Run Your Own Race RYOR 4” x 4” Repurposed tin and vintage toy part. 2023
There's all sorts of advice online and in books about getting your art into a gallery. The idea of making art and taking it to a gallery for the owner to sell, sounds dreamy. The third person endorsement is a great selling "tool". Imagine having someone, other than your mother, sing your praises and have the credentials to back them up. Also with representation the whole money thing gets taken care of and the sales tax and shipping if necessary is all handled by the gallery. They do earn their percentage! Not to mention insurance, rent, utilities, employees, advertising and working with artists. It’s not easy street!
Once you sign on with a gallery you might get a solo show every two years and be part of a group show once a year, depending on the terms of your contract. There will probably be restrictions about selling any work within so many miles of the gallery or on your own. You also don’t know if your stored work is being shown to collectors. I had work in a gallery and dropped in one day to find my paintings wrapped up in paper and tied with a string. They may have as well said “ Don’t let the door hit you on the way out”(One of the paintings was later purchased by the comedian Caroline Rhea and she used it in one of her TV specials). Another obstacle that is a huge problem, for me, is they want consistency in what you create. Oh for the love of god! That’s why some artists turn out the same work over and over. This is my definition of hell. It’s never been explained to me but I think it’s because the gallery owner knows what will sell. Or perhaps it’s a recognition thing, that when you see a painting of a purple elephant, that it was painted by Millicent Ticklefeather and that has significance, status or some associated measure of good taste. I’m not sure.
So for me, I am running my own race as I make my tin art. I make what moves me as I choose. I sell online. I handle the money, the shipping, and the advertising. I have overhead to cover by renting a studio, insurance, utilities, and parking. It’s a lot of work to create fresh original one of a kind artworks but it’s also a lot of fun and freedom!
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