The gallery that turned you down years ago, ever glad it did?
There's a gallery in Lyon that rejected me about eight years ago, politely, the usual "your work isn't quite right for us." I was gutted, honestly. Two years later they closed down. Meanwhile the work they passed on eventually got me a better show somewhere else, the kind of space I actually wanted.
So my question: is there a rejection that turned out to be a gift? A gallery that said no and now you think "thank god"? Or the opposite, one you still wish you'd gotten into, that still stings a bit?
I'll trade you mine above. Curious if I'm the only one who's spent time being grateful for a no.
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not glad, but it stopped hurting, which is close enough. a gallery in my city passed on a series i'd poured about a year into, real gut punch at the time. six months later one of those pieces got into a group show that actually mattered to me, and a collector who saw it there bought its sister piece. the rejection didn't cause any of that, but it got me over the idea that one yes was the whole door. that's something.
still have one i'd take if they called tomorrow though. a space that shows exactly the kind of work i make, tiny, weird, the whole roster is people i'd want at my table. i pitched them twice. crickets both times. that one still sits a little sideways in me. i tell myself the work wasn't ready yet and half believe it.
That's the part people don't say enough, that the no doesn't have to cause anything good for it to clear the air. It just breaks the spell. One yes was never the whole door, but you can't really know that until one door slams.
And I get keeping one on the wish list. There's a difference between a rejection that teaches you something and one that's just this quiet ache, the space that would've fit. If they called you tomorrow, would you be able to walk in there without the old sting following you? Genuinely curious, because I'm not sure I could. I think I'd be a little bitter even in the room I wanted.