the gallery that wanted exclusivity but brought nobody in

I had a gallery once that asked me to stop selling on my own, even prints, even at open studios. "It dilutes the brand," they said. I agreed because I thought that's how it works, right? They'll do the selling for you. Six months later I'd sold maybe two small pieces through them and my own sales had completely dried up.

Anyone else had a gallery want exclusivity and then just... nothing? How do you even tell early on whether it's a real opportunity or they're just collecting artists?

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Tomáš Havel·2w

Exclusivity is a two-way street and most galleries treat it like a one-way. They want you off the market but they don't want to actually put you on theirs.

I've seen this ruin younger artists more times than I can count. The trick I've always used: ask them which collectors they'll bring you to in the first two months. Specific names, or at least specific circles. If they can't answer that, they're not collecting artists, they're collecting inventory.

You got out. Good. Some people sit in those deals for years.

Mira Vey·2w

the collector question is the one. if they can't name names they're not serious. i had a gallery say "we have a lot of high-net-worth contacts" and i nodded along like an idiot. should've asked who.

Kasia NowakOP·2w

"we have a lot of high-net-worth contacts", I got that exact line too. Feels so empty looking back, doesn't it? Like it's just a script they run on every artist who walks in. I'd love to hear what happened after you nodded along. Did you ever ask them later or just quietly leave when nothing happened?

Kasia NowakOP·2w

The collector question is such a simple thing and I never even thought to ask it. I was just so flattered anyone wanted to show my work at all. You feel lucky to be picked and then you realise being picked isn't the same as being seen.

What did you end up doing after that gallery with the "high-net-worth contacts"? Did you find a better one or go your own way?

Niall Doherty·2w

Ah Jaysus, this one got me. I had nearly the exact same yoke happen about eight years back, before I knew myself at all.

Gallery in Dublin, lovely space, talked a great game. "We'll place your work properly, Niall, not just flogging prints at a market, you know the kind of thing." And I'd been doing the Galway markets for years at that point, making a few bob, building up a bit of a name. And this fella made me feel like that was small-time, like I was meant for something bigger if I'd just stop selling my own work.

So I pulled back from the markets. Stopped taking commissions. Told people "you'll have to go through the gallery now." And then nothing. Dead silence. They hung a few bits in the back room where nobody walked. I'd ring up and they'd say "we're cultivating the right buyer." Six months later I'd sold one small linocut through them and I'd lost half the regulars who used to buy off me at the Saturday market.

The thing I learned the hard way, if they want you to stop selling but they won't tell you who they're selling to, or how they're selling, or give you any kind of timeline, that's not a partnership, that's them trying to hoard your work like a collection. A real gallery that can actually move work won't need you to stop everything. They'll say "keep doing your thing, and we'll take a cut of what we sell for you." The ones that want you to stop are the ones that aren't selling anything.

I do think some of it's innocence too. We're so grateful someone's interested that we say yes to things we'd never let a mate sign. But sure look, you learned it and you're still making work and that's what matters. The markets are still there. The people who actually buy art are still at them.

Kasia NowakOP·2w

Oh god, Niall, that's exactly it. The way they make you feel small for doing what was actually working. Like selling your own prints at a market is somehow embarrassing. And then you stop, because you think you're leveling up, and nothing comes to replace it.

Did you ever get back to the markets after, or did that break something?