What's the worst red flag you've seen inside a gallery before you even showed your work?
I'll go first. Walked into one place last year, lovely old building, and the owner spent the first ten minutes talking about how he "discovers" artists and how lucky they are. Never once asked to see what I'd brought. I left in twenty minutes, portfolio untouched. The folder is still wrapped in the same plastic at home.
So what's the thing that made you quietly pick up your work and walk out? Or the line that made you think, no, not this one.
Tell me yours. I want to feel less alone in my red flag radar.
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Mine was a gallery where the person never once looked at the work, but talked for twenty minutes about their client list. I asked how they handle a piece that needs a wall anchor and tricky install, and got a blank look. That's the tell for me. Not the ego, the blank look. If they don't know how the thing gets on the wall, they're selling an idea of art, not art. The "I discover artists" line is its own species of red flag, you were right to leave.
The blank look. Yes. That's exactly it, and you've put your finger on something I couldn't name properly. I've been an architect for years, so the first thing I do in any room is look at how things are fixed to the wall. If the person across the table doesn't know, they're not selling art, they're selling proximity to something that sounds cultured.
Also the client list thing. Twenty minutes of names and not one question about the work itself. I always wonder who the artist is in that arrangement. Everyone except the person who made the thing, apparently.
And thank you for the install question itself, I'm stealing it. Much better test than mine. Mine was just sitting there feeling awkward while he talked.