Gallery Space

So let's talk about galleries, or one gallery in particular. I am not going to name and shame, its not my style, but I do want to raise awareness of the kind of “business model” which some galleries use, and perhaps give people a platform to discuss this. Some people will like it and some people won’t.

I was approached by a gallery in London recently, the email was very nice, very polite, a lot of praise for my work, and they even named some pieces they were interested in. They invited me to exhibit for an abstract show they were organising in the winter. So I did my due diligence before replying. I went to their website, checked the email address etc, and made sure it wasn’t a scam.

The gallery space was lovely, it was in a very trendy area of London, they had loads of followers and the photos always showed the gallery was full of people. So I wrote back and said I was interested but I suspected something wasn’t quite right, so I mentioned that I didn’t like the “pay to display” business model, and I wouldn’t participate in that.

They wrote back and as suspected there was a cost to display my work, and it would be £1450 for 2 weeks. That didn’t include the cost of shipping the art down to London, and also the cost of shipping the art back after the exhibition. Also other costs would include getting to London for the opening night (I live 200 miles away) and hotel and food. They peppered the deal by saying they didn’t take a penny in commission if my work sold, so I would get 100%.

So the way this model works is they get all the money up front, they are covered for rent and wages etc, and basically they just have a big party for one night (the opening night) with no incentive to sell the work, because they wont earn any money for it. It is very low risk for them. Their reputation relies on people turning up, so they do print and send invitations for you, give you pricing advice and sales support etc, they will even supply the wine.

Maybe you think I am being cynical, perhaps I am, and I am happy to hear your opinions on this, but it doesn’t work for me. Maybe the art will sell, but then you need to change your pricing structure to reflect this.

In contrast the Royal Academy in London do a summer exhibition every year and it costs £40 to display 2 pieces of art. Anyone can apply and from any country. There is also a lot of celebrity support for this. They charge an entry fee for the public but the costs in comparison are a lot lower.

I would be interested in hearing what you have to say on this, and also your own experiences…. Have you exhibited in this way, has it worked financially, or is it just vanity?