Do you have any gallery horror stories? How did you resolve them, and and how did they change your perspective or your approach to how you handle your art business? I want to share this for complete transparency, and hopefully help some artists avoid some of the pitfalls I have fallen into on the course of my artist journey. As a younger artist had this idea that galleries were professionally run businesses, so they would assuredly run like one. That is not always the case. In fact, that is far from the experience I have had, and I have to laugh about how I once believed that. Oh, the things we don't know until we know.
Before I proceed, I want to state that galleries are not inherently good or bad. They are businesses run by people, and people are fallible. Some people are good at art. Some people are good at business. Some are good at both, and some are good at neither. There is an entire spectrum here, and I have seen the full spectrum. What it ultimate comes down to, is relationships. Not all relationships are good, or meant for you. I have had, and have, some great relationships with a number of galleries. There are several I currently love working with, and have zero issues with. I have also had some terrible experiences I hope I can help you avoid. Unfortunately, those happen far more often than they should.
Over the course of my career, I have had the following happen, many of these occurring in the past couple years:
-I have had a gallery misplace my art, try to convince me they didn't have it, only to have it pop up in the pages of Architectural Digest and find out they sold it, never telling me or compensating me.
-I have had galleries significantly damage expensive works, many beyond repair.
-I have had galleries change my contactually agreed upon prices without approval, and beyond the agreed upon wiggle room afforded for them.
-I have had galleries change my titles.
-I have had galleries pay me the incorrect amount.
-I have had galleries pay me late.
-I have had galleries not pay me at all.
-I have had a gallery in another part of the country with my art change their name, and not tell me. I thought the gallery went under until I did a deeper search and pieced together the puzzle.
-I have had galleries that don't respond to monthly or quarterly check ins just to make sure things are okay. I'm talking about, "Hey, things are fine. Talk to you in 3 months."
-In the past couple years I had a gallery I sent art to on the other side of the country. After signing a contract, they decided they were going to try to change the terms and wanted to charge me to show my art. I quickly put an end to that. It was then a battle to pick up my work, with them repeatedly changing the date, time, contact, and pick up location, knowing that I was on the other side of the country and had to use an expensive service to collect the art. The art is still sitting on the other side of the country.
-I have had a gallery that was responsible for shipping over 100k of my art back at their cost sit on it for over 6 months, not respond to messages in a reasonable timeframe, and tell me they don't have funds to ship it back, despite participating in Art Miami this past December. Look up what a booth costs. My work was not included. I am currently dealing with this issue.
A couple recommendations to artists:
-READ YOUR CONTRACTS!
-Vet your sources as best you can. Unfortunately, I did vet many of my sources, and still had these experiences. If you have an opportunity with a gallery, reach out to 3-5 artists that have worked with them for a while and have enough experience dealing with them to have the insights you need.
-Be extra cautious when dealing with galleries in other parts of the country where expenses and issues can have the potential to really pile up.
-Be aware that top galleries that have success and good relationships with their artists rarely, if ever, have openings. Beware of galleries that are new, or all of a sudden have a bunch of openings. There might be a very good reason for that.
If you have an issue, know and understand that it's not as simple as, "I can sue them." Lawsuits require time, money, and emotional energy. Most artists do not have these in abundance. That's one of the reasons these unethical businesses and people get away with what they do. Also, where is the jurisdiction?
Artists are often so eager and hungry to take any and every opportunity, they rush in and put themselves in a position to be burned. You have to be careful, or at least willing to take a loss if you decide to gamble. At this stage of my career, I do a little gambling here and there. I accept my losses in some of those cases, but it doesn't mean this should ever happen, and it sure as hell doesn't mean I won't talk about it here and now and find a way to flip it as a win. Brush up on that business savvy artists!
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