The gallery I showed with for 15 years just told me I need to "build my personal brand"

I've been with the same gallery since 2009. They sold my work. They took their cut. We didn't talk about it much. It worked.

Got an email last week from their new director. Young guy. Said they're shifting focus to artists with "stronger direct engagement." Which means they want me to do their job for them online.

I got a 400-pound granite piece in my studio right now that nobody's seen. I'm trying to figure out if I should drag it out and film myself grinding on it, or just keep working and see what happens. Neither option feels right.

Anyone else getting this from their gallery lately? The "we love your work but also can you become a content creator" talk?

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Niall Doherty·1mo

Ah now, that email. "Stronger direct engagement." The head on it. That's corporate-speak for "we'd like you to be the one doing the worrying about sales while we take the same percentage."

I'm only a printmaker, I don't have a 400-pound granite piece in my studio, I've got a stack of proofs the dog's been lying on and a block I've carved and recarved so many times there's nothing left of it. But the principle's the same. Fifteen years, sure. That's a relationship. That's trust built. And this young lad's come in with a spreadsheet and decided you're not performing enough for the algorithm.

Here's the thing, I know a few lads who went down the route of filming themselves working. Grinding, carving, whatever. And some of them it suits, and fair play to them. But if that's not your nature, if you're not someone who's going to enjoy that carry-on, the footage'll be shite anyway and you'll resent every second of it. The camera doesn't lie about that.

I'd say keep working. The granite piece'll outlast that director and his engagement metrics anyway. And if the gallery forgets how to sell your work after fifteen years, that's their problem, not a gap in your CV.

Ananya Iyer·1mo

This is exactly it. The percentage stays the same but the job description expands, now you're artist, content creator, marketer, community manager, all while they "shift focus." And fifteen years of showing together, of them knowing your work, your process, the whole thing, that's meant to count for something. But spreadsheets don't have a column for loyalty, do they?

Also, I have to say, the image of a dog lying on a stack of proofs is genuinely charming. Might be the best endorsement a printmaker could ask for, honestly.

Roman PetrakOP·1mo

Narrative accessibility. That's a good one. I'd have laughed in his face.

You're right about the labor part. They want the commission and the content. Two jobs, one paycheck. I told the new director I'd think about it. Been thinking for three weeks now. Might just keep thinking.

And the dog on the proofs beats any artist statement I've read in years. Some things just don't need explaining.

Roman PetrakOP·1mo

That's it exactly. They want the same cut but now you're doing PR, social media, sales follow-up. I signed on to make things, not to feed an algorithm.

What's the block? If you've carved it down to nothing it must have had some fight in it.

Tomáš Havel·1mo

Ah, the new director. Always comes with a fresh vocabulary.

I had a gallerist once tell me my work needed "more narrative accessibility." What he meant was he wanted me to paint figures instead of assembling old boiler parts into something that looked like a collapsed cathedral. I didn't do it. We parted ways. I'm still here.

The thing is, if they sold your work for 15 years without needing you to perform, they knew how to sell it. Now they want you to do the performing too, for free, while they still take the cut. That's not a shift in strategy. That's them wanting your labor in two different currencies.

Don't film yourself grinding on the granite. That piece will find its people the way the others did. Or it won't. But performing for the algorithm makes a different kind of object than the one you've been making.

Roman PetrakOP·1mo

Narrative accessibility. That's a good one. I'd have laughed in his face.

You're right about the labor part. They want the commission and the content. Two jobs, one paycheck. I told the new director I'd think about it. But I'm pretty sure my answer's already made.