Navigating
the Art World: An Introduction
As astounding as this
may seem, there's a structure and a protocol to the art world, and to the
gallery system in particular; it's a system that's been in place pretty much as
long as galleries have been around, and one that's not about to change. So the
quicker you learn the basics, the more time, effort, money and especially
heartache you'll save when searching for galleries that are right for your art.
The good news is that once you understand how things work, you can purposefully
and effectively make your way through artland in order to get where you want to
go, wherever that may be.
You see, artists
proceed from exhibit to exhibit and gallery to gallery during the course of
their careers in entirely orderly and predictable manners; nothing is random.
There are always reasons why certain artists and certain kinds of art end up at
certain galleries, institutions, museums and other established art venues. Likewise,
art careers advance step-by-step, deliberately, incrementally and over extended
periods of time. Sure, an occasional art star materializes suddenly out of
nowhere, but this is by far the exception rather than the rule. And even these
occasional materializations become orderly and predictable once the surprise
wears off.
Just like in any other
profession, artists early in their careers have to begin at the beginning, and
in the art world that means showing your art pretty much anywhere anyone will
have you. The only criteria at this point is that no matter where you show your
art, be sure that some segment of the general population will see it,
especially people who have never seen it before. Possible venues include coffee
shops, restaurants, furniture showrooms, fashion boutiques, hair salons,
lobbies of commercial buildings, renting an exhibition space with artist
friends, private viewings at someone's home or apartment, juried or non-juried
shows, open studios, and anywhere else you can get warm bodies through the
door-- that's the key. Not only does this provide experience and feedback in
terms of seeing how others react to your art, but it also maximizes the number
of people who'll have opportunities to see it. And the more people who see your
art, the greater the chances that someone will tell someone will tell someone,
and one of those someone's might own a gallery or know someone who owns a
gallery and like your art enough to either want to make contact with you or
convince someone else to contact you. That's how gallery shows often originate.
Admittedly, those of
you who've graduated from art school have an edge on the competition, at least
during the early stages of your careers, meaning that during the course of your
studies, you've likely been exposed to local gallery owners, critics, curators,
collectors and other notable members of the art community-- so you kind of know
who's who. Learning your area art scene geography is one of the great benefits
of a formal art education, but it doesn't mean any of these people are going to
do anything for you, and it sure doesn't mean you can walk into Triple A Fine
Arts and get yourself a show just because you met the owner once. You've got to
work your way up the ladder just like everyone else, but at least you know
where to find the ladder.
Those of you who've
acquired your art-making skills outside the academic realm (and there are tons
of you too) can circumvent this logistical disadvantage simply by immersing
yourself in your local art communities. Go to gallery openings, museum shows
(especially for local or regional art and artists), talks, tours, open studios
and other known art hangouts. Openings are especially good because you get to
see large numbers of art people all at once. Don't go to one or two events and
think you've done your duty; go to plenty and keep on going. You can either
talk to people or not while you're there, although talking is better. Either
way, the upshot of repeatedly seeing and being seen is that (a) you begin to
see the same people over and over again, (b) sooner or later you find out who
they are, (c) sooner or later they find out who you are, (d) conversations
eventually break out, (e) you share information, and (f) you eventually figure
out how to navigate the art scene just like everybody else.
Perhaps an even
greater benefit in addition to becoming known in the area is that you
demonstrate your desire to participate and get involved and in so doing, show
that you're serious about becoming successful as an artist and committed to
doing whatever's necessary to achieve that end. So many artists think all they
have to do is send emails, social network, carpet-bomb local or regional
galleries asking for shows, email art people inviting them to look at their
websites, make occasional calls or visits to galleries, and generally invest
minimal time and effort to get their art out into the public. They think all
they have to do is hunker down in the studio and that opportunities for
exposure will mysteriously ultimately appear out of nowhere. This "If I
make it, they will come" approach to getting shows is guaranteed not to
get you anywhere fast, and in fact, will likely get you nowhere at all. There
is no easy solution and no substitute for getting yourself and your art out in
public, frequenting local art venues and events, and meeting as many people as
possible along the way-- wherever and whenever you can.
So let's say you
advance from the "show anything anywhere" phase to participating in a
handful of group shows at decent local galleries to maybe getting a solo show
or two at entry-level galleries that specialize in emerging artists to maybe
even having your art favorably received by the local community. Now even a
successful show or two does not mean you're ready to approach the best
galleries in town. As in the non-art world, you don't go directly from stock
clerk to head of the company or from being a local bar band to getting a gig at
Madison Square Garden. You progress step-by-step and show-by-show; that's how
artists get known. Are you beginning to see how this hierarchy works?
Excellent.
For those of you who
need a little more in the way of explanation, let's take a moment to examine
how and why the best galleries in town come to show the artists they do. To
begin with, these galleries do not randomly select artists who happen to walk
through the door or make contact in other more casual ways like by email, mail
or phone (hardly any galleries anywhere do that). They don't even select
artists based solely on whether they like the art or even on how good it is.
That's the shocking part-- your art can be really good-- I mean really really
good-- and prominent galleries will not show you no matter what. Why? In order
to show at such a gallery you and your art have to be a total match. The
quality of your art is only one step in the process. There's also your resume,
your reputation, your accomplishments, your profile and standing in the art
community, how you are to work with, your previous sales history, the quality
of critical reviews of your past shows, and much more.
Simply put, the best
galleries show the best artists. That's why they're the best galleries. Who are
the best artists, you ask? They're artists who've proven themselves over time,
who started at the beginning showing wherever they could, painstakingly
building their resumes one line at a time, establishing consistent track
records of successful shows, convincing those who count that they're committed
to making art, favorably impressing the curators and critics, demonstrating
that they're capable of doing what's expected when it's expected, selling well,
selling consistently, and so on and so forth ad infinitum. In short, they're
artists with firmly established reputations. And here's the important part--
they established those reputations themselves. And here's the really important
part-- galleries don't establish artists' reputations; they only enhance them.
It's your job and yours alone to prove that your reputation is worth enhancing.
And that's how the gallery system works.
Additional tips for
getting yourself and your art out there:
* Make sure you get
the word out about your shows in as many ways as possible including online art
gallery and event calendars, websites that are relevant to your art, social
networking pages, blogs, newspapers, and at physical locations where art people
tend to congregate. Exposing your art to as many first-timers as possible is
critical to your success.
* Get to know those in
the art community who are most involved with your type of art. When you meet or
get introduced to these people, go slow, take it easy and talk about whatever
feels comfortable-- art or otherwise. Save the hard sell for later. Good
relationships take time to develop.
* Intern or volunteer
at local galleries or non-profit organizations that are involved with art
similar to yours, or also at local museums. These are excellent ways to meet
people and get involved with the local art community.
* Intern or volunteer to
work with established artists whose art you like and respect
