your career that inform your practice)
· Where you live, work, or study now/ upcoming exhibitions, residencies or study plans
· Written in the 3rd person (he, she form)
· Keep it short and simple
· Cool picture or formal picture
Depending on where the bio is being displayed you could be as formal or casual as you want. What is most important is that you are accurately represented!
An Artist’s Bio is as individual as you are.
To begin, write a list/outline to plan what is important to mention.
There are all different kinds of tones you can take in your artist’s statement. Here’s an example of the “why I make what I make” statement. It provides background that feeds the reader’s imagination. Ideal reader: someone who’s seen the work, and wants permission to understand it, love it. Who wrote it? Alfred Steiner “I spent my elementary school years in rural Ohio, in a big pile of animal parts. My best friend’s dad had a VCR with only three VHS tapes, one of which was The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. It was my favorite, and not just because the fictional events took place on the day I was born. There’s a scene in it where one of the nubile victims stumbles into a room strewn with bones—mostly animal—at once terrifying and rustic in the yellow Texas sun. Not to be outdone, my friend and I discovered a boneyard ourselves while roaming a nearby farm, harvesting a few cow skulls that we cleaned with bleach. There was also this fur dealer who lived in a hovel, just past the creek. In our only encounter, I watched this man enthusiastically carve out the heart of a fox and hand it to me. (I had asked for the organ to use in a third-grade science project.) But even that experience didn’t prepare me to find a severed blue eye staring back at me from the mailbox. Lowering the door of the box, I found the milky, apple-sized sphere suspended in a jar of formaldehyde. Turns out this horse eyeball was a gift from our veterinarian, who had already noticed my peculiar predilection. Pressing my memory for other seminal experiences involving animal entrails, I come up empty. But I do remember my friend telling me that his dad had a fourth videotape. Adult cartoons.” 
asphalt, mineral pigments. Sculptures are not placed in the landscape, rather, the landscape is the means of their creation. Often earth moving equipment is involved.
