Why Authenticity is Essential in Building a Sustainable Art Career with Claire Luxton

Ceri speaks with Claire Luxton, a British artist who is revolutionising the art world through her multidisciplinary approach. From self portraiture to large public installations, Claire shares her thoughts on pricing artwork, building authentic brand collaborations and maintaining creative integrity while achieving commercial success. 

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Claire has developed a distinctive artistic process that merges performance and photography, choosing to capture everything in camera using a Hasselblad medium format camera rather than relying on AI, reflecting her commitment to authenticity in an increasingly digital world.
• Through her journey with brand collaborations, Claire has learned to evaluate opportunities by asking "Would future Claire say yes?" a self filtering approach that helps maintain her artistic integrity while building commercial success.
• Claire approaches every project with extensive research and preparation, believing that understanding context deeply enables her to create more meaningful and impactful work.
• Claire’s public art installation approach begins with historical research, allowing her to uncover and tell forgotten stories of each location, from decommissioned lighthouses to power stations, creating work that resonates with both place and community.
• Her experience with MTR Agency has changed how she views artist collector relationships, moving away from the traditional gallery model of separation to embrace direct connections with collectors, leading to more meaningful artistic dialogue.
• Claire's social media strategy evolved from posting frequently to carefully curating content that authentically represents her artistic vision, prioritising meaningful engagement over algorithmic success.
• After leaving exclusive gallery representation, Claire found her voice by exploring different creative avenues before ultimately returning to fine art with a clearer vision and stronger boundaries.
• She structures her editions thoughtfully, offering one off pieces for largest works and editions of three for smaller sizes, a strategy that reflects the value of her work and her desire to maintain its specialness.

BEST MOMENTS

"At the time, that was incredibly exciting and I was very green and fresh and I didn't really have any experience, any experience that I had was self generated, as both of my parents were secondary school teachers, so I had zero connections in the art world."

"I want to make the art as true conversation and then there to be the by product of money from that."

"Would future Claire say yes? So this future me that I picture, would I say yes to this in two years time, in five years time? Would I be happy that I did this?"

"So many collectors are invested in not only the piece, but in yourself and having conversations with collectors about why they were interested in the piece in the first place is so incredibly valuable."

"If something has a lot of conversations, to say there are a lot of comments and a lot of people having conversations, I feel like that's helpful and informative because it means that it's struck a chord."

"Only you can do what you do. I know that there's lots of other people who can do similar things, but only you can do you."

"Art is about problem solving so when you're given certain parameters, you then can fit your practice within those parameters and it kind of pushes you in different directions."

 "I want to make the art as true conversation and then there to be the by product of money from that. It's a difficult space to navigate, but I think at the core it's about finding those key values within your practice that really resonate with your voice and kind of sticking to your guns."

EPISODE RESOURCES

Guest Links:

www.claireluxtonart.com

@claireluxtonart

PODCAST HOST BIO

With over 30 years in the art world, Ceri has worked closely with leading artists and arts professionals, managed public and private galleries and charities, and curated more than 250 exhibitions and events. She sold artworks to major museums and private collectors and commissioned thousands of works across diverse media, from renowned artists such as John Akomfrah, Pipilotti Rist, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer and Vito Acconci. Now, she wants to share her extensive knowledge with you, so you can excel and achieve your goals.

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