Walker Antonio - How to Build an Art Career Through Networking: From Art Student to Multi-Gallery Artist

Introduction to Podcast

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Introduction to Walker Antonio

1:06Welcome back. I'm excited to introduce you to Walker Antonio. He and I were connected because my friend Jenny Lane is having a show with him at Sheridan Studios in Macon, Georgia in just about a week. So if you're a local, definitely recommend checking that out. But I had the pleasure of talking to him. And just a little bit of background on Walker before we get into the episode. He is a Virginia-based Filipino-American painter whose work lives in the tension between the real and the surreal,

1:39the physical and the psychological. He's known for large-scale paintings that move from energetic chaos to deliberate refinement. He brings both rigor and intuition to his process. He earned his BA in studio art and art history from Wofford College, where he received the 2023 Wetzel Family Fellowship and has since been awarded the Foundation House Artist Residency and the Elf School of Arts Residency. He currently teaches drawing and painting at Woodbury Forest School while pursuing an MFA at Falmouth University.

2:09He has been published in American Art Collector and Subo Art Magazine with forthcoming publication in the Penn Journal of Arts and Sciences. His work has been exhibited nationally, including solo exhibitions at Stevenson & Co. in Charleston and Rhodes Art Center in Massachusetts. I am so excited to get into this episode. So let's dive in. Walker, welcome to the podcast. I would love just to kick things off

Walker's Background

2:37with you introducing yourself and giving a little context into, you know, how you found yourself here, your background as an artist. So yeah, this last year and a half has been very crazy for me. I graduated from Wofford with a BA in studio art and art history. And after that, I immediately moved to Germany where I spent 10 months working at a ski resort, not making much art except for like little small watercolors. And ever since I got back, it was a pivotal moment being signed to Lilienthal Gallery

3:09in Knoxville, Tennessee, as soon as I arrived back stateside. And from there, the shows have started to come in and getting connected with Patrick Stevenson at Stevenson & Co. in Charleston. And then Jenny Lane through my, one of my best friends, brother's best friends, I guess, is Jenny Lane. So it was just a lot of networking, a lot of connecting. And I'm very fortunate to be in a place where I can be at Woodbury to create a lot of art and have places for them to go. Absolutely. Well, I think it's amazing that you actually studied art in school. I did as well. But a lot of artists

3:44that come on this podcast find art later or don't think they should study artwork because they don't see it as a worthy career or maybe it's a little risky. How did you know you wanted to study, you know, art, art history and kind of go that route? So I've always been exposed to the arts. My dad himself, he was a studio art major at University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia. And he did a lot of watercolors early on and a lot of sports photography and ran his own graphic design company for almost 20, 25 years now. When I got to Woodbury, though,

4:16actually in the studio that I'm sitting in, it's where I truly fell in love with the arts. I was going through a tough time my senior year. And I had an amazing mentor which helped channel that energy, whether for the better or for worse, channeled it into the arts and gave me something that I can control, creating these narratives, these worlds. So I have really great mentors and a lot of support through this time. It was probably, I guess, my freshman year in college where I figured it out, where I took a business class. And it was an intro class and I got a D in it. I was like, all right,

4:50not even going to have anything to fall back on. I'm going all in on the arts. I added art history because I felt if I want to be a serious artist, I had to understand all the artists who came for me and that I stand on their shoulders. Yeah, I know. I had a couple of friends. I was, crazily enough, business and studio art double major. And I had definitely had some friends that pushed through the Ds and intro level classes. And I was like, guys, go do something else. Like, you don't have to suffer through this. It might not be your calling. But I do think there's this fear of just majoring in art and I think, or even art and

5:23art history. So I think it's great that you did it. And I'm such a believer too. And you really have to know the artists that became before you, even if it's, I didn't major in art history, but I definitely took some of the baseline classes and just the things you need to know to feel like you can learn more yourself. So I'm totally, totally in agreement there. Okay. So let's talk

Post Graduation Experience

5:40about you graduate, you go to Germany. What's happening there? I had this really great opportunity to work at an armed forces recreational center. We have four in the world, South Korea, Orlando, Florida, Hawaii, and Garmisch-Partenkirchen, a small town in Bavaria where the U.S. runs this resort essentially for servicemen and women overseas. I was gifted right before I went over there, this beautiful, beautiful, massive notebook from my parents with handmade Egyptian cotton paper. And I was sent over with some watercolors and I took a watercolor

6:15class in college. But obviously, as you can see behind me, I like large scale. So it was a different feel for me, but I filled the book up front and back of every page. And that was the extent of my creating. And I gifted that back to my parents when I came back. Amazing parents. It was my only opportunity in my early life to really travel the world and especially travel and see all this art that I've been studying for the previous eight years.

Walker's Art Style

6:41Yes. Well, let's talk about your work. Let's talk about what you're doing now. It's incredible. I also can see it behind you. Lots of large scale work. Talk about your style, your medium, kind of break that down for people who can't see it.

6:54So the best way to start thinking about it or to talk about it would be to go in chronological order. When I first got back from the States, I was focused a lot on bulls, horses, these animals that perhaps could take on or that the ego could possibly take on in a personified way. And when I say this, the bulls running through the streets of Pamplona or horses leading the cavalry into war, they can be seen as objects or animals of destruction, chaos, disorder, when they're put

7:24into the wrong environment, their unnatural environment. On the flip side, though, if they're on the field grazing, they become symbols of peace and peace and joy and the beauty in the natural world, if you will. And I see that a lot of that in humans as well, not in the proper environment. They don't necessarily recognize themselves. They're not getting the best out of themselves. So a lot of my early work in the last two years really dove into that, influenced a lot by my own personal dreams and nightmares and trying to capture this image that looks like a memory,

7:56like how one remembers a dream. Like you maybe recognize that one person, one landscape, that one action that you were doing, but the rest of the image is blurry, hazy. I then pivoted running out of space with these 20 pieces that are six foot by five foot in my studio and trying to figure out transportation and how am I going to get this making show? I already committed to it. How am I going to work with it? I decided to put a pause on all my large scale pieces. And this was right at

8:29the time that I was starting my master's degree in fine arts from Falmouth University in the UK. And so I thought it was time for a big pivot, a big change. And that's exactly what this show is coming up and making Georgia. I did 60 pieces, completing about one piece a day, just on a tiny six inch by six inch, playing with different mediums, different textures, trying to deconstruct all of these compositions that I've been thinking of or what I conceived as a proper painting, deconstructing

9:00them and rebuilding them and reimagining these worlds that I was creating, which has then, I guess, leapfrogged into this series, which is now a little less representational, I suppose. And now it's moving more in a conceptual idea. Yeah, but I can see the through line. I mean, looking at what you have behind you, I can completely see how one thing led to the next. And I love something I love to kind of share is I do feel like sometimes constraints, like figuring out what am I going to do with these big pieces? How am I going to get them to the show? Like sometimes those constraints actually create the best

9:34ideas because you're like, I don't have endless possibilities. It almost makes you think differently. So I love that you've worked large, then you've gone small, you're creating a piece a day and now you're back to this stuff. It's the through line is the theme and like what you're coming back to from an idea standpoint, but you're allowing it to kind of manifest in a lot of different ways, which I think a lot of artists don't do. I think people are scared to shift size, medium subject matter. And I think you're actually doing it very well. Thank you. Yeah. Really break down my practice and keep expanding it and keep morphing it. It's forcing so much experimentation and these adventures, these tiny rabbit holes that may

10:10not go anywhere. One of my colleagues was calling each one of them seeds. So now I have 60 seeds around the studio, I guess. Now they're all down in Macon. They'll arrive safely. I'm happy for that. But now all these little ones, like they all contain something new. Yeah. If I choose to revisit them, say on the large scale, then they're starting to grow into their forest. I'm trying to still come around to the idea that it's okay if I don't touch some of those ideas ever in my life, but just planning those ideas and expanding and deconstructing

10:40my practice. It's been very positive for me in the last couple of months.

Business of Art

10:44Yeah. Well, this is a podcast where we do talk about the business of art and like how you're growing and how you're thinking about that. How are you getting in touch with galleries? How are you thinking about growth from, you know, this being like a financially viable business? Like, how are you thinking of it in terms of that while also staying, you know, creative, obviously?

11:02Yeah, it's definitely drawn out. I got very lucky with the Lillian Doll Gallery. I met Kelly Ferguson, who is the lead director at Lillian Doll Gallery, the owner's right-hand woman. And she went to Converse College right across the street. And she came in, had a great talk with me at my senior art shed, my Wetzel Fellowship show. And as soon as I got backstage, they reached out to me while I was there. So as soon as I got back, we got connected and situated. The Wofford connection came in clutch

11:33with Patrick down in Charleston. And then hugged on the Woodbury connections to get Jenny Lane. I mean, it's been a lot of networking. And in order to make all this happen, it's all taking risks and tapping into what I do know and who I know. And like anything from banking to investments, whatever, teaching, so much of the world is networking rather than anything else. And I think we get really caught up and maybe we can talk about this, but I think a lot of the artists I talk to get really caught up in the, you know, the social media growth or the, is my website

12:06perfect and X, Y, and Z. And like, yes, I'm not saying some of those things aren't important, but I do think, I say this a lot, like all of the growth I've ever seen in my business and just in my life is really from being in the rooms with the right people, getting to know the right people, making friends with people. I mean, and authentically not saying like, I'm trying to network my way to the top more, just, you know, can you be friendly and get to know people? And then that often leads to great opportunities because you have people that are willing to throw your name out there. And I think the fact that that's already happening to you is just such a great example

12:37of that. And you're leaning into, all right, well, who do I know? Where can I start? Because a lot of times we do start out with like, who do I know that can help me? Exactly. Yeah. I mean, that's, my parents have always told me, it's like, just be nice to anyone, no matter who you're talking to or what you may think. I mean, just be kind and genuine and you never know who exactly you're talking to. Yeah. Well, how are you thinking about your growing your network outside of in-person? How are you thinking of social media and its effects? And I mean, what is your digital footprint

13:08and exposure kind of look like right now? Right now I've seen a decent amount of growth in my Instagram. I try to keep it as up to date as possible. I view my Instagram as a running portfolio. I try to keep it finalized pieces because I want people to be able to hop in and not necessarily stop at the top row. And it's like, oh, like here are a couple of paintings, but those are all I see at all first glance. Every single thing is art related and it's dating back to my freshman year in college. I think I archived a lot of paintings that frustrated me.

13:40So it's definitely curated space. But I think the biggest thing there is just to be consistent and show that you're continuing to work. If you take a month off, is that then showing your viewers, your followers, that you two are not painting. So even if it's just an update, right now, I always try to put something at least at bare minimum once a week. And I've seen a steady rate. Yeah. I think that's a great way to think about it. I mean, I always say it's your business card. It's your, it's your living portfolio. I have, I own an online art gallery. If I go to

14:14your page and you haven't posted in a year, I probably think you're not still a practicing artist or I don't know. You're probably not making new artwork that I want to see. And so I think that's a good perspective in terms of selling your work. Obviously you're working with these different galleries. Are you doing any work that you're selling on your own? Are you mainly trying to kind of focus on the gallery route? Security program on spreadsheets, new regulations piling up and audit dread. It's time for Vanta. Vanta automates security and compliance, brings evidence into one place and cuts audit prep by 82%. Less manual work, clearer visibility, faster

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15:57self. Visit us now at CenterMedSpa.com. Yes, I do facilitate sales through myself. In fact, I'm selling a piece actually as we speak to a good friend from college whose mom had an eye on one of my pieces for a couple of years and is finally pulling the trigger, which is exciting. I think I treat that more as a portfolio as well, rather than commercialized. I would say I'm definitely relying to an extent on the gallery connections and that they're making, especially, I mean, we can talk all day about gallery

16:31commissions, but they certainly have earned it networking for me and putting me in shows and getting me in publications. Right now with the surplus of work that I do have on hand, I mean, it's not every weekend that I can drive to Macon, Charleston or Knoxville, Tennessee. So I'm currently working on being published in a couple of different magazines. I was recently published in Subo Art Magazine out of Lisbon, Portugal. I'm going to be published in the Penn Journal for Arts and Sciences

17:02and I was an American Art Collector this year as well. So right now I'm more focused on the brand building so that when a connection does come up, when a show does come up with some of these pieces, I'm able to move them relatively effectively and give it some time on the screen and ultimately on a tall white wall. Yeah. I mean, you're building that credibility in all of the strategic ways, which I think is really smart and a very good use of your time too. I mean, I think it's very, we want to sell art ourself. I think it's very easy to get caught up in like, oh, I'll spend all my

17:33time, you know, promoting myself on, I come back to social media, but easy example. And then all of a sudden, you know, galleries are like, okay, but where, where have you been represented or where's their proof of this? And it's like, everyone has to find their own path, but I think you're doing it in a way that's effective and smart and it's going to help you get places faster. I think that's the trade-off with a gallery. And if you have a good gallery relationship, obviously I think their commission is worth it because they're getting you in front of the right people, hopefully selling your artwork, doing the marketing and getting you to that next stage, which allows you to price higher and work with more interesting clients. So I think that's a really smart way to be

18:05going about it. No, absolutely. I mean, I'm teaching here at Woodbury with the Keenan Lewis Fellowship. I have an amazing large studio. I have a great support system here being an alumni as well. My youngest brother took my painting class to be back in a place where I fell in love with art and be back in this environment, painting. I mean, it's, everything is really clicking right now and it's, it's going really well. And ultimately most of these pieces will probably end up in my solo show here this upcoming November. How are you liking kind of being on the teaching side?

18:39It's different and it's niche, especially at an all boys, all boarding school where most are seemingly predetermined to become investment bankers and working in private equity. So when I walk into the classroom, I told myself before I started, because I know the type of way, like I was here. A lot of my good friends came through here. And a lot of it, I was telling myself, as long as I can spark excitement about the arts, have them working out their creativity and their muscles and feeling better about being in an art studio and being able to express themselves freely.

19:13Then I think that I've done my job successfully. And I think that's so needed right now, but I also think there's probably something really great that they're seeing it from someone they can see themselves in. Like you went to that school, you know what they're thinking. You're like, look, I've been there. This is great. And I think that concept of just, can I get them excited about it, enjoying it, I think is needed. What have been some of your most successful moments up to this point in your career? I make people brag on themselves just to kind of make you uncomfortable. I'm just thinking about a couple of big pivotal

19:46moments where I felt really good. One of the biggest ones was early on this past year where I was invited by Lillianthal Gallery in Knoxville, Tennessee, to show some work down in the Palm Beach, moderning a temporary art fair by Art Basel. And to see my piece on the same walls as Picasso's, Basquiat's, Warhol's, it was wild. That was a crazy, surreal moment to even consider that my paintings were in the same room as those artists. That felt really cool. It certainly pushed me

20:17in a very positive direction, as well as getting my first artist in residency at Foundation House in Greenwich, Connecticut. That was in late July, early August of this past year, where I created 34 pieces in 10 days. It was an amazing opportunity where the artists that I was working with, all that we had to do was just create art. That was all that was asked of us. We were locked in this beautiful estate. Meals were cooked for us, and all we had to do is wake up, show up to the mealtimes, and paint.

20:51So I absolutely dedicated all that time to creating as much work as possible, and all those works are now in Stevenson & Company down in Charleston, which is pretty cool. I have this weird thing where I dislike showing the same work in multiple shows. So everybody who worked from Knoxville, Charleston, now to Macon, I do not want to show them again. Now I feel this urge, like I constantly feel this urge to keep creating new work, spreading out all these different moments along my own chronological

21:26timeline of my own life, these big moments, spreading them out into these galleries. But those are definitely the first two that came to mind, Palm Beach, Modern Contemporary Art Fair, and Foundation House. Very cool. How did you go about finding, or they found you, the Foundation House opportunity? Yeah, that was, I, how did I find that? That was all through this Google searches. I stumbled across some random residency out on the West Coast where I was like, artisan residency specifically for teachers.

21:58So it was strategically placed like right in the middle of summer or whatever. I was like that, like, that's cool. Maybe I'll have a shot at that one. I've never done an artist in residency, but if I'm a teacher, it'll certainly narrow down the pool that's applying to these opportunities. Right. What have been some of your challenges running this business? The hardest thing I think for any artist is, and I guess no one told me, wanting to be an artist, all the struggles that would come with it. Trying to be an accountant, you have to be your own marketing team, you have to be good with graphic design and understanding your own business. I mean,

22:33it's, it's a handful. And on paper right now, my life is a little hectic between getting my master's working, teaching here at the boarding school and yeah. And juggling all these different shows. It's definitely more of a time constraint than what I had imagined eight years ago. But it's one of those things where you work so hard and you stress over even just the littlest things that it ends up being worth it. Once you see that show up, like even when I was zooming Jimmy Lane a couple of weeks ago

23:07and seeing only the five that she hung up just to show me how they look on the wall, I was like, like that felt good. It stressed me out so much trying to get them down there. Thought I was going to be charged $500 just to ship them and trying to figure out.

23:23Oh my gosh, shipping in general is awful, but I luckily got a really good deal and it all works out. It all works out. I think it's the stress of the moment and making sure the spreadsheets are balanced and the website's up to date. Instagram looks good. The CV is constantly being updated. It's, it's a handful. It's a full-time job in itself with frankly not much so for it, which I'm sure many artists can relate to. Yeah. And it's hard to, I mean, also getting to the point

23:53where you're managing all of that and trying to stay creative because I find it very difficult to like task switch between more admin and more. I need three hours to like even get into a creative space in my studio and then paired with, I mean, and I don't know if you've experienced this at all, but like sticking with your gut with what you want to paint versus sticking with what you think might sell. And that's another delicate balance that I think artists deal with. I don't know if you've run into it yet or if you've thought about it, but it is something I feel like comes up a lot on this podcast is, is managing what you want to paint versus, you know, collector's wants and things

24:27like that. Absolutely. I've luckily had the support system around me and the means to say no to commissions and to have a studio my house and paid for. And it's, I have not had to resort to that just yet. And I want to push that off as long and as, as long as I possibly can. Because I think, I mean, bouncing in between, like I feed off the boys energy here, teaching both painting and drawing. Um, so in between classes into my free periods, I'm painting as much as I can between my master's

25:02classes, my lectures, I just squeeze in, even if it's only for it, like 30 minutes to 45 minutes at a time. The hardest part I think for any artist is just to put the paint on the palette. Then you got to figure out where it goes from there. Yeah, exactly. Well, this has been wonderful. I love to end every episode with just a lesson, a tip, something you can share with other artists. Does anything initially come to mind? The first thing that comes to mind would be to just keep going. Uh, the easiest thing for an artist to do is certainly to quit and to stop, find something

25:36that's more lucrative, more beneficial, whatever it may be. But your life without art is, uh, it's bland, it's gray. So keep going, keep creating new worlds. I love it. That is a great way to end. Walker, can you share how everyone can find you, learn more about you, see your artwork, all the different spaces and places and things? Absolutely. Yeah. So a lot of my early works can be found at Lillian Fall Gallery. You can contact them. They're in Knoxville, Tennessee. Uh, the works from my first residency in this past summer can be found at Stevenson and Company

26:10in Charleston, South Carolina. Uh, all of my small works that I've ever put into circulation are in Macon, Georgia at Sheridan Studios with my solo show coming up there, Valentine's Day, uh, February 14th. And yeah, other than that, on my Instagram, Walker Antonio, underscore studio. And that'd be the best way to contact me directly. I'm pretty good about responding in a timely manner as well. Nice. Well, thank you, Walker. This has been great. Amazing. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Bye. Bye. Take care.

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