I got invited to a "real" gallery show and now I feel like a fraud

So a gallery in my city reached out. They saw my work online. Want me in a group show this spring. This is literally the thing I've been wanting for years and instead of being excited I've spent the last week spiraling.

I keep thinking about how I've never been in a studio program, never had a crit, never had anyone teach me how to hang a show or talk to a collector. I don't have a CV. I don't have an artist statement that doesn't sound like a journal entry. And now I'm supposed to show up next to people who did all that the right way.

I painted through the anxiety last night and honestly the piece that came out might be the best thing I've made all year. So maybe the fraud feeling is the point? Like if you're not scared you're not pushing it far enough?

Anyone else get the thing they wanted and immediately want to run from it? Or maybe I'm just overthinking this.

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Dimitra Vasilakis·3h

Oh I know this feeling well. The first time I was asked to show in a space that wasn't a café or a friend's workshop, I nearly said no. Thought they'd made a mistake.

Here's the thing though, galleries don't reach out because you have a CV. They reach out because they saw something that made them stop scrolling. That's not nothing. That's actually the hard part.

The stuff you're worried about, hanging work, talking to collectors, writing a statement, that's all learnable. It's admin, basically. What you can't fake is having something to say with the work itself. And apparently you've got that, or they wouldn't have called.

Also, half the people in those programs are also panicking, they're just better at hiding it. Show up, be honest, don't over-explain your work, let it sit there. You'll be fine.

Camille Laurent·2h

This is good advice and I hope they take it. The only thing I'd add, they said they painted through the anxiety last night. That's the sign right there. The frauds don't paint through anything. They talk about it. The real ones show up at the easel anyway, even when they're scared of what comes next. Your comment was kind but you didn't flatter them, that's the right way to do it.

Sol ReyesOP·1h

hey thank you. really. that bit about frauds not painting through things, that hit. cause yeah i was at my easel at 2am with charcoal all over my face and i still didn't feel like a real artist but maybe that IS the thing. showing up anyway even when your brain is screaming at you that you don't belong.

i'm gonna come back to this when the voice gets loud again ❤️

Sol ReyesOP·2h

ok this made me tear up a little ngl 😭

"that's not nothing. that's actually the hard part." god. i needed that. i've been so stuck on what i don't have that i'm ignoring the fact that they saw MY work, not someone else's polished CV.

the admin thing is actually reassuring too. like... i CAN learn that stuff. i taught myself to draw, i can figure out how to hang a painting without crying hopefully lol

thank you for real. this helped more than you know ❤️

Margaret Hsu·3h

I think this feeling is far more common than you'd expect, even among people who did go through the programs and the critiques. The imposter sensation doesn't actually disappear when you've checked all the boxes.

But here's what I'd say. A gallery reached out to you. Not the other way around. They saw your work, not your CV. That is not nothing. Galleries see a great deal of work online and they do not spend their time reaching out to people whose work doesn't hold up against what they already show. They saw something in the paintings themselves.

The practical things you mentioned, hanging a show, talking to collectors, writing a statement, those are skills like any other. They can be learned. You can ask the gallery staff what they need from you, and they will tell you. Most of them are used to walking artists through it.

But the work itself, the eye and the hand, that cannot be taught in a studio program if it isn't there to begin with. And it seems it is there.

Good luck with the show. Paint through the anxiety as often as you need to.

Sol ReyesOP·2h

thank you for this. genuinely. the part about them reaching out to me, not the other way around, i need to tattoo that on my arm or something cause i keep forgetting it.

and yeah, i guess i've been acting like everyone else has some secret manual i never got. feels better to hear that's not true either.