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Secrets to Gallery Representation

Featured Author:

Amy Wilson

Amy Wilson is an artist who has shown her drawings and paintings with Bellwether, PS1, The Drawing Center, The Warhol Museum, the Grolier Club, Josee Bienvenue Gallery, PPOW, and many other spaces. Her work has been reviewed in the NY Times, Art in America, Time Out NY, the Village Voice, as well as other publications. Amy is represented by with Bravin Lee in NYC. She received her BFA from the School of Visual Arts (1995) and her MFA from Yale (1997). She teaches in the Art History, Fine Arts, and Visual and Critical Studies departments at SVA.

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More articles from this author:

• Grad School Rant
• How to Deal with Negative Criticism
• Tricks to Pulling Off a Successful Open Studio

Let’s say you’ve created a body of work and now you’re itching to get it out there and seen by the public. You’d like to be represented by a commercial gallery, but how do you get them to notice you?

First things first: Make a list of a few – three or four – galleries you’d be interested in working with. Bear in mind that all galleries have a “program” – an agenda of sorts, and not all galleries are right for all artists. One space may work exclusively with abstract painters while another works with realistic sculptors, so find a place where your work would reasonably and realistically fit in. Also keep an eye out for a space where you fit in – ask yourself, at what point in their career are the rest of the artists in this gallery? If everyone in the gallery is fresh out of art school (you can find this out by looking online at artist’s bios) and you’re in your late 50s, that might not be a good fit for you.

Secondly, make sure you have your work together.

Don’t pursue an art gallery the second you’ve finished the first painting in a series, instead wait until you have a substantial body of work built up so that the gallery can get a clear idea of who you are as an artist. Have your work photographed and put together an organized website – it doesn’t have to be anything fancy, just so your portfolio can be reviewed by someone who is interested.

That’s all groundwork you have to do before you even think about approaching someone. Assuming that’s done, you can now start thinking about how to get the gallery interested in you.

Invite

One of the most important steps you can do is to add the Director of each of those three or four galleries to your mailing list. It sounds so simple, but this is a very basic step to making a space aware of you that can go very far.

Organize an open studio or, better, join in with a pre-established open studio which involves many artists. Many communities have this – a day in which a few dozen or more artists all open their doors together. Either way, invite the galleries over to see your work. All you are going to send is a simple note along with the invitation (or a personalized email) – nothing pushy, or over-the-top. Just a few words to say that you like their program, feel there’s a connection to the work they show and the work you make, and then sign your name. Quick and polite are what you are going for. Do not belabor it.

If they don’t show up, don’t be discouraged. Try it again during your next open studio. Also, keep them on your mailing list so that when you have other professional accomplishments they are aware of it. Be persistent, but strike a balance between coming on too strong and making your presence known. Always remember to be courteous, respectful, and professional in your correspondences, but keep them informed.

Network

Attend the openings of the galleries you’re interested in. This is a great way to meet the staff in a situation where they are expecting visitors. It’s inappropriate to bring a portfolio or otherwise pitch your work during someone else’s opening; however, it’s perfectly fine to meet and chat with the people who are associated with the gallery and then to follow up that conversation with an email the next day, if you feel as though there was a significant connection. Openings are mainly social affairs – don’t expect to go to a friend’s opening and walk away with a show of your own. But you can use an opening as an opportunity to get to establish some sort of friendly relationship with the gallery, which may serve you later down the road.