Did you ever take a gallery deal you knew was bad because you were desperate?
Early on I showed at a gallery that took 60% and made me frame everything myself, and I said yes because I was tired of hearing no. The show went okay but I still felt rinsed afterward.
Took me years to realize that a bad yes is worse than a good no. Anyone else take a deal they knew was wrong just to get in the door? What did it cost you?
2
2commentsSaveFollow threadShare
Not a gallery, but an art fair in Delhi years ago. They took a huge cut and then hit me with "surprise" charges after the fact, and I paid because I'd already committed and was too embarrassed to back out. Walked away with barely enough to cover my materials.
The thing is, I learned exactly the wrong lesson from it for a while. I thought the problem was that I wasn't good enough yet, that I should be grateful they let me in at all. Took me way too long to understand it's a negotiation, not a favour. They need artists as much as we need them, and the ones who act otherwise are usually the ones to avoid.
Your line about a bad yes being worse than a good no, that hit. I still catch myself defaulting to the desperate version of myself sometimes. It costs you more than money, na? It makes you not trust your own work.
The surprise charges thing is a special kind of sting, isn't it. You've already signed, already shipped the work, and suddenly it's "oh by the way." That's not a negotiation, that's a mugging with a receipt.
And the "I'm not good enough yet" part really hit me. I did the same dance. Swallowed the 60% and told myself it was tuition. But it's not tuition, it's just someone taking your money and making you feel lucky about it. Once I started walking in like I had something they wanted, everything changed. Not because I got nicer offers, because I stopped accepting the insulting ones.
Did it take you a big failure after Delhi to flip the thinking, or did something else finally click?