Editor's Desk: A Report from NYC

By Scott Burkett, Editor-in-Chief, Head Art-o-Maniac, WetCanvas!

February 9th, 1999

New York City has long been called the "Art Capitol of the Western Hemisphere". It's no surprise. In the district of Soho, the Big Apple's most prominent art district, there is virtually a gallery in every building. It's every artist's dream to exhibit in NYC - so I packed up my digital camera and tape recorder, and caught the next flight out. My mission was simple. I wanted to find out: Has the Internet made a difference in the way the art business functions? How many artists do galleries typically screen each month? How many make the cut? What are the most common mistakes made by artists when approaching a gallery? What should artists be wary of when approaching a gallery? How do foreign artists break into the NY art scene? What stumbling blocks do foreign artists encounter? Are certain countries exporting certain types of talent? I visited several galleries in the Soho district. I found the gallery staffs to be helpful and accommodating, even given my sudden imposition. This is my report from the concrete jungle.

Note: WetCanvas! does not endorse any of the galleries below, nor their approaches, opinions, or other philosophies. This article is in no means a substitute for good common sense when dealing with a gallery!

My first stop was at Sylvia White's New York gallery, also known as Contemporary Artists' Services (CAS). I couldn't help but snap a few shots of Dina Wind's excellent series of metal sculptures. One interesting aspect of this exhibit was the arrangement of tall metal sculptures on the 2nd floor courtyard of the building.

I spoke briefly with Renee Schacht, the NY gallery director. "The Internet has provided an excellent channel for global marketing and promotion. The Internet has increased our accessibility, allowing artists to know more about what we do. We're not necessarily looking at just NY artists or west coast artists, we can now move into the global market."

When asked about the competitive landscape in NY, Renee told us that "gallery space is problematic, but not completely inaccessible. Artists send slides, press releases, and announcements. I'd say in a week, I get at least around 30 submissions. A lot of times artists just locate NY galleries and just send their information out. Artists should really figure out what the gallery is all about - who they are looking for, their style, before just sending out information open-endedly." Renee: "Because galleries get so many slides and press releases, it just becomes, well, it doesn't mean anything. You look at all of the submissions, but you just want something different. Be creative! One artist works with brown paper bags as a medium. He then sent his announcement and his press release in a brown paper bag - now that was original!"

Renee: "One of the biggest mistakes that some artists make is coming into a gallery and showing photographs of their work. They come in - I think they just don't know how galleries work. A gallery is very busy and they don't necessarily have the time if someone just walks in off the street. Sometimes it does work, but not always. They really shouldn't show photographs, it doesn't do their work justice. Some artists will lug their art work around the whole day looking for their right gallery. They think if they make that one contact, they're going to just "create" their career. My advice: drop off a portfolio, allow the gallery time to look it, that would be better. Maybe talk to the gallery, find out what they are looking for, and then send in your portfolio. Say "Oh I stopped into the gallery, I liked what you show, I think its in line with my work, here's my bio, here's my past history, what do you think?" Always include a self-addressed, stamped envelope so the gallery can return your slides! With all the slides that galleries receive, it would cost a fortune to return everything."

Renee: "In terms of foreign artists, the only stumbling block we've seen is still basic communication. If all artists were connected to the Internet, it would be a wonderful world. It's basic spoken language and accessibility. Sometimes trying to get a hold of artists living outside the U.S. can be difficult." Renee: "The only thing that I would be wary of, is if someone just "instantly" likes your work, and offers you a show. Not to say that it won't happen, and it won't be positive. But a lot of galleries will just return later and say "That will be $1,000 or $3,000, please." Sometimes unusual ones will charge the artist for shows. So you have to keep your eyes open. Read the contracts. Know what's going on. There is this publication called Art Calendar - its a great publication, they go through these things like the contracts, what to be wary of, for artists to subscribe to ArtCalendar, I think it just opens their eyes to what's out there." Renee: "We don't work like a conventional gallery. We assist artists with their careers. We also offer an "artist exchange" program, for foreign artists. That's how we work. Most people understand that about us. " Her advice to artists: keep trying, don't give up!

After thanking Renee for taking the time out of her schedule, I had a chance to catch up with the Agora Gallery's Ariel Kahana. According to Ariel, "[the Internet] provides more exposure for the gallery." "However", he adds, "the criteria is still the same. A good artist is a good artist. Everyone is coming to us because of the website, we have artists, consultants, and buyers. But a good artist is still a good artist - the Internet won't make them any better!".

Ariel: "Any place an artist can get exposure is good. If a gallery offers an artist a chance, they should take it. An artist will not go anywhere if his art is in his house, unless they have a lot of rich friends. We sometimes ask artists to share in the expenses of their promotion - it's shared risk and shared reward. You don't know if its going to sell - its expensive to run a gallery! To run a gallery, you could easily spend 10,000 a month. Thousands of dollars. In NY, a small 2 bedroom apartment could be 2K or 3K a month! You can imagine how expensive a gallery can be."

Ariel: "The biggest mistake I see with aspiring artists is in the area of expectations. Unbelievable. People start working with us and they get very disappointed if something doesn't sell after half a year. To be very blunt, you join the inventory of a gallery. We will try to promote you, but it takes time. Time and luck. You have to have the right painting in front of the right person at the right time."

Ariel: "We have an artist who is from Mississippi. A very large collector is opening a new resort/casino in Biloxi. They were looking for an artist to do all the menus and all the art work and publicity. They wanted something floral, and preferred someone who is from the area. We had an artist named Sarah Francis Harding, who is a local, and has great flowers, poppies, everything. Now she is walking around with their art director and working out the details. She's made 3 paintings and there are 3 more to go. Why did she sell? The right person at the right time." Ariel: "With foreign artists, we sometimes run into issues with customs and shipping, mostly technical problems. We started offering framing services to our artists, especially for people outside the US. It can save literally hundreds or thousands of dollars. They send a rolled canvas instead of a huge box."

After bidding Ariel goodbye, I headed around the corner to the Cast Iron Gallery. This Japanese gallery is quite a success story back in Japan. I had a few minutes to chat with Himiko ("Mimi") Ohta: Mimi: "We put our website address and email address on all of our advertising. We haven't actually measured the success of that, but it seems to be helping." Mimi: "The owner is Japanese, and she knows a lot of people in Japan. So the Japanese people come here when they visit NY. We are very popular back in Japan. We even have Japanese TV shows that come here to talk to us!"

Mimi: "The biggest stumbling block for foreign artists is probably the language barrier. We had a Korean group and we didn't have a way to communicate with them. It was very difficult as they did not speak English or Japanese. Once we had an artist from Latvia, who had some work we really liked. Luckily we knew a friend of a friend who spoke Latvian! We had to cancel the show of another Korean artist because she had 14 boxes of painting held up at customs. Usually you send it through a courier and let them deal with it, but she decided to do it herself. My advice is to use a courier, or at least have your paperwork in good shape beforehand!"

Mimi: "The biggest mistake I see in aspiring artists is that they present themselves wrong. Sometimes they just come in here with their book, and its just all over the place. A lot of times we don't have time to look at everyone on the spot. They should put together some slides, an artist statement would be nice, a resume. Make it organized, make it easy to look through." Mimi: "If they want to focus their search, they should look at galleries and see what their philosophy is and try to match what they do with the gallery. Otherwise, they waste their time and the gallery's time. And always provide a self-addressed, stamped envelope to return slides!"

Mimi was quite a gracious host, but I was running out of time and had to leave. I finally headed over to the Gallery Revel, one of New York's trendiest. I had the opportunity to speak briefly with Alfred Schatz:

Al: "Its really hard because they're are tons of artists out there - every day I see artists who want to show in galleries. Even though there are a lot of galleries in NY, its still very difficult for artists to get into a gallery." When I asked Alfred to characterize the biggest mistake made by aspiring artists, his response was: "That's easy, poor presentation.

Al: "They're not even scheduling an appointment. They talk money first, before they even know if we like their work. I've had people just come in with a pocket full of photos, and it's so wrong. My advice: think twice about how you are presenting yourself. It's still a business venture. You can make your art however you like, but when you approach a gallery, you are essentially saying "I would like you to sell my art work for money", the bottom line is, it's a business." Al: "All artists have a responsibility to ask as many questions as possible, once you've gone through the first steps with a gallery. Always find out what the parameters are, you know, how your work will be presented, do you take care of framing yourself or will they gallery do that for you. Shipping. Advertising. All of these things go a long way toward being exhibited. Don't take it for granted that because your work is up on the wall that someone is going to come by and say "wow what a talented person you are, I'll buy all of them". You might as well be at home under your bed!"

Well, folks - that's about it for this time. All in all, I had a blast in the Big Apple - special thanks to all the gallery owners who participated in the interviews. If you are in NYC, drop by and see them! Cheers from the Big Apple.