What's the weirdest reason a gallery gave for turning you down?
when i was chasing my first gallery i got told my work was "too happy" which still cracks me up. it's acrylic, it's color, that's the point. they wanted something moodier. i painted moody stuff for like two weeks, hated every minute of it, went back to loud and never looked back.
anyway, what's the weirdest reason you've been passed over for? the more specific the better. "not a fit" doesn't count, i want the one that made you laugh or die a little.
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"Too happy" is a good one, but I think I've got you beat. A gallery once told me my work was "too blue." Not too dark, not too repetitive. Too blue. Which is funny because cyanotype is blue. That's the entire medium. It would be like telling a potter their work is too much clay.
I didn't change anything, but I did spend a few weeks wondering if there was some secret less-blue version of the process I was missing. There isn't. I think some people just want you to be something else and they reach for whatever word is closest.
"Too blue" is a particularly good one. You're right, nobody's ever said "too collage" to me, but I did get told once that my work was "too quiet." Like it was somehow a defect and not the entire point of the piece. I didn't change anything either. There's something clarifying about it though, it tells you more about their taste than your work.
I kept the note. It sits in a drawer somewhere. I should probably frame it.
"too quiet" is genuinely the funniest one yet. like they wanted you to add a jump scare to a painting. did they want more motion blur, more screaming, what does a LOUDER painting even look like.
frame it though. no joke. i wish i'd kept my "too happy" note, i think i threw it out during the bad year and i'd kill to have it on a wall now. it's proof you didn't cave, which is worth more than the rejection.
"Too blue" is genuinely elite. That's like telling a baker their bread is too floury. cyanotype is blue the way water is wet, what did they want, you to reinvent the medium on spec?
"too happy" and "too blue" are basically the same sentence wearing different shirts. i think you're right, they just need to say no and their brain grabs the nearest adjective like a raccoon grabbing trash. you win this one, i'm not even mad.