One of my Grad school professors, who worked at a gallery, told us this- Anything you give them to review they will throw in the trash and never look at. They are not interested in you. What works is a very long game of face time. What I mean by that is- be in their space without being intrusive. Go to openings, talk to people there... not about you or your art. They have to know you, or know you from someone who is a regular at their events, before they'll consider looking at your work. It takes a lot of shmoozing. Your work is not what sells, you are. Collectors buy you, not your work. That is why there is a lot of sh!t hanging in galleries and not actual good work. That is the sad truth. You have to work really hard at sucking up to the right people and be willing to lose 40% of your sales to the owner. No one is going to talk to you otherwise.
You're absolutely right! Slowly building relationships with key players in the art world is what's going to eventually pay off and attract their attention to your art in due time.
Yes, that's right! Taking the time to develep genuine relationships with the galleries you like is the first big step if you'd like to start a business partnership with them (which is what being represented basically is) in the near future
80% of your time to networking and 20% of your time to making your artwork= a professional networker/salesperson of art. Excellent, can I hire you to represent me? I’m too busy in my studio and I’m too old to waste my time chatting up gallery people. Goya, in his last years, was completely deaf. He retired to a farmhouse in the countryside and painted the masterpieces of his lifetime, the Black Paintings. But maybe he should have been frittering away his time “networking” and building up his collector base, no? Van Gogh too. What were they thinking?
Hi, thanks for your message. Unfortunately I'm not representing artist at the moment but I suggest you get in touch with art advisors/consultants and collaborate with them as they've got their own collectors base/network. Goya did his fair amount of networking earlier before becoming deaf and died relatively famous, at least in Spain. Let me know if you've got further questions!
very useful thank you... I wouldn't say NEVER contact galleries by email. personally speaking, I live in spain but sell most of my work in the USA so if i contact galleries it HAS to be by email. also many galleries prefer artists to submit art by email.............. some good advice nonetheless in this video
Appreciate the information. I have this anxiety of seeming fake while I interact with others, especially staff. With an artist, you can appreciate their art, but with a gallery what exactly can someone start initiating conversation about?
Hello! Gallery owners (typically, I hope so!) are in the business of selling art because they're passionate about art so this can be an suiting subject. You can talk about the practice of the artist currently exhibiting at the gallery, about the criteria for selecting artists or about regular topics you would talk about with any person. Hope this is helpful and don't think too much about what to talk about, sometimes it's better to just be yourself no matter the out come :)
I am expressionist abstract artist and agree with You 100%🤟. The first is relationship.
One of my Grad school professors, who worked at a gallery, told us this- Anything you give them to review they will throw in the trash and never look at. They are not interested in you. What works is a very long game of face time. What I mean by that is- be in their space without being intrusive. Go to openings, talk to people there... not about you or your art. They have to know you, or know you from someone who is a regular at their events, before they'll consider looking at your work. It takes a lot of shmoozing. Your work is not what sells, you are. Collectors buy you, not your work. That is why there is a lot of sh!t hanging in galleries and not actual good work. That is the sad truth. You have to work really hard at sucking up to the right people and be willing to lose 40% of your sales to the owner. No one is going to talk to you otherwise.
You're absolutely right! Slowly building relationships with key players in the art world is what's going to eventually pay off and attract their attention to your art in due time.
It's too bad, I can't do it. There's a talent needed for this, and a bit of extraversion
Working with such people who don't care about your work would result in a fake art career.
The relationship aspect is definitely critical. Thank you for these excellent reminders and piece of advice, Belinda ❤
Yes, that's right! Taking the time to develep genuine relationships with the galleries you like is the first big step if you'd like to start a business partnership with them (which is what being represented basically is) in the near future
80% of your time to networking and 20% of your time to making your artwork= a professional networker/salesperson of art.
Excellent, can I hire you to represent me? I’m too busy in my studio and I’m too old to waste my time chatting up gallery people. Goya, in his last years, was completely deaf. He retired to a farmhouse in the countryside and painted the masterpieces of his lifetime, the Black Paintings. But maybe he should have been frittering away his time “networking” and building up his collector base, no? Van Gogh too. What were they thinking?
Hi, thanks for your message. Unfortunately I'm not representing artist at the moment but I suggest you get in touch with art advisors/consultants and collaborate with them as they've got their own collectors base/network. Goya did his fair amount of networking earlier before becoming deaf and died relatively famous, at least in Spain. Let me know if you've got further questions!
very useful thank you... I wouldn't say NEVER contact galleries by email. personally speaking, I live in spain but sell most of my work in the USA so if i contact galleries it HAS to be by email. also many galleries prefer artists to submit art by email.............. some good advice nonetheless in this video
Appreciate the information. I have this anxiety of seeming fake while I interact with others, especially staff. With an artist, you can appreciate their art, but with a gallery what exactly can someone start initiating conversation about?
Hello! Gallery owners (typically, I hope so!) are in the business of selling art because they're passionate about art so this can be an suiting subject. You can talk about the practice of the artist currently exhibiting at the gallery, about the criteria for selecting artists or about regular topics you would talk about with any person. Hope this is helpful and don't think too much about what to talk about, sometimes it's better to just be yourself no matter the out come :)
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