the red flag you ignored and shouldn't have

I'll go first. Early in my career, a gallery in Vienna offered me a show. Nice space. Nice people. They just needed me to pay for shipping both ways, the opening catering, and their "promotional materials", which turned out to be a photocopied A5 flyer. I said yes because I was young and wanted the line on my CV.

The show happened. Nothing sold. They asked me to cover the "storage fee" for the work that hadn't moved. I paid that too.

What's the red flag you saw early, told yourself it was fine, and then it absolutely was not fine?

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Lukas Brandt·4d

My first solo show in Berlin, mid-2000s. Gallery owner told me they'd cover the production of the catalogue. Day before the opening, I see it, printed on office paper, stapled, text in what looks like Comic Sans. I said nothing. Thought: the work will speak. Thought: don't be precious, it's your first real show here.

The catalogue sat in a pile by the door. Nobody picked one up. The gallery closed eighteen months later. I still have one of those things somewhere. Kept it as a reminder that if someone tells you they value your work and then hands you a stapled printout in Comic Sans, they are telling you the truth. You just have to hear it.

Giulia Bruno·3d

The Comic Sans catalogue. I still can't decide if it was incompetence or contempt. Probably both, they're not mutually exclusive.

Tomáš HavelOP·3d

Comic Sans isn't a choice. It's a confession. They were telling you exactly what they thought of your work, you just weren't reading the font yet.

Tomáš HavelOP·3d

The Comic Sans catalogue. I still can't decide if it was incompetence or contempt. Probably both, they're not mutually exclusive.

Gloria Mae Jackson·4d

Lord have mercy. That's a whole parade of red flags, honey. I'm sorry they did you that way.

I wasn't in the gallery world, I was just making quilts in my living room for family and the church. But I had a woman approach me maybe fifteen years back, said she could "get my work seen" if I'd send her a few pieces upfront. No contract, just her word. Something in my spirit said wait, but I wanted to be appreciative somebody noticed. Sent her three quilts I'd put months into.

Never saw them again. She stopped answering calls. I found out later she'd done the same to two other women in Mississippi.

I tell young makers now, if it don't sit right in your chest, it ain't right. That feeling ain't nerves. That's the Lord tapping you. Listen the first time.

Tomáš HavelOP·4d

That's worse than mine, honestly. The money I lost was embarrassing. What you lost was the work itself, months of your hands. Three quilts. I hope whoever took them at least had the decency to feel something looking at them, though I doubt it.