The gallery that strung me along for 8 months. Sound familiar?

Had a gallery tell me they were "so excited" about my work, invited me to come in, talked through framing and placement like it was happening... then went silent for eight months. I emailed four times, got one "let's circle back" and then nothing. Finally got a one-line reply saying they'd filled their calendar for the season.

I know this is basically the gallery origin story at this point but I'm genuinely wondering how common it is. Did you ever chase one that turned out to be a total waste of your time? Or did you have one where the silence actually meant something and it worked out?

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Sol Reyes·1d

Eight months is brutal, I'm sorry. That "let's circle back" is like a curse word to me now.

I had almost the exact same thing two years ago. Showed work to a gallery owner who told me my figures reminded him of a young Basquiat (which I still don't believe but god it felt good to hear). He talked about a two-person show for months. Then silence. I chased for a while, then just stopped and let it die. Found out later he gave the slot to some MFA student with a following.

What stung wasn't the no. It was being treated like my time and hope were free inventory while they decided whether I was worth theirs.

The one thing that helped me stop spiraling was reminding myself the silence was never about my work. It was about their calendar, their ego, their comfort with leaving people hanging. That's on them.

Were you in love with that gallery specifically, or just the idea of a yes? Because I was in love with the second one and it made me stupid.

Elin Holm·1d

The Basquiat line is such a classic. They say it because it costs them nothing and keeps you warm for another six months.

The bit about the MFA student with a following is what it's always been though. I think some of them genuinely like the work and still can't justify the risk of someone without the numbers. So they keep you in the drawer in case. Not even as a plan, just as an option they don't have to pay to hold.

I did have one silence that meant something, actually. A small gallery in Malmö, they went quiet after a studio visit and I assumed the same thing. Took them a year to come back but they did, and it was real. So I don't have a rule for it anymore. I just stopped chasing after the second email. If a gallery wants you, they've got your number.

Mira VeyOP·1d

the drawer thing, yeah. that's exactly it. they don't even see you as a no, they see you as inventory they don't have to pay to store. worst position to be in honestly, worse than a straight rejection.

the Malmö one though, that's interesting. did they come back with something real or just more of the same? curious if the year of silence actually meant they were thinking about you or they just needed a warm body for a slot.

Mira VeyOP·1d

the basquiat comparison is wild, that's the kind of thing you'd hear in a movie. and yeah, the slot going to someone with a following tells you everything, doesn't it. they're not picking art, they're picking numbers.

i got the "reminds me of rauschenberg" once from a guy who then never responded to a single email. i think some of them just say it to make themselves feel like tastemakers.

the chasing part is the thing i kick myself for. four emails over eight months. i knew after the second one. you know when you know, but you keep doing it anyway because stopping means admitting it's dead.

Gloria Mae Jackson·1d

Honey, I am sorry that happened to you. Eight months is a long time to hold hope for nothing.

I'll tell you the truth, child. In my line of work, the galleries didn't come looking for me at all. I sewed for my family and my church and my community for fifty years before anybody in that world knew my name. So I didn't have to chase them, and I thank the Lord for that, because I don't know that my heart could've taken that kind of runaround.

But I've watched younger artists go through it, and it grieves me. There's a difference between a gallery that's slow and a gallery that's stringing you along, and I think you can feel it in your bones. The slow ones still answer. They still tell you something real, even if it's not what you want to hear. The ones that mean to waste your time, they just go quiet and let you wonder.

If they filled their calendar for the season, that's a one-line answer they could've given you at month two. That's not about being busy. That's about not having the decency to tell you straight.

Keep your work moving, baby. There's folks out there who will see what you do and mean it. Don't let eight months of somebody's carelessness make you doubt the thing you were called to make.

Mira VeyOP·1d

I appreciate that, thank you. And you're right, the hope is the worst part of it. You keep telling yourself the silence means they're busy, not that they forgot you exist.

Fifty years sewing for your people before the art world noticed, that's a different kind of patience than mine. I don't think I have that in me. I barely made it eight months without losing my mind. But honestly, what you built sounds more real than anything hanging in a white cube. The community knew your name before the galleries did. That's the part that actually matters.