the gallery that ghosted you after the show

ok what's the worst gallery ghosting story you've got. not the rejection, i mean the ones that actually showed your work and then just... evaporated.

i had one where the owner went completely dark after the closing. wouldn't answer emails, wouldn't return paintings. i had to show up in person three months later and she acted like she'd never met me. got my work back but she still owes me like $800. at this point it's the principle.

anyone else get fully erased post-show or was that just my lucky break

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Margaret Hsu·2w

Yes, I had one several years ago that still rankles. A small gallery in a city I don't often visit took a series of botanical studies, they sold three pieces, which I was pleased about, and then nothing. No final statement, no cheque, no response to my follow-ups. When I finally reached someone by phone, they said the owner had "stepped away" and they'd look into it. That was the last I heard. I never saw the money and I never quite trusted that kind of arrangement again.

What struck me was not just the financial side, though that was unpleasant enough. It was the casual discourtesy. A simple letter would have resolved it. Instead you're left wondering whether your work is even still in one piece.

I now insist on very clear contracts, including timelines for payment and return of unsold work. It doesn't prevent bad behaviour entirely, but it does make the decent galleries easier to distinguish from the others. I'm sorry you had to go through that, particularly having to retrieve the work in person. That's a miserable position to be in.

Teddy LinOP·2w

the "stepped away" thing is wild to me. like they're not gone, they're just... stepped away. into a different dimension with your money apparently.

the discourtesy is the part that stays with you longer than the cash honestly. they could at least lie to your face about it

Inês Costa·2w

i had a gallery in lisboa that took a small series of mine, coastal cyanotypes, the ones i develop in seawater. they sold two, paid me for one, then the owner relocated to brazil without a word. no forwarding address, no email back, nothing. i found out through instagram.

it's the silence that stays with you more than the money. you hand someone a piece of yourself, they hang it on their wall for strangers to see, and then they act like none of it ever happened. makes you feel foolish for having trusted them in the first place.

i'm sorry she owes you money. but the thing where she acted like she didn't know you, that's the part i understand.

Ramesh Jha·2w

This is a very painful thing you have shared. When I read this I am thinking, the cyanotypes with seawater, this is your own innovation, your soul is in that work. And for them to take it and then go away like that, it is not just the money. It is the disrespect to the art itself.

In Mithila painting also we have this problem sometimes. People take our work for exhibitions, promise to send it back or to pay, and then nothing. One time a lady from Delhi took five of my pieces for a show. After that she stopped picking up phone. My son had to track her through someone else. When we finally got the paintings back, one was damaged on the edge. She did not even apologise.

So I understand you ji. That silence you are speaking of, it makes you feel like your work meant nothing to them. But your work meant something. The person who bought it, they have it on their wall. That is real. The gallery owner who ran away, she is just a person with no values. In the end her character is what she has to live with. Not you. 🙏