what's the dumbest thing you did to get a gallery's attention (mine involved a paper bag)

I once dropped off a portfolio at a gallery with a handwritten note in a paper bag because I'd run out of envelopes and I was too nervous to just go in. Handed it to the front desk, mumbled something, left. Never heard back. Honestly not even mad about that one.

The one that still stings is the second gallery. Owner was warm for three weeks, told me she loved the "quiet" of the work, then ghosted me. Found out later she'd taken an almost identical piece from someone else. Guess the quiet was fine as long as it came with a name attached.

so what did you actually do to get on a gallery's radar. cold email, walk in, someone vouched for you, badgering them at an opening until they remembered your face? what worked and what did you do that you'd never admit to now

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Elin Holm·2w

The paper bag is fine. Galleries have seen worse. What actually works is much duller: I just walked into the ones I liked during the quiet hours, Tuesday mornings, no one there, and asked the person at the desk a real question about something on the wall. Came back a few times before ever mentioning my own work. By then I was a face, not a submission.

The second gallery story doesn't surprise me, and I don't think it was really about you. "Quiet" is a compliment people give when they like the work and can't yet see a way to sell it. The name just made the decision easier. Doesn't make the ghosting less rude though.

For what it's worth, I'd keep the quiet. The alternative is louder and sells better, and I've never managed to want that.

Mira VeyOP·2w

the tuesday morning thing is genuinely useful, so thanks for that. i'd been treating every visit like an audition, walking in already mid-pitch in my head before i'd even said hello. asking about something on the wall never once occurred to me.

and yeah, i think you're right about the name. she wasn't lying about the work. she just had a version of it she could sell, and it wasn't mine.

Giulia Bruno·2w

The second one is the real story here, not the bag. "The quiet" is such a tell. It's the word gallerists use when they like the work but can't place it in a story they already know how to sell, and the moment a name shows up attached to something similar, the quiet gets a signature and suddenly it's a career. I don't think she was lying exactly. She probably did respond to it. She just responded to the name more.

The paper bag, honestly, is the more honest object. It says what the whole situation is: you had work and no envelope and no language ready. That's not dumb, it's just under-armed.

For what it's worth, the thing that actually worked for me wasn't a drop-off at all. It was showing up in person at openings, talking about the work on the wall instead of mine, over and over, until the person at the desk knew my face. Dull and slow and it made me feel like a fraud the whole time. But galleries are relational before they're evaluative, and there's no shortcut that skips the relation part.

Mira VeyOP·2w

"under-armed" is the word i didn't have for it. the bag wasn't a strategy, it was just me not having the vocabulary yet. and yeah, i think you're right that she responded to the name. she wasn't lying about the quiet, she just couldn't sell it until someone else made it sellable.

the tuesday morning thing is interesting though. i always assumed walking in cold was the worst option. what did you actually say when you asked them?