Should I just be grateful for the opportunity?
Dear CP, I was asked to do a solo show with a gallery in New York City, in Tribeca to be exact. Ordinarily I would be ecstatic about this, but I don't really love the gallery or the work they show. They have a decent size following on IG but are not followed by any reputable galleries or artists I admire. They do have an Artsy page and have sold a few of my paintings in previous group shows, and they get decent press. But again, they do not seem to have the respect of the larger “art world.” As an emerging artist who is really having a hard time breaking in, I’m not sure what to do. Should I be worried about aligning myself with a gallery that is not followed by any other reputable galleries and does not show anywhere near blue chip artists? Or should I just be grateful for the opportunity and potential exposure and not worry about the reputation of the gallery? Any insight or advice would be much appreciated. Thank you!
Congratulations on receiving this invitation! I suspect it’s nice to be acknowledged for what you do, but it’s clear you have mixed feelings about accepting the invitation. Let’s take a look at the opportunities and challenges at play here.
You mention that you’re an emerging artist, so I’m going to assume you haven’t had many (if any) solo exhibitions of your work (yet!). The primary opportunity here is a solo exhibition at a gallery in Tribeca. This alone is major for an artist at any stage of their career. The gallery has already presented your work in some group shows, and they have sold a few of your paintings. So, this also sounds like an opportunity to develop a relationship that has already proven to connect your work with collectors and to sell more work; good and good. You mention that the gallery has a following on Instagram, has an Artsy page, and that they get decent press, so it sounds like you’re confident that they can get the word out about the exhibition and maybe have it reviewed; more check marks for the “pro” column. Additional opportunities that I’d add here are that, if you accept the invitation, you’ll have a new item to list in the “solo exhibitions” section of your CV; you’ll have new installation photography of your work in situ; you’ll have a place to send collectors, curators, and art writers to see your work IRL; and as an emerging artist who probably doesn’t have a lot of experience with exhibiting your work, you’ll get practice putting a show together and seeing it through in collaboration with a gallery. Great!
On the other hand, you don’t love the gallery or the work they show, and they aren’t followed on Instagram by “reputable” (quotes mine) galleries or artists you admire. You mention that your impression is that they don’t have the respect of the “art world” (quotes yours). In light of these circumstances, I can understand how responding to this invitation becomes a challenge.
First of all, “Should I be worried about aligning myself with a gallery that is not followed by any other reputable galleries and does not show anywhere near blue chip artists?” In my opinion, many of us have given way too much power to social media platforms. I caution you and any other readers here against weighing your assessment of a person or business based on what they post, whom they follow, and who follows them on social media. You’ve done business with this gallery previously, so I encourage you to base your evaluation of the gallery on the IRL relationship you have with them: Have they outlined your business collaborations clearly? Have they handled and represented your work appropriately? Have they paid you fairly and on time for sales they’ve made? Whether or not they show artists who are “blue chip” or anywhere near that specific market status is irrelevant here, in my opinion. There are many, many galleries—I’d venture to guess, a large majority of them, really—working hard and doing great things for the artists they represent who will never, ever work with blue chip status art; there are just too many artists and galleries in the world and too little blue chip work to make the arithmetic work. Plus, you are an emerging artist, and it’s not likely that your earliest exhibitions will be in context with blue chip artists. Your work may never, in fact, be exhibited in context with blue chip art, but this wil not be the sole indicator of your work’s market value or cultural relevance.
Next, “Should I just be grateful for the opportunity and potential exposure and not worry about the reputation of the gallery?” I’m a big proponent of gratitude and try to practice it every day. However, in the creative professions, the people who make things are often asked to forgo appropriate compensation in exchange for an “opportunity” and “potential exposure.” Not everyone can afford this “system,” and I’m reluctant to assume that you can. That said, if you can afford the expense of making the work for the exhibition, knowing what you know about the gallery’s track record of sales of your work, this sounds like it could be an actual opportunity. And if the gallery is holding up its end of the partnership by handling (and by handling, I mean paying for and coordinating) packing and shipping of your work to and from the exhibition; insurance; professional installation, documentation, and desinstallation; marketing; and other gallery and exhibition operations, then I think the opportunities here outweigh the challenges, and I’d advise accepting the invitation. Though I do think it’s important to consider a gallery’s reputation, nothing in your email suggests that this gallery has a bad reputation. What I read in your email is that their reputation isn’t the reputation you want to be associated with; it’s not bad, but it’s not good enough. And that may be the deciding factor in whether you accept the invitation or politely decline.
