How to Create an Artist CV for Galleries
Learn how to structure an artist CV for galleries and curators. This guide explains the standard sections, correct order and formatting used in professional portfolio PDFs.
What galleries expect in an artist CV
An artist CV is not a résumé. Galleries use it to understand the trajectory of your practice — where your work has been shown, who has collected it, and what level of institutional engagement you have reached.
Curators scan these documents in under a minute. The structure must be immediately readable. A professional artist CV leads with exhibitions, not education — the opposite of an academic or corporate résumé. Deviating from this convention without reason signals unfamiliarity with how the art world reads these documents.
For most artists, a CV should fit within one or two pages and include only what is directly relevant to the gallery context.
Standard section order for a gallery artist CV
The order below is the one most galleries expect. Use it consistently:
- Name and contact — full name, city, email, website
- Solo exhibitions — reverse chronological
- Group exhibitions — reverse chronological, selective after 15–20 entries
- Residencies
- Education — art school, degrees
- Awards and grants
- Collections — public and institutional only
- Press and publications
For commercially active practices, additional sections may apply: art fairs, commissions and representation. For artists with teaching experience, professional experience and academic appointments can follow education. Include only sections you can populate with real entries — an empty section is worse than a missing one.
Each exhibition entry follows the same format: Year — Title (italicised), Venue, City, Country. Consistency in formatting signals professionalism — mixed date formats or inconsistent punctuation are immediately noticeable.
Common mistakes artists make in gallery CVs
Leading with education. Unless you are still a student, exhibitions come first. A CV that opens with your degree tells a gallerist you are early in your practice or unfamiliar with the format.
Including everything. Listing every group show you have ever participated in pads the document without adding value. Apply editorial judgment — include the shows that represent your practice at its strongest.
Using a résumé format. Skills sections, objective statements, and bullet-pointed job responsibilities belong in a different document. None of these have a place in an artist CV.
Inconsistent formatting. Different date formats, varying punctuation styles, or section headers that change mid-document all signal that the CV was assembled from different sources and not reviewed as a whole.
The free Artist CV Generator applies all the conventions described here — correct section order, consistent formatting, PDF export in multiple languages.