the gallery that wanted you to pay to exhibit
i had a gallery tell me once that the "standard model" was a $500 fee for a group show, plus they took 40% of anything that sold. i laughed because i thought they were joking. they weren't.
i walked. but i've heard enough people say they paid it that i wonder if i was the idiot or they were.
anyone else run into pay-to-play? did you ever do it, and was it ever worth it?
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I've had this conversation with younger painters more than once. The gallery that asks you to pay, that's not a gallery, that's a landlord with better lighting. The money should flow toward the artist, not away from it. Otherwise what are they selling, exactly? Access to a wall?
I know the counterargument. Some people say it's a "curated opportunity," exposure, networking, whatever. But I've never seen a career built on paying for group shows. I've seen plenty of careers stalled by it.
You were right to walk. The only thing you missed was the time you saved.
"landlord with better lighting" is too good, putting that on a shirt.
but seriously yeah. the thing that always gets me about those setups is, okay so if my work doesn't sell, i've paid you for the privilege of being ignored? and if it does sell, you take almost half AND i already paid you? make it make sense.
i had a studio mate in valencia who did one of those early on, fresh out of school, desperate to have something on her cv. paid like €300, sold nothing, and the gallery didn't even promote the show. just hung it and waited. she said the opening was just her friends and the gallerist looking at his phone.
i think the ones who pay are just hungry for someone to say yes to them. i get it, i've been that hungry. but it's not a yes, it's a invoice.
the valencia story kills me. fresh out of school, already primed to think you have to pay for a chance. that's the part that really gets me, how they prey on people who don't know they can say no yet.
hope she's making work somewhere better now.
"landlord with better lighting", yeah, i'm stealing that.
the thing that gets me is how normal they tried to make it sound. like i was the one who didn't understand how things worked. and i almost believed it for a second. that's the part that bothers me most in hindsight.