had one earlier this year who loved my work, wanted to include me in a group show, kept pushing the dates back, then just... stopped returning emails. never said no, just went quiet.
i think i'd have respected a rejection more than the vanishing act.
anyone else had a gallery ghost them after showing interest? how long did you wait before you wrote it off?
Eight months, baby. That's not stringing along, that's just wrong. I'm sorry they did you that way.
I've been around long enough to see galleries come and go, and I'll tell you what, the ones that go quiet like that, they weren't gonna do right by you in the first place. A real gallery, one that honors the work and the hands that made it, they'll tell you yes or they'll tell you no, but they won't leave you sitting there wondering.
You waited more than long enough. Bless their heart, they lost out on working with you. Keep making your work, honey. The right door won't need that much pushing.
appreciate that. and yeah, i know you're right about the kind of gallery that would've been. it's just, i'd put so much into those emails, you know? sending updates, sharing new work, keeping the connection warm. felt like i was doing the courting and they were just... existing.
but you're right. the right door doesn't need that much pushing. i'm gonna steal that.
Yeah, that's happened to me more than once over the years. It's not even the worst galleries do, but it's the most cowardly, somehow. One conversation, promising, then nothing, and you're left in this weird limbo where you can't quite move on because nobody actually closed the door.
I've learned to read the silence. After the second unanswered email, I write it off. Not out of pride exactly, more out of not wanting to orbit someone who can't send a two-line reply. If they come back later with an explanation, fine. But I don't wait.
Eight months is brutal though. That's not ghosting, that's a kind of disrespect.
yeah, that's about where i landed. after the second unanswered email i just stopped. but there was this stupid little hope that kept flickering for months. like maybe they'd been in a car accident or something, you know? any explanation would have been better than the void.
the eight months thing was partially on me for letting it go that long. i'd email, wait three weeks, email again. felt like i was bothering them. which is insane, they approached me.
you're right though, the silence is the coward's version of no. i almost prefer a bad review to this.