An artist CV is not a resume
A standard resume answers what a person can do. An artist CV answers what they have already done. It is a record of exhibition history, not employment history, and the two documents share almost nothing beyond the name at the top.
This distinction matters because the format is standardised. The College Art Association publishes conventions that galleries, residency programmes, and grant committees use as a baseline. A CV that follows them can be scanned in under a minute. A CV that does not forces the reader to hunt for basic information, and most will not bother.
Gallery staff read the CV before the artist statement and often before the images. It is the fastest way to establish whether a practice is at a stage worth further attention.
The standard section order
The conventional order places exhibition record before education, because exhibitions are the primary credential for a visual artist:
Name and contact details. Full name as exhibited under, city and country, email, website. No home address and no phone number unless the artist wants both public.
Solo exhibitions. Most recent first.
Group exhibitions. Kept separate from solo shows, never merged.
Residencies.
Education. Degree, institution, year.
Awards and grants.
Collections. Public and corporate collections holding the work.
Press and publications.
Emerging artists with a short exhibition record may lead with education instead. This is accepted practice and preferable to padding the exhibition section.
How to format an exhibition entry
Each entry follows the same pattern: exhibition title, venue name, city, year. Titles are usually italicised. For museum exhibitions, the curator's name can be added in parentheses.
Every section runs in reverse chronological order, most recent year first. Entries are never grouped by type within a year. Juried exhibitions belong under group exhibitions and can be marked as juried where the distinction matters.
Length follows career stage rather than a fixed rule. An emerging artist with one page is normal. A mid-career artist with fifteen years of exhibitions may reach four pages, which is equally normal. Every line has to be verifiable.
What does not belong in an artist CV
A photograph of the artist. A skills section. An objective statement. Employment history outside art practice. Software proficiency. Language courses. These appear on corporate resumes and signal that the artist has not seen how the document is used in the field.
Self-taught artists should omit the education section rather than write 'self-taught' as an entry. The omission is neutral. The label reads as an apology for something that requires none.
Galleries frequently edit the CV before circulating it to buyers, removing contact details so enquiries route through the gallery. A CV built around personal contact information will simply be rewritten.
The kit includes a CV template with a filled example alongside the blank structure.
Get the gallery submission kitWhen the exhibition record is short
A short, accurate CV reads better than a padded one. Degree shows, student exhibitions, artist-run spaces, and open call selections are legitimate entries and belong in the group exhibitions section.
What does not work is inflating scale: listing an online group show as a solo exhibition, naming a cafe as a gallery, or including exhibitions that were applied to but not selected. Anyone reviewing regularly recognises the pattern, and a single inflated line puts the rest of the document in question.
Where the record is genuinely thin, formal training under recognised artists or institutions can be listed under a separate heading such as selected training.
File format and naming
Submit as PDF. Word files reformat unpredictably across systems and many galleries will not open them. Name the file so it remains identifiable after download, for example LastName_FirstName_CV_2026.pdf.
Unless the institution asks for the CV separately, it usually sits inside the portfolio PDF. Most galleries prefer a single document, since it is easier to store and circulate internally.
Frequently asked
No. Artist CVs do not include a photograph of the artist. The convention differs from resumes used in some countries where a photograph is standard.
Length depends on career stage. One page is normal for an emerging artist, and three to four pages is normal for a mid-career artist with a long exhibition record.
Exhibitions come first under the standard convention. Artists with a limited exhibition record may lead with education instead.
The terms are often used interchangeably in practice. Both describe a record of exhibitions and professional art activity, and neither resembles a corporate resume.
The gallery submission kit has five templates, ready to edit.
Get the gallery submission kit