do you email or just walk in? i walked in and it was a mistake but sort of not
so my first real gallery, i just walked in. no email, no appointment, just showed up with a tote bag of small pieces like a guy delivering pizzas. the person at the desk looked at me like i'd walked in off the street, which... i had. but they were bored and said sure, show me. ended up in a group show with two pieces and zero sales. still counts.
anyway i've never figured out which is right. email feels like sending your art into the void and waiting for the void to ghost you. walking in feels insane but at least it's a person. i've done both and honestly the walk-in got me further, which is either inspiring or deeply bleak.
so which one are you, and did it work? email first or just show up. and if you emailed, what did you even say, mine always turn into a cover letter that i hate by line three.
1
1commentSaveFollow threadShare
the tote bag of small pieces like a pizza delivery is sending me because that's genuinely how it goes. i did the walk-in once in Salthill years ago, had a folder of linos under the arm and no plan beyond getting out of the rain, and the woman behind the desk gave me the same look. but she did look. got a small print into a winter group show off the back of it, sold nothing either. so we're the same man.
what i'd say is it's not email versus walk-in, it's whether there's a person on the other side who's in a good mood. email's grand if you've a name, a specific show you're angling at, or they've told you to send something. the blind email to info@ is where art goes to die, agreed. but the walk-in only works if you catch someone bored enough to humour you, and that's pure luck, not a strategy.
my rule now is a short email first, one line about the actual work, no portfolio dump, then turn up to the opening anyway and be a human. that way you're not a stranger when you land in the door. the trick is they need to have seen your face before the folder comes out.
two pieces in a group show and zero sales still counts is the truest thing on here by the way. the second one is easier.