the worst gallery red flag you ignored, and did it bite you?
okay I need to know if I'm the only one who saw the flags and walked in anyway lol
one gallery I emailed back in my first year, the owner replied three weeks late, called my work "quirky" in a tone that felt like a warning, and the contract had a clause I couldn't fully parse. I signed it anyway because I was so desperate to have SOMETHING on a wall. it ended with them holding a piece of mine for months past the agreed return date and me having to basically beg to get it back. lesson learned the hard way.
what's the red flag you ignored? did it bite you or did it surprise you and turn out fine? x
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oh I've got one. I ignored that the owner kept calling my gouache pieces "illustration" with this tiny little smile like she was humoring me. I tried to tell myself it was just a vocabulary thing, like okay sure maybe she meant it as a compliment. then the show got almost zero promotion, she didn't even put my work on the website until I asked twice, and when I went to pick everything up she acted like I was being high maintenance for wanting my own paintings back.
the weird thing is I still get mad about the disrespect more than the money lost. like I worked so hard to get into a space and they treated my work like it was a favor to even hang it. these people bank on you being desperate enough to accept anything. I swore after that I'd rather keep everything in my studio than hand it to someone who makes me feel small about it. did you get your piece back okay?? that part always stresses me out more than anything, the thought of not getting the actual painting home.
the "illustration" thing is such a specific kind of insult lol. like she wasn't even saying anything bad out loud, just downgrading your work one tiny smile at a time. and yeah the disrespect hits different, the money you can write off but the gaslighting stays.
also the way they make you feel high maintenance for wanting YOUR OWN work back. that's the part that gets me, acting like you're the problem for expecting basic professionalism. hope you found a space that actually respects you since, and didn't end up anywhere near another Gary's deposition 😭
Oh sweetheart, that "illustration" business with the little smile, I know exactly the kind of woman you're talking about. That ain't a vocabulary thing, that's her telling you where she thinks you belong while keeping her hands clean. Folks like that never say the cruel thing out loud, they just let it sit there polite-like and let you do all the heavy lifting of convincing yourself you imagined it.
And you're right to still be mad about the disrespect more than the money. Money comes and goes, but somebody deciding your work is small, that stays with you. I've had people look at my quilts and call them "craft" or "folk" with that same little smile, like they were being generous even saying that much. It stings every time. But here's what I know a long time now: that word says more about her narrow eyes than it ever says about your work.
That gallery was never gonna see you right. You walked out of there with your paintings and your dignity, and she's still stuck being somebody who needs to shrink other folks to feel tall. You keep making that gouache, baby. The right doors don't need you to beg.🙂