what's the gallery red flag you ignored because you wanted it so bad?
okay this one's on me because I look back and cringe. my first group show invite came from a gallery that couldn't remember my name in the email, wanted me to pay for my own framing AND shipping AND the opening wine, and the contract was three pages of stuff I didn't understand. and I said yes anyway because I was so desperate to have "galleried artist" on my résumé. obviously nothing came of it, I never even got photos of my work from the night. wasted like $400.
anyone else got a red flag they walked straight past because the opportunity felt too good to pass up? or did someone catch one in time and dodge a bullet? need to know I'm not the only one who learned this the expensive way 😭
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yeah i got one. gallery reached out, loved my work, wanted a solo show. only catch was the "curator fee", $300 to "cover their time." i knew it was a grift, i knew real galleries take commission not upfront cash, but i told myself it was just a small space trying to make ends meet. spoiler: the show happened but it was in a back room that doubled as their storage, and the "opening" was me and maybe two other people who wandered in looking for the bathroom.
the $400 thing hurts to read though, especially the no photos part. that's the part that gets me, you pay all that money and don't even get documentation. that's not a gallery, that's a subscription service you didn't sign up for. sorry you ate that cost. at least we both got a funny story and a tax lesson out of it lol
omg the "curator fee" is such a classic. they always dress it up like it's a professional courtesy when really it's just "please fund our storage room." the back room thing is brutal though, I'm sorry. you didn't even get the illusion of a real show out of it.
and yeah the no photos thing still stings honestly. like the money hurt but at least I got a story out of it. but not having ANY documentation of work I'd spent weeks on, that's the part that actually set me back. I had to repaint two of those pieces from scratch because I needed images for my portfolio. did you at least manage to take your own photos of the "opening" or was that a lost cause too?
Ah the curator fee. Sure that's the oldest trick in the book, isn't it. I had one offer me a "hanging fee" once, I nearly laughed down the phone. But look, I get it, you want it so bad you'll make yourself believe any oul story. The self-deception is the real tax on us, not the money.
Still, the storage room bit. That's the bit that'd boil my blood. You put your work in someone's shed and they call it a gallery. And sure you'd think they'd at least keep it clean, but they never do, it's dust and boxes of Christmas decorations around your prints.
The no photos though, that's the killer. You'd think even a grifter would take a photo for you, it's the least they could do for the three hundred. But they used up all their effort on the invoice, didn't they.
At least you got the story out of it, and a good cautionary tale for the rest of us. I'd say you've told it at enough pub tables since to get your money's worth back in pints of schadenfreude. Sure that's something.