Dealing with Galleries

Written By Schoonover

Recently, we came across a interview with Author Roxane Gay, Titled; Who Loves Art But Dislikes the Art World, Has Some Advice for Galleries: 'Stop Being Terrible'. The title really says it all! If celebrated Author Roxane Gay finds galleries a nightmare to deal with so what hope is there for the rest of us! Buyer intimidation in the gallery space is a very real thing. Honestly, in our opinion most of the approachable and welcoming galleries are located outside of the United States. The negative interactions, we have had with galleries have been from galleries in Seattle, New York City, Chicago, South Carolina, and LA. People forget that galleries are not museums. There is no reason to be intimidated by a gallery representative, they are just salespeople who may not be very nice, well educated, or even well informed. 

Small, new, and local galleries are a very hard business to be in. More galleries closed than opened in 2017, according to the 2018 Art Basel & UBS report and that was before the global covid-19 pandemic. The pandemic also has further pushed the art market online and art promotion back to the artist themselves. This is furthering the increasing irrelevance of Galleries whose influence started to decline with the rise of the internet age. You no longer need the gallery as a middleman to buy, or see new art. In some ways the Galleries themselves are also to blame for being the elitist, snobbish, gatekeeping capitalist art stores that they are. Had galleries cultivated strong relationships with the whole community, not just the rich and self-important they would have played a role similar to community art museums, and the art world as a whole would have been a more interesting, original, inclusive, creative, and dynamic space. It is not too late for this to change but it is a lot harder now. As art education, and informed appreciation have declined drastically in the same period. High local sales tax on fine art purchased in your state of residence do not help. It is always cheaper to purchase art in another state, better yet another country entirely. If you buy art on vacation in most European countries you can claim 12% VAT back at the Airport. If you order an artwork from a gallery in another country and have it shipped, you do not usually pay import taxes duties and fees unless the art work is very expensive.

Angeline had the chance to become more familiar with Galleries and how they worked through a few volunteer opportunities as an Arts Management student in undergrad. She volunteered to staff opening nights for at the now defunct Scoop Gallery, Robert Lange Studios and the Redux Contemporary Art Center all in Charleston S.C. Angeline was stuck by how much even successful local galleries rely on the unpaid volunteer labor of interns and art students. There are some real issues with for profit businesses using free labor. Also, the rude and silly “collectors” that attend a lot of these opening nights, and how most of the time the people who attend are not there to buy, just to schmooze. Robert Lange was kind, he provided insight on searching for new artists from Artists Slide Registries like: The Painting Center and Saatchi Gallery. How he used art publications such as Juxtapoz, ARTNews and Hi-fructose, the same publications we now use to find new artists in addition to Beautiful Bizarre, New American Painting, and Mutual Art. Angeline also took a Gallery Fundamentals Class at the College of Charleston which was incredibly informative, and we will attempt to share some of that knowledge in our Guide posts.

Often times potential collectors are too scared to ask how much and what is available? Sometimes is just a 3-line email or a short phone call. Most people do not realize that you can just register your email on a gallery mailing list and you will receive access to collector previews for that gallery which will give buyers availability, information, price lists and a notification of upcoming, shows for your favorite artist’s work. We don’t love Thinkspace Gallery, but we do love a lot of artists they represent. We have purchased work from Thinkspace and we successfully commissioned or purchased from artists they represent.

For us galleries are now an option of last resort, a tool to learn more about artists, and watch artists careers overtime. Many smaller galleries and artists are using Instagram to promote their artists, shows, and build relationship with their customers. Artist are savvy at using social media platforms to build brand awareness and increase sales. Instagram allows early and potential collectors to communicate directly with up-and-coming artist see their newest work before it hits galleries or is sold and also provide a low stakes way for an early collector to ask questions in an intimidating format. You should also look for an artist’s website and sign up for collectors notifications, show lists, and waitlist directly with the artist when possible.

Schoonover
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