There seems to be more vanity galleries and galleries for hire these days. Guess it is just a reflection of current economic conditions or is it another opportunity for people to make money on artists looking for a venue to show their work.
Let’s face it. There is an amazing number of talented people out there and each of us is trying to make their mark and a living creating and selling their art. Sure there are customers for any genre and medium of visual art but at the same time there are countless talented people producing work and trying to get it “out there”.
I seem to get one or two invitations per month from a vanity gallery looking to “sell” my work. Many times it is the same gallery and even the same person contacting me again and again. I usually do not respond but some are a bit sneeky in their approach and so after I ask them for further details the truth comes out. And paying someone to sell your work up front is not a wise investment. There is no incentive for them to promote or sell your work. They get their money, get to keep the door open another day and sometimes they disappear with your art and your money.
Recently an artists wrte on LinkedIn about an incident where a gallery closed its doors taking his money and art. Not a good thing to happen.
If you look at an art career as a business then you do need to market yourself and part of marketing means advertising and selling yourself – developing new client bases and opportunities to expose your art to potential customers. I definitely look at my art career as a business. I create a marketing plan. Develop goals and objectives. And I create action plans to make things happen. They don’t always work out as planned and things have a habit of changing so onbe needs to be flexible and adapt a plan to changing market conditions or new opportunities.
Marketing yourself also means spending money on literature/support materials, entry fees to shows, advertising in trade publications, etc.
I know some artists take the approach that a pure art career is one where you do not market yourself but leave that to the gallery that represents you. In some instances where an artist has gallery representation that is solid and prosperous that is a diligent course to take. But reality is most artists need to market themselves to many diverse areas – galleries, customers, consultants, designers, etc….guess it all depends on the career path you choose to take.
The pure art path calls for you to be represented by galleries where you sell original work – no reproductions or limited edition prints. This path calls for no license agreements, or other means of sharing your work with a broader audience then those who can afford an original work of art. You start locally building a network and interest in your work and then through exhibitions and gallery representation build a larger audience and gain more fame and recognition for your work.
But there is another career path. In this world an artist can sell work through gallery representation. But also form license agreements to help expose their work to new markets and build a following for their original art. Selling work at ahows gets you face to face with your customers and find out what they like or don’t like about your work. And this path opens up opportunities to sell work for commercial customers like hospitality and hotels that may require multiple copies of one image…or original work for public areas.
It’s all a matter of what you think is right for you.
In any path chosen there will be those looking to make money on your talent. That’s just human nature. And it is a choice where to spend your hard earned money. From my expeience – paying up front for any one to either represent you, whether gallery or rep is not worth the investment. Nor is renting a space to have an exhibit – have not tried that myself – but I believe itis not worth the line item on a resume ezpecially if the space rented has a reputation that is not huighly thought of in the industry.
It is always better to pay your dues and put the time into your art career….and to make good connections and build solid relationships as I have tried to do over the years. In the end it is those relationships that will sustain and help you build a solid career path.
I’m still working at it and it changes every day. But I know I am on the right path. And I owe any success I have to the galleries and customers that support me and my art. To them I always owe a big thanks and immense gratitude.
Have a great day
Jeff
