Art galleries are having a tough time these days. My sales are staying infrequent but steady, as they always have in tough times. My work maintains a certain independence from the fashions of the art market. I appreciate sales – I have to pay by myself for my high costs of studio and materials! But are more exhibitions the way to make sales?
Art galleries manage the promotion and sales of work, and take a commission for doing so. Good galleries earn those commissions and I have no qualms about sharing profits with them, because good gallery directors love art as well as money, and are in tandem with their artists who are in the same boat; we all work in a larger context than pure business.
But the art world seems to be getting smaller and smaller, an ironic thing to write, since big art fairs have been growing in number. I guess they’re doing OK. But small local exhibits are questionable in a world of seeming economic contraction. And the internet can get the images across, if not the feel of the actual work. So the question remains, Why Exhibit?
Hi Catherine, Your question, why exhibit? is a good one…and one I have been thinking about lately.
I am participating in Festival Georgeville this year (after being asked for two years I finally succumbed) even though I’m not sure it’s an appropriate venue for me, As an emerging older artist (!:)) exhibiting has been a way to present my work in a different context…to pull a body of work together etc. Most of my work so far has sold to people I know who have been following my increasing seriousness as a painter and supporting this process through private studio visits and once or twice yearly open studio events.
I believe it’s important for people to also experience the stark beautiful reality of paint on canvas, something that will never, how high the resolution, translate onto a screen…neither will the changing play of light and mood which enhances a collector’s enjoyment of their artwork.
Why do you exhibit?
Allyna