I wanted to talk a little about what seems to be working for me so far.
As I mentioned in previous posts, I created a brochure that features my artwork. I went through the Art In America gallery guide issue and found the galleries that I liked. I've gotten fairly good response from those mailings. I mail a cover letter and my brochure to the gallery. If they're interested, they will contact me and ask for more information. Thanks to that strategy, I have work in one gallery, will be in a group show in another this fall, and I'm talking with two other galleries about possible representation.
Another way that I've gotten gallery interest is just by being in shows. One gallery owner saw my work in a group show and contacted me. I was also contacted recently by a consultant who saw my work in another show (although I'm still trying to figure out if they really want to represent me or if they're just trying to sell me something...).
I also donated a piece to an art auction a few months ago. I have a possible gallery lead due to a contact that I made through the auction.
So I guess the answer is to just get your work out there - the more people see your name and your work, the more likely it is that someone will want to either buy your work, represent you in their gallery, or invite you to be in a show.
I got a great fortune cookie fortune a few years ago that I think applies here: The harder you work, the luckier you get.
So what has worked for you?
2 comments:
Good info. I did a similar campaign when I freelanced graphic design 10+ years ago. I also had good feedback and enough contacts to keep work for 3 years. I will try this same approach with my fine art work.
Hi,
I was wondering, a friend of mine is an emerging artist and is having a real hard time with galleries because he does not narrow his work down enough to a single style, however that's just the way he works. He feels the need to move as much as possbile, and we're talking a very different piece of work each week...!
At the same time, he's not so bendy on changing parts of his process for just commercial reasons. Insanely stubborn he is, and would jokingly throw you stuff like "You want my death?"...
How can that work with our modern gallery systems?
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