Editing PHP grid page for WordPress site - php

Question

I would like to Edit the Grid Artist page to only have 12 artists and land on the producers section instead of all artist.
Here' s the link of website page : http://cascaderecords.fr/roster/
PHP code:
<?php
if (ci_setting('artists_isotope') == 'enabled' AND !wp_is_mobile() AND !is_tax() ):
?>
<ul class="filters-nav group">
<li><?php _e('All Artists', 'ci_theme'); ?></li>
<?php
$args = array('hide_empty' => 1);
$cats = get_terms('artist-category', $args);
?>
<?php foreach ( $cats as $cat ): ?>
<li><?php echo $cat->name; ?></li>
<?php endforeach; ?>
</ul>
<?php
endif; // is isotope enabled
global $paged;
if ( ci_setting('artists_isotope') == 'enabled' AND !wp_is_mobile() AND !is_tax() ) {
$args = array(
'post_type' => 'cpt_artists',
'posts_per_page' => -1
);
} else {
$args = array(
'post_type' => 'cpt_artists',
'posts_per_page' => ci_setting('artists_per_page'),
'paged' => $paged
);
}
$the_query = !empty($the_query) ? $the_query : new WP_Query($args);
?>
<article class="row">
<ul class="col-md-12 items-list-grid filter-container <?php echo $filter; ?>">
<?php while ( $the_query->have_posts() ) : $the_query->the_post(); ?>
<?php $cats = wp_get_object_terms($post->ID, 'artist-category'); ?>
<li class="<?php foreach ( $cats as $cat ) : echo $cat->slug.' '; endforeach; echo $grid; ?>">
<article id="artist-<?php the_ID(); ?>" <?php post_class('row'); ?>>
<div class="col-md-12">
<?php if ( has_post_thumbnail() ) : ?>
<figure>
<a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>">
<?php the_post_thumbnail('ci_thumb_square'); ?>
</a>
</figure>
<?php endif; ?>
<h2><?php the_title(); ?></h2>
</div><!-- /col-md-12 -->
</article><!-- /row -->
</li><!-- /col-md-4 -->
<?php endwhile; wp_reset_postdata(); ?>
</ul>

Answer 1

Try change:
'posts_per_page' => -1
to:
'posts_per_page' => 12
Not sure what "ci_setting('artists_per_page')" is in below variable, need more info:
'posts_per_page' => ci_setting('artists_per_page'),