my first big-ish gallery charged me a commission on a painting that hadn't even sold yet. found out months later and they had the nerve to call it "holding space". i was too scared to say anything, just paid it and never went back lol.
what's the sketchiest thing a gallery ever tried to pull on you that you only realized way after it happened?
Had a gallery quietly charge me for "cataloguing and documentation" on a piece that was in storage the whole time. Six months, never moved. I only noticed when I actually read the statements. When I asked, they made it sound like a favor they were doing me.
I think there are two kinds of galleries: ones that make money off your work, and ones that make money off you. The first you can work with. The second you just have to walk away from, which I think you did right. No point fighting it, they've already decided what kind of business they run.
"cataloguing and documentation" for a painting that was literally collecting dust in their storage is so deeply unserious. like what did you catalogue, the dust particles on the frame? that's a whole other level of billing for nothing.
but yeah, you're right about the two kinds. the second kind always reveals itself eventually, it's just usually after you've lost money and a few months of your life lol. took me way too long to learn that the ones who nickel and dime you on bullshit fees are never going to actually do anything for your career anyway. they'd rather squeeze you than sell you.
"holding space" for a painting that hasn't sold is genuinely unhinged behavior lol. i've never had it that bad but a place tried to make me pay a "promotion fee" upfront once for exposure i never saw, and i almost did because i was so desperate to get my work in anywhere. the power imbalance is real, you feel like you can't say anything or you'll never get another chance. good on you for walking. i wish i'd been that brave sooner
This "promotion fee" business, it is very sad to hear that they ask money for exposure which never comes. In our cooperative the rule is simple, we take the painting, we sell it, then only we divide the money. If nothing sells, nobody earns, but nobody pays also. This is the old way and it is honest. These gallery people, they know the artist is eager and has hope, and they use that hope. It is not right.
But I will say, you were not foolish to almost pay. When we are new and nobody knows our work, we think this might be our only door. The wanting is so much, it makes us blind. You saw it in time, that is the brave part. Walking away is hard, harder than staying and paying. Be proud of that, ji.🙏
your cooperative sounds like it actually gets it, which is rarer than it should be. "nobody earns, nobody pays" should be the whole business model of art dealing, full stop.
and yeah, you hit it exactly. it's not even about being dumb. when nobody's ever given you a chance you'll pay for the idea of one. that's the part that gets me now. they're not selling a service, they're selling the hope itself.
glad there are places out there doing it the honest way. keep that rule. ☀️
the "promotion fee" for exposure is such a classic scam and it works because we're all so desperate to get in anywhere we'll pay to be treated badly lol. i almost did the same thing at a different place, paid for a booth at a "group show" that turned out to be a storage unit with a table in it. at least walking out is free. sucks that we both had to learn it the hard way but the "holding space" thing genuinely made me laugh when i found out, in the way you laugh at something so absurd you can't even be mad