2021_GalleristQ&A-006-Podcast
Jen : Welcome to tough on art, the podcast for artists interested in ways to get ahead in today's art market. I'm Jen Tough owner of Jen Tough Gallery and the Artist Alliance Community. Join me for some down to earth talk about the best ways for artists to navigate this new and different landscape.
[00:00:19] Welcome to another episode of gallerist, Q and A, Artists have submitted questions to me. And I go ahead and answer them. If you'd like to ask your own question, simply visit my website at www.jentough.gallery and you'll see a link for where you can submit your question.
[00:00:35] So this first question comes from Miriam Hitchcock and you can see her work at
[00:00:40] www. Miriam hitchcock.com and she has a really long question, but it's really great. So let's go ahead and get started here. She says way more artwork deserving of attention is being made than is being seen and that's definitely true. The hurting of attention and sales is funneled to the same two or three dozen contemporary artists and it's distorting and dispiriting to say the least.
[00:01:05] She goes on to say, group shows seem mighty, powerful and undervalued marketing and education tool. Why not specialize in group shows and elevate their status? Not dozens of artists, never more than five, ideally three or four. Something that meaningful comparisons in contrast can generate insight and interest.
[00:01:24] I think that's a fantastic idea. And you're right, Miriam. Lots of times with group shows, there's, you know, you've got minimum of 20 artists, usually, you know, up to 50, depending on the size of the gallery and work can get really lost in there. Part of the reason why galleries have, you know, group shows that are that large is to offer a lot of artists, you know, opportunity.
[00:01:44] You're, you're letting more artists show in, in a gallery and giving them a chance to be, shown. So when you're talking about, you know, three or four person shows. Those are going to be, you know, more difficult to come about, because what happens is, when galleries are, you know, there's more galleries that are, closing down smaller galleries that might be showing emerging artists let's say smaller and mid tier galleries after COVID are going to be, you know, hard pressed for earning more money.
[00:02:12] The benefits of having a group show is that you're getting, you're showing , a massive amount of varied work. So you have more chances of a sale. You're appealing to, you know, a really wide market when you have an opening. I know when I did group shows, you would have a, you know, way more people at a group show opening than you would for a single artist opening or a two-person show.
[00:02:35] For instance. Because those artists bring their friends, they all come to the opening and a lot of art is sold at opening. So that's, that's my experience anyway. So after COVID, as galleries are going to be definitely tightening their belts, if they haven't closed their doors already, it's going to be, you know, hard pressed to get a three, four or five person show, unless you're represented by that gallery.
[00:02:59] So my suggestion would be to focus on gathering that group of three or four or five artists yourself, and either putting a pop-up show on or doing an art fair, the benefits of an art fair versus a pop-up show or in a gallery is that you're getting so much more foot traffic. There are so many hundreds, thousands of people who go to art fairs when they, when they come to a town that, you know, is, is giving you way more chances of exposure of sales , you know, getting your name out to the right people, you know, to other gallerists. So my recommendation would be to go ahead and take that on yourself.
[00:03:38] You know, what about artists who work in a similar vein to yourself? Or you could think of maybe a you know, a singular , topic that everyone or idea that each artist focuses on for that art fair booth. Now our fair boosts are expensive, but one of the benefits of going together as a collective, you know, you're all pooling your money.
[00:04:02] You can pool, you know, the shipping costs or, you know, driving the work out there yourself. You can split booth time when you're , standing in the booth and talking to people. It's a, huge benefit, you know, to do that. And if you didn't have that many people like say three people and you had like a smaller booth, like maybe 10 by 10, which is usually the smallest booth each person, you know, could have a wall.
[00:04:28] You could split time. You could, you know, share talking about each other's work because sometimes it's difficult for artists to talk about their own work. But if you're talking about not only your , but other people's work, you know, that are in the booth that can help with sales. So, you know, I would highly, highly encourage artists to look into art fairs, come this fall.
[00:04:50] Hopefully when things open, you know, fall 20 21. If you're listening to this podcast much later in time so art fairs are going to be opening up hopefully in the fall and the winter of 2021. So I would investigate. That, because I think you're totally right. I agree with you that artist's work can get lost in.
[00:05:11] You know, these big, huge group shows, but hopefully, you know, you can understand gallerist point of view of the benefits of showing lots and lots of artists in one show. It gives them a much higher chance of making sales because they, they have, you know, all these different styles, they have all different types of art, you know, sculpture, painting and caustic you know, wall hangings. What have you, in one show, which, you know, usually is the case with group show. So I would investigate art fairs. They are going to be hard-pressed, art fairs themselves of getting galleries because there's more and more galleries closing every day because of COVID they're going to be opening up their art fairs to more collectives, more artists . They're going to, they're going to have to be open-minded they've they're already, we're having a hard time selling booths before COVID. So after COVID it's gonna be even trickier. So I would highly encourage that. And the other thing that you can do too, that I saw at art market San Francisco, when I was doing it in 2019.
[00:06:14] Was, you can actually have a sales person representing your work and not even have, you know, the actual artists there, if that's something that makes you uncomfortable. So that I saw at a few booths , that's a wonderful way to do that. If you don't have money to pay somebody to do that, perhaps you give them a slice of any sales. So that's something to think about. So great question and thanks for asking it.
[00:06:39] This next question is from Linda Benenati and her website is waxypaint.com. She asks, is it necessary or advisable to have an artist statement on your website? Yes, I think it's necessary and advisable, unless you're strictly interested in selling your work on your own.
[00:06:58] Or perhaps working in or with interior designers only and have no interest in gallery representation or working with curators or other arts professionals. I would say yes, it's necessary, but here's my, take on statements. I think artists get very hung up on it. Like they, they put way too much importance in it, especially if they're not working in a more conceptual.
[00:07:25]Art realm, where you need to make a, you know, more in depth statements and explain what the work is about. If you're doing, let's say abstract non-representational paintings and you work more intuitively, I think that's where statements can get really tricky and difficult. So here's my advice with that is that you just talk about why you paint or why you make the work that you do.
[00:07:55] If you're working in a conceptual manner, you know where you're doing installations and there needs to be a lot of explanation about the work then actually writing statements will probably come easier to you because you're sort of already working in that sort of intellectual way about your work.
[00:08:13] You're already sort of formulating and thinking about symbols and associations with your work. So it was probably going to come a lot easier. I think it gets really tricky. Like I said, when artists are working in a more intuitive way or they work representationally or landscape paintings, Things like that, then it can be, you know, it can be really tricky because there's, you know, there's a sort of pressure which doesn't need to be there.
[00:08:38] There's a sort of pressure that artists need to come up with this, like really, you know, intense intellectual statement of, you know, their work and what it means and things like that. And I think it's important to just let people know. Why you work the way that you do and in it, it's very boiled down essence.
[00:08:59] That's what a statement is. Now, if you work in different series, You know, like, let's say you do you know, watercolor landscapes, and then you also do fiber work or, you know, you're exploring different things that are very different from each other and you have catagoriezed them and series, which is an important thing to do.
[00:09:19] That's when you want to write a statement for each one of those series. But again, I wouldn't make them, I wouldn't, it that's about it. I would just explain to people. What you're doing, how you're doing it and why you do it. And I would do it in a very natural first person way and make it very basic.
[00:09:38] Try to put yourself in the shoes of a person visiting your website and what they might want to hear or read about your work to understand it better. Statements are also a way for the viewer or your audience on your website to know you as a person, it helps explain who you are and why you do what you do.
[00:10:00] This whole notion of it, things being super intellectualized and like, you know, tons of art speak. Nobody likes that. Nobody really likes that. And again, if you're, unless you're working in a more conceptual manner or you're doing installations, Or things that really call for a deeper explanation and more art speak, so to speak.
[00:10:22] Don't, don't stress about it too much because it's that stress that's going to kind of tighten you up and make it more difficult to just explain why you're doing what you're doing and, you know, so I would just focus on making it simple, straightforward with no art speak. So I hope that helps.
[00:10:40] This next question comes from Marriott Brockman, and you can find her work@marrietbraakman.com and that's spelled M as in Mary, A R I E T B R A A K M A N Marriet Braakman. And she asks, do you recommend putting prices on your website? Even if the artwork is not inexpensive? So. This is a really common question as well. And there's this, I think there's sort of this misbelief that if you don't price your artwork on your website, that that kind of makes it, I don't know, higher class or mysterious, or, you know, that kind of thing.
[00:11:20] And I think the origination of that idea comes from galleries themselves where oftentimes there's no price on the work and you know, you're looking at like a booklet to see what the costs are for, for each piece in the gallery, as far as websites go, I'm a big proponent of definitely putting the prices on your work.
[00:11:41] Even the more expensive works. And I think it's really important to take away as much friction as possible for purchasing works. There really isn't any reason why you wouldn't want to do this. It makes it really easy to, you know, for people to buy, to know the ballpark of your artwork, you know, Cost-wise and I mean, keep in mind that most people who are going to be coming to your website, aren't going to, they don't really know anything about art.
[00:12:10] I mean, one of the things that I learned opening the gallery years ago was that the vast majority of people really don't know anything about art and they're very intimidated by it. So when you add that extra sort of veil of not being transparent with the pricing, it, it really kind of adds another. A layer of not understanding how the art world works, what artwork is worth, et cetera, et cetera.
[00:12:35] So I definitely am a proponent of having prices on your artwork. On your website, if you're really hesitant about doing that, or if it's for like extremely expensive artwork, then put inquire next, you know, where the price would be, please inquire something like that. You could even have a button that would go directly to an email form, something like that, but don't fall into this trap of, you know, making everything difficult in an obscure, like the way a lot of galleries do is the way to go.
[00:13:06] Cause it's not, you know, With a gallery you're in person. There's somebody there, you know, that can talk to you. If you're interested in purchasing a piece with a website, it's important to be as transparent as you can. Now, if you're working with a gallery or an art consultant or something like that, please run it by them first, as far as pricing.
[00:13:24] And if you're going to be listing prices on your, on your website if you have someone else who is, you know, making a commission, in other words off the work that you're selling, right. That needs to be a conversation that you have with them, what they prefer. So I hope that helps. And a great question.
[00:13:39] This next question comes from Marcia Stuermer and that's spelled S T U E R M E R. And you can find her work at stuermerstudios.com. So Marcia asks, is it appropriate to contact galleries if there is not an indication on their website as to whether or not they're accepting new artists submissions? If so, she'd let one follow your suggestion for the intro email structure as you mentioned in your earlier workshops? I don't think if they haven't specified, if they're reviewing portfolios or not, or allowing artists submissions, you could. I think it's okay to go ahead and email them or snail mail them some information about yourself. If it says they are not reviewing portfolios, it's really not okay to email them or send them information, which is not what you asked, but I just wanted to throw that in there. And then you asked, should you follow the intro email structure, as you mentioned in an earlier workshop. So I did have a, an email structure that I recommend and it's pretty standard. I think most people, you know, sort of understand the main idea is to not talk all about yourself.
[00:14:49] You should bring up something. About their gallery or about that curator or arts professional that you've already done that you've learned about . So for instance, perhaps they had a really great show a couple years ago that you loved, or they did a pop-up show, or they did some kind of workshop or something that you really, you know, that you really genuinely liked.
[00:15:12] So your first step would be obviously researching them as deeply as possible. I have to say that continuously, you know, since I opened my gallery, I get emails from artists a lot as you guys can imagine, and it never sort of ceases to amaze me how people aren't even reading the website about like what my gallery is about, you know, maybe my past experience.
[00:15:36] So, and that's, you know, that says to me like, well, gee, you know, like, This person didn't even spend two minutes, you know, looking at looking at anything. I mean, there's been, since I moved to Santa Fe, there's people that still think I'm in the Bay Area, for example, and they will send me an email saying, you know, can I come to the gallery?
[00:15:58] You know, in, in the Bay Area in California and introduce myself and it's like, well, good luck. So I'm not there anymore. But yeah, so it, it, it doesn't take much time to go through you know, a gallery's website and learn , what they're about if they're even still open. You know, that's the other thing that is, is a little mind-blowing to me is when I get emails of people wanting to show their work in my gallery and they haven't even taken the time to read my website and see that I'm not even open. So the first thing that you want to do is read thoroughly through their website, you know, find out if they're seeking submissions, number one, if they're allowing that, learn all about their gallery and then start with a, you know, with an email.
[00:16:41] And in the email, you want to talk about why you're emailing them. Start your first sentence with , the purpose of why you're emailing them, why you like their gallery. What was it that attracted you? Don't start talking about yourself until the very, very end of your email. So that would be my recommendation.
[00:17:01] There's a lot to go into with this, but my, my. Top points would be number one, find out as much as you can about that gallery. Find out if your work would fit in there. Number two, when you reach out to them, make it about them, let them know why you're interested in their gallery. So they don't feel that they're just like from a form email.
[00:17:22] Cause I've gotten those before too. Sometimes even with the wrong name. On the top. So don't do that. That's not a good idea. So make it is personal about them and then ask if they're reviewing portfolios, if they would like to see your work and then, you know, send , give them a link to your website and tell them, thank you for your time.
[00:17:43] Very straightforward very, you know, kind and considerate of their time. I always tell artists, you might not hear back from them. If you follow all of those instructions and you don't hear back from them, don't take it personally. It doesn't mean that they don't like you. It doesn't mean that they don't like your work.
[00:18:00] It just means that maybe they're not looking for new artists at that time, you know, follow up in another month. Don't tell them that you've already sent an email, just send another email in about a month and, and basically say a very similar thing, but maybe change, give another reason why you're contacting them.
[00:18:16] Maybe this time, you know, it was show, you know, back in September or something like that. Give another reason why you're contacting them just in case they do remember your first email. And basically say the exact same thing. If you have a minute, I would love for you to check out my website. I would do that three times over a period of three months.
[00:18:34] And if you still don't hear back from them, I would just cross them off the list. But I would make sure that you're keeping a list, a database of everyone you're contacting them. When you contacted them and things like that and then follow up. So those are my overall recommendations as a, it's a big subject to go into just touch on that for now.
[00:18:54] So thanks Marcia. Thank you so much for listening and supporting this podcast. Your support means everything. If you'd like to learn more about the Artists Alliance Community, send me a question or learn about other events or projects coming up, please visit my website at www.jentough.gallery. See you next time.