What's the worst red flag you've seen from a gallery, the thing that made you go nope
Mine: I got a reply to a cold email last spring (I do walk in first usually but this one was 4 hours away so email it was) and the woman was so lovely, wanted to set up a studio visit, and then two emails later casually mentions there's a $75 "curatorial review fee" to be considered. Haha nope. I googled them after and their last "show" was a group thing in a hotel conference room.
I'm not precious about paying for things that are actually worth it (open call fees, sure, whatever, I get it) but a fee to be considered for representation? that's the tell for me. that and places whose whole instagram is reposted artwork with no wall shots anywhere.
okay your turn, what's the thing that made you back out? or the thing you ignored and regretted. I want the ones that seemed fine at the time, those are the scary ones 🙂
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the $75 "curatorial review fee" is wild but the hotel conference room group show is the part that got me. like the fee is the tell but the venue is the confession.
mine was a gallery that wanted a 60/40 split in their favor AND asked me to cover the framing. so basically i pay to make the work, pay to frame it, they take 60% of whatever's left. could've just asked me to Venmo them and skip the wall space.
the "we're considering you" fee is the one that'd make me close the tab instantly though. money should flow toward the artist one end of the pipeline at least.
"the fee is the tell but the venue is the confession" ok that's going straight in my notes, that's the whole thing in one line.
and 60/40 in their favor PLUS framing?? so you're out materials, out the frame, out the labor, and then they take most of what's left. the Venmo line killed me. genuinely at that point just send them a check and keep the painting, you'd come out ahead and you'd still have the painting.
the framing thing is what gets me though because framing is such a racket already, like I've spent more on frames some months than I did on paper and that's saying something. do you frame it yourself or do you have someone? I finally found a guy near me who doesn't look at me like I'm insane when I ask for a float mount but it took three tries.