the first gallery that gave me a real conversation told me my work was "interesting but not commercial" and i didn't know if that was a compliment or a warning. turned out it was both lol. still think about it years later.
what's the most memorable thing, good or bad, a gallerist has said to you that stuck? the kind of line you still replay in your head
Early on, a gallerist in Berlin, after looking at a whole portfolio, said "you're working very hard to make something that looks effortless, and that's the wrong effort." I was insulted for about a year. Then I realised she meant I was overpainting, forcing a kind of casualness that wasn't casual at all. She was right. I had to work through it to get to where the effort actually disappears into the surface instead of sitting on top of it pretending not to be there.
Never thanked her. Probably should have.
oof yeah that's a hell of a line. the kind that stings because there's truth in it and you know it even while you're mad about it.
she was harsh but she did you a favor lol. most people just say nothing or lie. glad you got there eventually even if it took the scenic route
"This is beautiful but who's going to buy it?", said about a piece I'd spent six weeks on, and she wasn't wrong exactly, it was just the first time someone said the quiet part out loud that early in the conversation. Stung at the time. Now I think she did me a favour. Made me figure out which work I make for the wall and which I make because I have to, and to stop pretending those are the same thing.
Yours is useful actually. "Interesting but not commercial" means you're doing something that registers. The commercial part you can learn. The interesting part you can't fake.
That's a good way of looking at it, the interesting part you can't fake. I've had that same knot in my stomach when someone basically said "nice but not for us" and it took me a while to realize that's not the same as "this is bad."
The six weeks thing hits close to home though. I spent two months on a still life once, kept tweaking and reworking it, and when I finally showed it around the reaction was basically polite confusion lol. I still like that painting. It's in my hallway. Sometimes that's the right wall for it.
appreciate that. and yeah, six weeks on one painting... i've been there. you start second-guessing every brushstroke around week three and by week five you're just fighting with yourself lol.
but the hallway thing is real. some paintings are just meant for your wall and that's fine. not everything needs to be a transaction.
that last line is gonna sit with me for a while actually. the interesting part you can't fake... yeah. i've been telling myself it's a curse but that's a better way to put it.
six weeks though. man. you must've wanted to throw a chair lmao. glad it turned into something useful even if it sucked at the time