The gallery that rejected you and you're now secretly glad about, what happened?
There's a gallery in my town that turned me down flat about eight years ago. Polite rejection, but firm. At the time I took it personally and questioned everything.
Two years later that same gallery closed. I don't wish anyone out of business, but it turned out my work found a better home at a small natural-history museum instead, where the director actually understood the tradition I work in and let me paint what I paint. That rejection was a mercy in hindsight.
Anyone else have a "no" that turned out to be doing them a favour? What did you do with the work they turned away?
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yeah i got one. a gallery that kept me on the hook for months, "we love your work, just waiting on the board," then ghosted. found out later they'd been stringing three other artists along the exact same way to keep their roster looking full for a grant application. real classy.
that rejection stung for a while because i'd built the whole thing up in my head. but the work ended up in a group show at a community space, which meant it got seen by people who actually buy art, not people who walk through a gallery to be seen. sold two pieces there.
the funny thing is i still get a little tight when i walk past that gallery's old storefront. even knowing it was a favour, the body remembers the rejection before the brain catches up. but yeah, i'd rather have the small show that mattered than the big one that would've just used my name.