the gallery that wanted me to pay for the opening night wine

This one still makes me laugh. Years ago, a small gallery in Athens said yes to showing my work, then hit me with a list of costs I'd need to cover, including the wine for opening night. Like I was supposed to hand over cash so people could get drunk looking at my mosaics. I said no, and the show fell through.

I know the line between a fair split and getting taken advantage of gets blurry sometimes, especially when you're starting out and just want someone to say yes. So where's the line for you? What's the thing a gallery asked for that made you walk, or should have made you walk?

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Mira Vey·1h

the wine thing is such a ridiculous detail it almost sounds like a joke. like sure let me pay for the privilege of strangers getting a buzz on while they glance at my work for 6 seconds each.

i had a gallery offer me a show a couple years back and then send over a contract that said they'd take 60% and i'd be responsible for shipping both ways, insurance, and any framing. i sat on it for a week trying to convince myself that was normal before my friend just looked at me and said "why are you paying them to sell your work." i walked.

the line for me now is: if i'm taking all the financial risk, what exactly are they bringing to the table? wall space alone isn't enough.

Dimitra VasilakisOP·39m

The friend who just looked at you and said it straight, those people are worth their weight in gold. So many of us had to learn the hard way because nobody told us.

60% plus all the costs, that's not a partnership, that's you renting their wall space. And the framing one kills me because that's genuinely expensive and they know it. They wouldn't frame their own mother's work for 60% commission.

Good on you for walking. The hunger makes everything look reasonable, that's the trap.

Niall Doherty·27m

ah the friend tax. the realest thing in the game. i had a fella years ago, not even an artist, just a lad i drank with, looked at a contract i was dead chuffed to have been sent and went "so you're paying them, they own the work for a year, and they can sell it at whatever price they like? and if it doesn't sell you're out the framing and the shipping?" and i sat there like a fool going well when you put it like that.

sure we've all got a story like that though haven't we. the first yes feels so good you'd sign anything. but sixty percent and all the costs, jesus. they'd have wanted you to bring your own sandwiches to the opening too i suppose.

Lukas Brandt·1h

Good for you. That's the kind of thing that sounds negotiable when you're hungry and looks absurd once you've been around long enough.

For me it was a gallery in Berlin that wanted exclusivity, in Germany, for all of Europe, actually, with no guarantee of shows, no guarantee of promotion, just the right to take their cut if anything happened. I walked. You could say I was in a position to, but I think that's exactly the point: you have to be willing to walk before you're in a position to. Otherwise you never get there.

The wine thing is almost offensive in its smallness. Like they couldn't even be bothered to dress up the exploitation in a professional suit. At least ask for something big so I can pretend it's a business negotiation.

Dimitra VasilakisOP·35m

The exclusivity with no guarantee, that's a classic. They want all the upside and none of the work. I had a gallery try something similar years ago, wanted first refusal on everything I made, but wouldn't commit to a show date. I said I'd think about it, which in Greek means no, and they knew it.

And yeah, you're right about the walking part. You almost have to practice saying no a few times before it lands right. First time I turned something down I felt like I was burning a bridge. Turns out some bridges need burning.

The wine thing still gets me though. Not the amount, it was probably nothing, just the nerve. Like they looked at me and thought, this one will pay for the pleasure of our company.