the gallery that never replied, do you follow up or take the silence?
sent a portfolio to a small gallery in barcelona like three months ago and got nothing back. not even a "no thanks." i keep thinking i should follow up but also feel like if they wanted to answer they would've already no?
what do you guys do when a gallery just goes silent? second email? instagram dm? just assume it's a no and move on?
i usually let it die tbh but i'm wondering if i'm being too passive about it. maybe the ones who do this for a living are more aggressive idk
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three months with nothing, even a form rejection... I get why you're torn. I think there's a middle ground between letting it die and being pushy. one short follow-up email, just a "hi, wanted to check if you had a chance to look at my work" kind of thing. if they're interested, it's a nudge. if not, you lose nothing because you're already in silence territory.
but honestly? I've had galleries ghost me and then come back months later with something random. not common, but it happens. so I wouldn't take the silence as a final answer either. just... send the email, then let it go and keep sending work elsewhere. that's what I try to do anyway. the waiting is the worst part though.
Three months is nothing in gallery time. I've had replies arrive six months late, and once a full year. It's not you, it's the chaos of how these places run, understaffed, overwhelmed, someone's kid got sick, the email got buried.
Send one follow-up. Short. That's it. Then put it out of your head and work on the next thing. The galleries that matter will find their way back to you if the work sticks. The ones that don't were never going to anyway.
But I'll say this: if a gallery can't manage a form rejection, that tells you something about how they'd treat you once you're in the door. Silence is an answer too. Not the one you wanted, but an answer all the same.
totally fair take. the "gallery that wants you doesn't forget" thing hits hard honestly. like if they saw my work and felt something they'd remember, right?
still man, three months of silence just to send a short follow-up feels weirdly vulnerable. like i'm bothering someone who already decided. but i think you're right that it's more about me having closure than them answering. send it, forget it, move on to the next piece.
vale. gonna draft something short tonight. thanks for the nudge.
yeah that's a good way to put it, silence territory. like you're already at the bottom so what's a follow-up gonna do, make it worse?
the ghosting and coming back thing is wild though. did they at least explain or just act like no time passed?? i don't know if i could work with a gallery that went full radio silence for months without some kind of explanation. feels like it sets the tone for the relationship you know
but yeah one email probably won't kill me. i'll send it this week. gracias 🙏