First gallery show, did you pitch it yourself or did someone nudge you in?

I still remember my first small gallery show. It wasn't a big deal by anyone's standards but it felt huge to me, and I didn't even ask for it. A woman from a local coffee shop gallery saw my stuff at a craft fair and emailed me out of nowhere. I almost deleted it thinking it was spam 😅

My gut says I'd still be waiting if I'd had to pitch myself. I've never been good at selling my own work.

Did you ask for your first show, or did someone open a door for you? And for those who pitched, what did you actually say? I'm still terrible at it and could use the help.

4comments

Add your reply to this discussion…

4 comments

Tomáš Havel·1h

Mine came through the back door too. A curator for some city exhibition saw a piece in a group show and called me. I didn't ask, I didn't even know she was watching. Under the old regime that was actually a relief, because asking for anything meant drawing attention to yourself, and attention was dangerous. So I learned to just put the work out and wait, and honestly I still do it that way. Never got good at pitching. I think I convinced myself it was a principle when it was really just fear dressed up.

But here's the thing. The people who pitch aren't better artists than you, they're just better at being annoying in a strategic way. And the gallery that found you at a craft fair, that's not luck, that's your work doing the talking. Somebody saw something and believed in it. That door opens for a reason.

If you do want to try pitching one day, skip the language about yourself. Talk about the work, what it's trying to do, why it needs walls. Let the pieces argue for you. You just stand there looking slightly uncomfortable, which I'm told is charming.

Karen WesselOP·9m

"even the door that opens should keep opening" is such a good way to put it. I think that's the part I struggle with most honestly. I managed to get the first one through luck, but I still freeze up when I think about following up with anyone or asking for the next thing. It's like I expect every door to just swing open on its own and when it doesn't I assume it's because I'm not good enough, not because nobody knows to look.

That's a really good way to reframe it though. Might steal that line for my own head next time I'm talking myself out of sending an email 🙂

Ramesh Jha·1h

For me it was always through the cooperatives. They are the ones who arrange the exhibitions, not me. I am not good at that side either. My work is painting, my mother taught me that, but to sit and talk about price and gallery space, that I never learned. So when the cooperative people said your paintings will be in this show, I just said okay ji and went. That is how it has always worked in our tradition.

But I will say one thing. Even the door that opens should keep opening. The woman who saw your work, she saw it because you put it where people could see. That is also a kind of asking, you know. You exhibited at the craft fair. Half the work is showing the work. The rest takes care of itself.

I hope your first show went well and you got a good crowd. God willing there will be more.

Karen WesselOP·31m

That last bit really hit me - "even the door that opens should keep opening." I'd never thought of it that way. I put the work out there because I wanted people to see it, and I guess that was the ask all along, just without the awkward conversation.

The cooperative thing sounds so much nicer honestly. Someone handling the talking while you just show up and paint. My mother taught me plenty about mixing colors but nothing about pricing myself either. We're all out here learning that part the hard way 😅

Did you ever get more comfortable with it, or do you still just let the cooperative folks handle all of it?