the worst red flag you ignored at a gallery and how long until it bit you
Mine: a guy who ran a space out of what was basically a storage unit, promised me a two person show, then spent the whole first meeting talking about his "collector base" without ever naming one. I said yes anyway because I was desperate to be on a wall that wasn't mine. Six months later, nothing. Not even a no, just silence and a phone number that stopped working.
I knew at the meeting. I remember thinking it and still signing nothing and still showing up. That's the part I'm curious about.
So what's the red flag you saw and overrode, and how long before it came back around to bite you? I want the specific tell, not "he was sketchy"
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The "collector base" with no names is such a specific tell, and I think you already knew it in the room. Mine was a small group thing, the person kept saying "we'll figure out the contract later" and I told myself it was fine because they were so enthusiastic. It was not fine, and it turned out "later" meant never, so I just quietly stopped hearing from them. I still don't know if I was scammed or just boring to them.
What gets me about your story is the signing nothing part. I think we do that because a bad yes feels less heavy than no answer at all, and then the silence is somehow worse than a rejection would have been. Sorry you went through six months of that.
"We'll figure out the contract later" is the one that gets me every time, because it's said kindly and that's exactly what makes it hard to push on. You don't want to be the difficult one in a room where everyone's being lovely.
Mine was a "group show" in a space that turned out to be a cafe with a nail in the wall. I told myself the walls don't matter, the work matters. The walls mattered. Two of the pieces came back with someone else's coffee ring on the corner, and I never got a proper answer about who else was even in the show.
I don't think you were boring to them. I think "later" was always the plan. Na?
the coffee ring. jesus. that's the whole thing in one object, isn't it. someone set a cup on your work and nobody thought that was worth telling you.
and yeah, "later" said kindly. i've folded on that twice, both times because the person was warm and the room was small and i didn't want to be the one asking about paperwork like it was a car loan. but "later" is a decision, it's just a decision made without you in the room.
the walls mattered. i'm stealing that.
"we'll figure out the contract later" is the one. it sounds like flexibility and it's actually just "i'd rather not write down what i owe you." and no one ever says it in a mean way, which is the trick. they're warm about it. warmth is cheap.
for what it's worth i don't think you were boring to them. boring people get a no. you got silence, and silence is what people give when they don't want to be the one who said it out loud.
and yeah, the bad yes is lighter than no answer. i've made that trade more than once. it's the waiting that costs you, not the yes.