There are so many folks jumping through hoops trying to figure out the game of getting shows in galleries that I have decided to give it a rest in my life. I do not want to be a part of the game and so I will continue to post my own work online, discuss it and offer it for sale there as well. If folks like it great - if not great - it's my own game! Christ the other day there was yet another publication that describes even what your business card should look like - BUSINESS CARD! Andy Warhol's first job in illustration was done when he arrived with a paper bag full of drawings. Three artists just made the cover of New York magazine - after reading about their lives - I bet none of them have a business card. I don't recall reading about Picasso running to the printer or Matisse calling his assistant to pick up the new gilded edge business cards. Edward Winkelman offers up the usual list of how-tos - then offers the caveat that it's up to him - as it should be - it's his space, his money - the gallery is his artwork. We've all seen this list a million times before and it's part of the huge bullshit industry that has popped up around the career system and basically it goes like this...
get to know the gallery - get to know the artists in the gallery - get to know the gallerist - make sure you've figured out the fact that your work might fit in with the gallerist's program - then drop a hint you might want to show with them - do NOT waste their time - the good lord willin' it'll all work out
I write this because the letter Edward quotes looks as if it were written by a friend of mine who should know better (I sincerely hope it wasn't.) Folks, dear friends, sweet artistes - it is simply a crap shoot. No matter how calculating, how determined, how infinitely deserving - it's not up to you in the end. You can find a gallery where all 10 artists on staff make work exactly like yours - you could be giving the gallerist the best sex they've ever had - you might be the smartest, prettiest thing ever to grace the art world - but it still ain't up to you and though these things are good to have and be - it's still a crap shoot as to whether that gallery will show you. Once it's out of your hands - and let's face it most about having a show is - you're relying on other people to choose, to show, to arrange, to come and see and they are only interested in their best interests. If you are chosen and don't sell you probably won't be asked back. If you do sell you might find it hard getting your cash - as many artists will attest. If you get a review(bad or good) and sell you'll find yourself on the two year track. From there it's a better gallery or you're back where you started. For every one artist that has done the work on the above to-do list there are 50 that followed that exact path to no where.
In the end you have to make it work FOR YOU. You became an artist, I assume, because it was a burning desire, a need beyond anything imaginable, unquenchable, unrestrained. It consumes you and everything about your life somehow becomes your art. I make art whether I show or not, I look at art all the time, I think about art all the time, I go to galleries and museums all the time, I've met some wonderful artists & gallerists and some not so wonderful artists & gallerists - none of that has anything to do with being chosen to show - but as you've guessed it takes up a lot of time. IN the world of gallery getting and gallery showing TIMING is imperative and either you have it or you don't - (which explains a lot of "what was I thinking" kind of art stashed in collectors' back storage.) Any kind of work can be shown at any kind of gallery IF on that particular day the TIMING is right. Beyond that how successful it will be is anyone's guess - don't believe the back tracking theorists - that's all hindsight - NO ONE really knows anything. As an artist you are supposed to be a rule breaker - so stop trying to follow the rules. I don't have a formula (and there isn't one) for gallery showing or selling - I wish I did - the best I can tell you is hang out, make your work, get to know a lot of people and be ready.
I remember reading a story about the artist James Brown - whether this is true or not I have no idea - but it reinforces the thought. He had placed his slides in the artists' registry at Art Space and a collector with a consultant had seen the work. Later in the day at Tony Shafrazi's the collector mentioned that he had seen the slides - Shafrazi being the business man he is said yes he knew the artist and in fact was representing him - would he like to meet the artist - the collector said sure - Shafrazi got the info and set up the beginnings of a career for an artist he hadn't seen or met. That is magic, a black swan out of no where, and it is rare - rare - rare - just like the lottery. James Brown didn't follow any of the above rules and yet....
9 times out of 10 you get a show because of someone you know - and that's how it's always happened for me and my friends - not because I followed the rules - it's because I knew people who knew people. I think that's the best and only advice - that and hope for the best!
If you really want to learn how to work it by someone who does - read Mark Kostabi's column on Artnet. That guy is a master of the "work it." He's honest about who he is, what he wants and how he tries to get it. Tips and Tricks galore!
