Flex those intellectual muscles and dig deep to fully immerse your reader in the art. And offer a little insight to help potential visitors interpret what they're seeing.
Writing for the arts is similar to any form of writing in many ways, apart from you need to be knowledgeable about lots of very cerebral topics. While exploring art galleries or museums, it's imperative you interpret the exhibition from a position of understanding.
Be a master of all
The walls of the National Gallery are adorned with paintings depicting historical events, Biblical and mythological scenes and portraits of the great and good of history. If you don't know anything about the subject or artist, you're not going understand what's going on.
A picture paints a thousand words, from the personality and state of mind of the subject (John Donne or Thomas Cromwell portraits) to what the artist is thinking (Edvard Munch).
It helps to know about the artist, as their life and what's going in their head plays a big part of the painting, for example, Francis Bacon.
Look for what isn't there
There are also subtle references you need to pick up on. I went to the Abstract Expressionism exhibition at the Royal Academy last year. One of the paintings buried by the Rodchenkos and Pollocks was a monochrome watercolour depicting Plato's allegory of the cave. To an unknowing eye, it would've just been a mishmash of classical imagery mixed with lines and shapes - what the painting was trying to say would've been completely missed.
You need to be able to look at everything, from the use of colour to positioning. Every little nuance tells you something new or helps build a bigger picture of the truth.
It'll be tough in the crowds, but try to take it all in and study every modicum of whatever it is you're writing about. You might miss something minuscule but vital.
Get the feels
The most exhilarating thing about the arts, isn't just that you're exposed to many impressive disciplines in one go, but also that it gives you the feels.
Lose yourself in it and allow it provoke a reaction - whatever that reaction may be. When I saw Ai Wai Wai's exhibition, again at the RA, I was in an Instagram frenzy, as all the contorted furniture and bike trees brought out the amateur photographer in me. However, it wasn't until right at the end, I realised what his artivism actually meant and how it could be interpreted in our own liberal world.
It's normally music and dance that bring out the biggest emotions, whether it be complete sadness or overwhelming joy. Music has the ability to alter our mood in a single note. And as emotional beings, we need to understand, embrace and articulate every modicum of this unique sensation - after all our emotional complexity is what separates us from animals.
Personally, I'm an incredibly emotional person. I trust what I feel, from the initial reaction and instinct to the dissected intuition. I'm ruled by my emotions. When I'm angry, I shout. When I'm sad, I cry. When I'm happy, I love. It's important for all of us to recognise these feelings and act on them - it's an essential part of the human experience. Art is part of that.
