GALLERIES
For the purposes of this section, we are thinking of shows in galleries – not gallery representation. [see Selling section for more about long-term relationships with galleries] If you are invited to be part of a show in a gallery space, it is usually for one, or both, of these reasons: a curator/artist of theirs likes your work; and/or the gallery is interested in the art you make and wants to see how you work, what you are like, how strong the art is (and your relationship with it), how potential collectors and their buyers might react to it. Either way, try to make a good impression. Be professional – know what your art needs. Send images and text when they ask you. Do what you say you are going to do.
Invite your own contacts, people you want to see your work, and potential buyers to the show. Be charming. Showing in museums – brilliant. Lots of artists moan about it though: lots of work, little money, few sales, exhausting. But this is the big time, baby! Enjoy.
CURATORS
One of the best ways to get your work seen is to get curators interested in it. Remember not to be too obtrusive or pushy when approaching them. Always remember that curators have their own interests and specialisms. They are less dependent on sales than galleries need to be, so they can be more interested in less sellable work, and do more exciting shows.
Most colleges have a curating course – if you are at college with them, get to know them, talk to them, see if you like them. These are often the curators of tomorrow. Invite the curators whose work you like to your shows (invite them to your degree show!) – make the invitation personal and tell them why you like what they do. When you know them a bit better, you can invite them to your studio, but inviting them to a show is always a good first step – it is less pressured. However you approach them, it is best to be upfront and honest about the fact that: you are interested in their curating/work/organisation/ideas; you would like to discuss your own work to get their feedback.
You need to be able to trust a curator – there are really two kinds: those who know what art is, and those who don’t. If they know what art is, they will put it first. If they don’t, the show will be about them – their interests, their ‘themes’, their cool. Stay away. Additionally, there is now an alarming trend for some curators to omit the names of participating artists from publicity, invites, press releases, labels, etc. It is essential that this not become accepted practice. Always check early on that this won’t happen. If it is the curators’ intention, make them change their minds, or stay away. Working with a curator should be a reciprocal thing.
It is important not to see them, or treat them, as administrators or marketing people for your work, but more like colleagues who are taking an interest in your work for their own study. Find out what they like about your work, and try to have a meaningful engagement with them. They will appreciate this, and also it will help them to represent your work in the best way possible for you. (Also the more interest and understanding of your work they have, the more time and space they will dedicate to you in their own work). You can also share ideas, and it is more likely that these ideas will spur on future collaborations.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUoUszh98P4
EXHIBITION DIY
The galleries that hire themselves out for external shows are usually known for less-than-excellent art. If you want to DIY, look for an interesting space. If you want a white cube, do the work to turn it into one as much as you can. Showing in your home or studio will cost nothing in rent and save you having to find a space. Check you are allowed to invite the public into your studio block. Take into account the space – this is not a gallery and will never look like one – do interesting stuff. The Hex started in the spare room of Maria Zahle and Jason Dungan’s council estate flat: interesting stuff: www.mariazahle.bulldoghome.com Shops, warehouses, factories, car parks, hospitals, launderettes, parks, municipal buildings, gardens, hotels, swimming pools, sports centres…
If they are still working venues, bear in mind the principal use of the venue and the needs and wishes of those involved, taking these into account when first approaching them. Before approaching anyone about using their property, do some research on their organisation, the individual and the area. Think about what benefits you might be able to offer them and what they might see as disadvantages. Have a clear idea in mind of what you want to do, how much time you need, some idea of the costs involved and how much you are prepared to spend. Draft a simple proposal. Write a letter to accompany this explaining your ideas. Suggest that you meet to discuss the idea.
To many property owners, this will be a new idea. Be prepared for the process to take some time – those concerned may take some persuading. If you have no luck, try to gain some idea of what their objections are. This can provide some useful hints for future approaches. There are many advantages to doing group shows: sharing costs, work, invigilation, knowledge, experience, skills and contacts. Showing in a group widens your audience. You may also find it easier to approach people for support on behalf of a group.
Insurance
Get it! At the very least, public liability insurance – if anything happens to anyone in the space, you need this to cover you. You might want to insure your work and equipment against damage and/or theft. AIR membership provides free £5m public liability insurance cover to artists. It also provides low-cost options for studio, contents, artwork, exhibition or a personalised quote against specific needs: www.a-n.co.uk/air_insurance The Society for All Artists also offers their members free public liability insurance, and artwork insurance (they even send you nice samples of watercolour paper): www.saa.co.uk/support/insurance.php Pop Up Space is specifically tailored to assist pop ups and temporary tenants – they offer short term insurance: www.popupspace.com Or you can go to a broker. Brownhills has a specialist art service: www.brownhillgroup.co.uk
Communications
Press, marketing and communications play a really important part in organising an exhibition. There is a certain amount of promotion required to make it a success on a number of levels: visitor numbers, critical acclaim/press and how the public and art professionals perceive the show and those participating in it. Produce a press release as soon as possible. Magazines need long lead times and you want to get something to them early on. Develop the press release concurrently with the exhibition. This means that you can send updated versions and the release gets more and more interesting.
Arial 11 is the standard font – send the press release in Word (it means they can cut and paste easily) – keep the writing simple and clear – keep images small so that it does not take ages to open on a computer. Gather biographical details of participants, high and low resolution images relevant to the project, and any texts or exhibition guides that are produced by the curator or any other contributing person. Marketing online is cheaper, more efficient and is a much easier way to reach a wider audience. E-invites: the traditional date for a large send-out is two weeks before the opening. Do a reminder/send again a few days before, but don’t be tempted to send too many invitations – this just irritates people.
Compile and maintain your mailing list throughout the exhibition – add/remove press contacts, listing sites, blogs, and enter the contact details from the comment book. If you are not using a campaign mailing package from the internet (mailchimp etc.), then remember to respect everyone’s privacy and bcc email addresses.
Social Networking: Obviously Facebook and Twitter, but there are always new online platforms that are emerging. Find them and use them (5 years from now Facebook may be redundant). Start accounts as soon as possible and always engage in conversation about a variety of interesting topics, not just things that concern you directly (no one likes people who just go on about themselves and this definitely applies online as well). Online listings: post, post, post. Most are free and will help your SEO (search engine optimisation) when people Google your show. If you have a larger budget, you can produce print-based flyers, but this is expensive and you are competing for impact with many of the larger organisations with fancy card and embossing – why kill the trees?
However you communicate, think of it as developing relationships with people: curators, gallerists, writers, editors, bloggers, socialites, lecturers, and, of course friends and fellow artists. If you are having a show, invite everyone whose work you like – curators, gallery people, artists. A show is a great way to get people to see your work. Use the opportunity. BUT…do not spam.
Marketing Campaign
A general schedule is as follows:
- 8 weeks before – let press know about the exhibition so, if they are interested, they have time to respond and produce content. Send a personal letter with the press release to editors/writers/freelancers and invite them to cover the project. If you know and like their work, mention it – you might want to mention why they might like your work or why it would be relevant to them/their publication.
- 4 weeks before – an intense period, but do not neglect the press side of things. The final press release should be ready and the website or blog should be live. Send a more detailed press release with a press pack to everyone: information on the participants, with images; any extra events and activities that may be of interest; invite them to the Private View.
- 2 weeks before: send the email invite to everyone – for the Private View and the show. Make sure dates, times and addresses are correct and clear. Create a Facebook event, continue to tweet. Make sure all listings have the info about the show: for some you need to input the info yourself (Time Out deadline is two weeks before); for others, send the basic info to an email address (the Press Association handles loads of listings, send email to: art@pa-entertainment.co.uk)
- A few days before: send reminders to everyone for the Private View. Send personal letters with the press release to key editors/writers/freelancers. Twitter and Facebook: post reminders and any other interesting, related things, especially other shows you or the other artist(s) may be in.
The Private View
The installation is over and now you are in the spotlight, like it or not. Be a charming host/hostess – I am afraid charm is unfairly important for success in this world. Get over the stress of creating the show; accept that your work is as it is; smile; don’t drink too much (to avoid hot-face booze-and-stress reaction, and/or becoming incoherent and tedious); mingle.
It is important to have the event documented, not only for posterity, but it provides interesting material to use online thereafter and for press.
Exhibition Management
After the Private View you tend to think that the hard work is over, but this is where it all begins. Don’t lose focus. The press want installation images as soon as possible. Many organisations try to have the show photographed before the Private View, but all too often this is sadly not possible when going the DIY route. Get the work documented as soon as possible after the opening. Have enough maps/exhibition texts printed and proof read! Have a price list ready, but remember the established etiquette (relating to the primacy of looking over shopping) is to have this separately and discreetly available. Some people like to have a comment book, seeing this as a great way to receive feedback and add contacts to their mailing list.
Others prefer to have a book strictly for contact details with no Comments section. Yet others prefer to have no book at all, relying on exchanging details face-to-face, as and when the need and opportunity arise. Keep the space clean; visitors attend to see the art, not to be distracted by rubbish on floors/walls. You will need some invigilation – even if this has to be you – you have to watch over the art. Remember not to talk too loudly in the exhibition. The visitors have come to see the art not listen to people jabber on about their weekends in a corner – it is very distracting – be professional at all times. Also do not be tempted to accost people coming to see the show.
If they want to talk to you, show by your manner that you are approachable. [Advanced, but important: If visitors want to ask you something that only the art itself can tell them, you may be able to learn to say this to them.]
Things to keep on hand
Batteries – have a supply for remotes, wireless headphones, torches. Torch – for projection rooms – very useful – especially if your phone does not have a light. Spare USB sticks Make sure you have master copies for film and video works. Store these on an external hard drive, not your personal computer.
Don’t neglect marketing and press – follow up any leads. Send press info that they request as soon as you can – they are often working to very tight deadlines. Maintain the listings. Tweet and share on Facebook. Hosting events is a great way to continue attendance momentum throughout the show. It is also an opportunity for artists in the show to present more aspects of their work. Events can also encourage day visitors to return in the evening, and can add a new element/dynamic to the show and grow beyond the conventional format of an exhibition. At the end of the project, archive all documentation and publicity. Print out features on websites, make them into a pdf, get hard copies from magazines/ newspapers. These should also be digitised: ie, scanned/compiled, etc.
Compile the whole archive digitally and in hardcopies. The digital archive should be made available for participants, partners, etc. This will be very useful for future projects you want to present, or when applying for funding.