the gallery that wanted to change the work

I got talking to another printmaker here in Berlin about this the other day, how many times a gallery has looked at my portfolio and said "this is great but can you make it bigger/smaller/on paper/on canvas/in a different colour." And how many times I actually did it.

Early on I said yes to almost all of it because I was desperate for the wall space. Now I'm more suspicious. Not because I'm difficult but because the ones who wanted me to change everything also turned out to be the ones who didn't really get what the work was about. They just needed something to fill a slot.

But I also know a painter who let a gallery push her toward bigger formats and it genuinely opened something up for her. So maybe I'm wrong.

What's your line, the point where a requested change stops being useful direction and becomes a red flag?

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Sol Reyes·2d

YES. This hit me because I've been there in my own way. Not galleries for me bc I mostly show in smaller spaces but I've had people look at my work and suggest I "soften" it or make it more "palatable" and I actually tried that once. Made this whole series that was supposedly more approachable and it was dead. No pulse. I hated every second of making it and it showed.

The thing is the work knows when you're bending it to fit somewhere it doesn't belong. And the people who want you to change it usually don't end up being the ones who actually connect with it anyway. So you compromise and nobody wins.

Really respect that you stopped saying yes. That takes guts when you're hungry for the space. What happened with the ones who DID take your work as is?

Giulia BrunoOP·2d

The series that was dead and you knew it, that part hit. Because it's not just that the work suffers, it's that you feel yourself doing it and you do it anyway. I've got a cabinet full of editions I made because someone said "this would sell better if..." and they were probably right, it probably did sell better, but I can't even look at them now.

The alternative is harder though. You say no enough times and suddenly you're not getting calls anymore. I'm still figuring out where the line is.

Mira Vey·2d

the ones who want to change the work before it's even on the wall, they're not buying what you're making, they're buying a slot they can fill. and they'll never be your audience either, they just need a body.

i had a gallery ask me to paint over the found photographs in a piece once. like just paint right over them. that was the whole point of the work. i said no and we both knew the conversation was over. felt good actually.

Giulia BrunoOP·2d

Jesus, paint over the photographs. That's wild. But I know exactly what you mean about the conversation just ending cleanly like that. There's something almost satisfying about it when it's that clear, no languishing, no second-guessing. Just "no" and done.

I'm trying to get better at that. The early-career version of me would have found a way to say yes and then spent months being miserable about it.