Transcripts
1. Introduction and welcome: So you have made the
important decision that you would like to work with a gallery to
represent your artwork. Well, I believe that before you start that journey in
identifying a gallery, you would like to approach. There are some key questions you really need to ask
yourself first. Because how do you
know whether or not the gallery route is
the right one for you? I believe asking yourself some honest questions in
advance will also give you the information you need so that when the day comes and
you have a conversation with a potential gallery
that you already know what your expectations are and what
your future plans will be. Because that will
make sure you have a mutual beneficial
working relationship. As an art dealer, I
learned very early on that a gallery is nothing
without their artists. The artists made up the gallery program that
influenced the type of buyers the gallery had an influence what sort of
art fairs they probably did. In essence, without
the gallery artists, the gallery had no identity. If you are an
ambitious artist and you would like to see your
career move to the next level. And you would like
to have a gallery to be your business partner, then you are in good company. In this course, I will be using my experience as an
entrepreneur, as a gallery, just as my marketing know-how will be injected
in this lessons, where we will explore
what you need to do and what you need to know in order to find the
right gallery for you. How do you identify a gallery? Who you could work with? How are you going
to approach them? What are the pitfalls
and solutions may be out there to help you out
of these challenges. These are things that we
will explore together. My name is Jasmin Kossen , I'm an art dealer, passionate art collector,
and entrepreneur. I provide mentoring
classes for fledgling and establish artists to help them go in the right
direction for their career. I establish my art gallery
over ten years ago in Basel, Switzerland, which is
where I'm based today. Later I opened in New
York in Chelsea. And finally in Venice, Italy. I was extremely active internationally as a
gallery because I did a lot of art fairs in Europe as well as the USA
and even Asia. And what I learned very quickly was that without the
right kind of artists, my gallery could
not go very far. This course is to make sure
that you stay motivated, that you follow your dream
and you believe in yourself. And if you believe
that the gallery route is what you need for your career to go
into the next level. Then let's do this journey together and welcome
to my course.
2. Your project: preparation is key!: I believe there are three questions that
every artist should ask themselves in order to
find that clarity of whether or not the gallery route is the right one to take. First question is, what is your vision in
terms of your career goals? Short, medium, and long term? Secondly, if you were to look
at your art objectively, what category would
you belong to? Not an easy one to answer. Thirdly, who are
your buyers today? And who do you envision your
buyers to be in the future? Who is your future audience? Or who would you like your
future audience to be? Now, answering these
three questions is actually the project
for you to download. The template is there with
guidelines which I hope will help you find the
answers that you need. Because then having that clarity will guide you in
the right direction. Do you need a gallery or not?
3. Asking yourself three key questions. (Project) : Question number one,
what is your vision? Now…. You might be a hobby artist now or maybe even professional
already, in the sense that you are able
to pay rent and pay your food and feed
your cat with your income. But maybe that's not enough. Maybe you really like
to get recognition. Maybe you want to be
seen internationally. Maybe you want to explore different types of
artworks or genres. And you'd like to have a
gallery by your side to to give you that kind of
career advice and mentoring. Be clear of how you
see yourself in the future and where you see your gallery
in supporting you. Every gallery is different. And in my case, I enjoyed helping artists,
giving them ideas, giving them the information of what trends might be out there, encouraging them to visit other art fairs and to see
other artists studios. And yes, I did a
lot of mentoring because it's not easy
being an artist. There are moments where
you're feeling low and you're feeling well, that you're not achieving
what you want to achieve. And the gallery is there to make sure that you're
focused and to give that motivation that you need to so that you keep on
working and keep on going. Now, what are your career goals? Make sure that you're clear and write that down
in your template. Number two. What is your art work category? Where would you put yourself in? I think there are three
broad categories. You've got your craftsman, Let's say pottery, jewelry
making, dressmaking. It's sort of craftsmanship. Then you've got your fine art. Fine art meaning unique artworks that cannot be reproduced. Painting, drawings
on paper, sculpture. That's unique artwork,
even video art. If you are a unique artist in the sense of that,
you make paintings, sculptures that are not
multiples necessarily, and you don't see yourself
as a craftsman, then yes. The gallery route is
the one for you. And then maybe the multiples
will be the third category. Multiples meaning
photography. Word of caution, photography for the gallery
world means limited edition. Maybe you have seven copies of each photography that you do. Something to discuss with your, with your gallery,
just on a side note. But photography, illustrations, drawings that can be
printed and reprinted. These would be your multiples. Now, understanding where you are will help you identify the type of gallery that
is suitable for you. Now let's say you are an illustrator and at
the moment you work a lot with maybe publishers of children books, for instance. But you would like to
actually work with a gallery. Now that is not impossible
because I actually do own a couple of artworks from illustrators
who do multiples. In other words, they sell
their illustrations for books. But they're also known
as fine artists, meaning they do drawings. and these drawings are unique, or maybe they're
limited edition prints. And those are sold
via art galleries. So be clear of what
category you are. There could be a bit of a mix, but that will help you identify the right gallery
to represent you. Alright, third question.
Who are your buyers? Who are you selling today? And who are you
selling to tomorrow? Now let's take that same
example of the Illustrator. Today you might be selling individual illustrations
to publishes a box, let's say children's
books than our example. Now, your buyers today
are the companies, corporates, and they will
buy directly from you. Now, if tomorrow you want
to sell to collectors, then you need to rethink
about your art category. And then you need to
rethink, alright, if I need to approach a gallery, what does a gallery
expect from me? So these are sort
of key questions. Now, if your buyer today
are corporates and you are happy with that,
you don't need a gallery. Now, what are the different
categories of buyers? Because I just gave
one example there. To be honest, we are now entering the world of
market segmentation. Believe me, that is a
whole course in itself. Because market segmentation
means in marketing jargon, you identify your
various buyers. You put them into
categories or in segments. Once you have done that, then you can explore what is your marketing or sales channel. In other words, where do
you find these clients? Now, for the sake of this class, I have put the buyers
into five simple groups. Because we don't
have time to go into the whole world of
market segmentation. Alright, so what are
these five groups? I would say one group is
definitely the sporadic buyer. Meaning they have
maybe new home and they're looking for
five or six artworks for various rooms. They're very clear on
the size and the color. So these are people who
once they have bought the five pieces of artwork
to decorate the home, you will never see them again. And these buyers, they buy sometimes from galleries and sometimes directly
from the artist, depending where they have come across the work from the artist, maybe Instagram, social media. So that's category one. The next category, which is closely linked is the
interior designer. Now the interior designer
is for us, for galleries. I love working with
them because they come not once, but many times, because they have many buyers who happened to be sporadic
buyers by the way. So these interior designers, they have a clear brief, they have a clear budget. They know what size they
need, what color they need. And they work with three
or four favorite galleries that they just happen to
have a good rapport with. And they say, Hey,
I need to have ten artworks were three
these three clients, do you have anything
for me in your program? Interior designers, they
prefer to work with galleries for the simple reason, because of time saving. Imagine you go to
one gallery and already you have a
selection of 12 artists with maybe three or 400
artworks compared to having to go to 12
individual artists. So interior designers,
a group for itself, clearly, gallery route. Third group, I would say
company in corporates. Now, depending on
the company and the corporate and your
category of artwork, they sometimes go to
artists directly. But to be honest, for
the same reason why the interior designer
likes to go to galleries. Corporate companies, also, they usually have
a much bigger budget. They don't have time or the
energy to go through artists. And to be honest,
the people who are in charge of buying art for, let's say the company hallway. They may not be artistic savvy. They might just work in
the purchasing department. And they much rather
rely on the taste and also the guarantee from the gallery that
the artwork is of good quality and the price
attached to it is valid. So a lot of corporate
companies, I had, for instance, a lot of
banks who were my clients, they would buy for their
hallways after renovation. They rather worked with
galleries for that reason. In other words, the person
working at the bank, they don't want to take the responsibility
that maybe they made the wrong choice using the bank's money, if
that makes sense. So corporate clients, often
than not, the gallery read. Museums and institutions. Clearly gallery route,
very rarely does a museum buy directly
from the artist. They like to work
with galleries. Because if you look at huge
shows and famous museums like Guggenheim Museum or the Contemporary Art
Museum, and where you live. More often than not, there's
a gallery working with them or collaborating with them to make that exhibition happen. Because a lot of
the artworks and in the contemporary art world
is supplied by galleries. So I have to admit this fourth category is
not really relevant to you if you are starting out
and your fledgling artist, but do be aware of it. You never know. Alright, now the final
group and I belong to that group, the
art collector. Now, I started in the contemporary art
world as a collector. And today the last
time I counted, I have almost 200 artworks
in my possession. What makes an art collector? Well, first of all, hands
down, we're all addicted. I have to admit I, I buy because I'm
addicted to buying art if if my budget allows me to. Secondly, no art collector will buy art based on size and color because we're not buying
art to fit above our sofa necessarily. We are are buying
art because we love it. We can't bear not to have it in our possession. Addiction. And thirdly, because we like to be part of that
artist's journey. I have bought arts works from particular artists
when they started off and later on also today and I can
see their development. And it feels good to know that I bought something
maybe years ago. that's a very good price because nobody
knew they existed. But today to see that
they are now in museums or they're working
with very good galleries. It makes me feel good that I was somehow part of that journey. And that is how an art
collector thinks - they want to be part of your artistic
journey. If you like they want to hold your hand and they want to develop with you. That's a true art collector. They don't care
about your size or the color of your art
work because they have a kitchen space to fill. That's not the real connector. Now, art collectors, 99% of the
time they buy from galleries. And there are various
reasons for that. First of all, art collectors, they have built a
relationship with galleries. And galleries. they know how to develop and to make sure that this
relationship grows with them. So when they do an art fair, galleries often send
VIP invitations to their network of buyers so that they get to see
their new program or introduce new artists to
that particular buyer. A lot of galleries even
develop friendships. They mentor collectors. Now remember a lot
of collectors. they may have started
with no idea about art. And they just stumbled with a friend maybe into a gallery. And that's how the whole
collecting journey started. It was thanks to
mentoring and maybe some advice from a gallery
friend for instance, they've got them
on their journey. So there is a very close
connection; relationship- wise between gallery
and collectors. Now I know this is quite
a big topic in itself, and I sincerely hope
the project work will help you guide you
in the right direction. And if so, if the gallery
route is your conclusion, well, then I guess I'll see
you in the next lesson. How do you identify
your art gallery?
4. Identifying what type of gallery is for you.: Well, if you have come this far, this would mean that you have
completed that template. You've asked yourselves those difficult questions
and you've come to the conclusion that
the gallery route is the one that you
wish to pursue. Well, if that's the case, now we have to discuss what type of gallery
should you be pursuing? Who is your ideal gallery? Or the big? Are they
small, are they nearby? or they internationally active? Who is your gallery? Now to answer that question, I've prepared some notes because there's quite a
few things to think of. And I do not wish to
forget any of them. Alright, so I have
put a template down there for you to download
because that might help you guide you through this process because there's quite a
few things to think about. Number one, location. You might live in a place
where it's a small town. Maybe there's not a lot of
creative events happening. Maybe you don't have a lot
of museums and so forth, which is the case, then I would suggest look in the nearest big city and
find a gallery there. Maybe you are already
locally active. Maybe you live in a big city, but you feel you have not really fulfilled your
potential in where you are currently. Well then working with a gallery who's
strong locally, where you are is probably one of the first
things you need to do. Work with a very
good, local gallery who ideally is active. In other words, maybe they do art fairs or maybe they
do a lot of shows. Someone who you feel can be a stepping stone
to introduce you to another gallery who maybe
is active in another region. That's for you in the future
once you have established yourself in your
so-called home turf. So one of the criteria, location, where should
your Gallery be? One of the big criteria, which I would suggest you think of is how old the gallery is. Established gallery, meaning more than five years
or a young gallery. The fact is if you are a fledgling artist and
you're finding yourself, it might be a good idea to find a gallery who is also
finding themselves. So they may be not quite
sure what genre to focus on. And I have to admit
that was my case when I first started out. I started with one genre and
then within six months or realize I need to change
if I wanted to survive. So many galleries do go
through this process. It is not unusual that within
the first two years of a galleries lifespan
that they're still searching and they're not
quite sure who the buyers are, meaning what type of art
they should be showing. And this actually is a window
of opportunity for you. And what they need as quickly as possible is to have what
they call a winning artist who can
attract buyers very quickly so that they can
survive until the next month. So you might want to search for galleries who
maybe are not older than two years and
who are open to discuss with you and work
with young fledgling artists. Because young fledgling
artists will also not have very high
expectations of them. Because the fact is, establish artists who are doing very well they are not interested to
work with young galleries. It is a fact. So
keep that in mind. Look for a fresh, young Gallery and maybe you can
both grow together. However, if you are
interested in working with an established gallery…
to be realistic, they may not wish to work
with you unless they see something in you that they feel would be a
perfect fit for them, and they think that you
have a very bright future. Remember, established
galleries have very high overhead. They
have a lot of staff. They do a lot of art fairs. They have a lot of costs. So they very rarely would
like to risk - financial risk speaking - with a young unknown. Now having said that, I'm not saying you should
avoid established galleries because the fact is speaking as an established
gallery myself, I loved to have a program
that was a healthy mix of established artists
and young fresh blood. As we say. The fact is many buyers, they like it and they
find it exciting to be the first buyers
of an unknown artist. And only later to say five
years down the track: Oh, this guy who's
now seen everywhere. I was one of the first buyers. In other words, I have
a nose for talent. So don't let it
deter you if you see an established gallery and
you really feel that you could be a good fit,
reach out to them. Because 30 per cent of their
program normally would be of young fresh graduates are fresh artists because they would like to spice
up their program and not only have established
higher priced artwork. So don't be shy. Do
reach out to them. Think about the network that
you wish for your career. Do you want to go overseas? Do you want to be maybe
known in different regions, in different countries, or
maybe there's a type of audience you would
like to reach out to. Maybe you only had
corporate clients and now you would like
to have art collectors. Being sure about this will also influence the type of gallery
you should be looking for. Now, for the example, maybe you are in a small town. You will then approach
a gallery in a city. Now maybe in the biggest city
which is nearest to you, there are 200 galleries. So which of these 200
galleries should you approach? Now, if in the
back of your mind, you would like to
be internationally known in the short term
rather than the long term, than check out one of these
200 galleries, for instance, in the nearest big city, who are the ones who
are active in art fairs. And which art fairs? Because if they are
doing art fairs in Paris and Milan,
and what have you, then you know that
even though they may only have one location, because our
internationally active, they have a healthy
international database. But please keep in mind, just because they do art fairs,
doesn't mean they will bring your work to the fair because it really
depends on your price range. An art fair is ridiculously
expensive to do. And if your artwork is priced
still on the lower end, let's say maybe
under $1000.- or $2000, 50% commission
goes to the gallery. The gallery needs to
pay for the booth out of their 50%
commission. In other words,
there's no profit. So yes, look for galleries
that do art fairs. But be also understanding
if they say they will not take you when they do their art fair circuit
because you're not ready yet. Maybe they'll take
one or two works and not hang on the wall. Just have that discussion
with your gallery. Now talking about art fairs. You might not be
aware, but there are different categories or
quality of art fairs. And very much like you applying to be represented
by the gallery; the gallery needs to apply to these art fairs in
order to exhibit. And the top tier fairs. Art Basel, Art cologne, Turin, Milano, a lot of European
fairs are the top A levels. They're notoriously difficult
for a gallery to get into. Because these art fairs, they want only to show
galleries who are active. They have gallery
shows regularly. They've been around
more than two years. The artists have a certain CV. Maybe they're done museum shows, maybe they are
important collections. The factors, these art fairs, they draw in very
important art collectors. And these art collectors
expect a certain quality. So there is a vetting process. So in other words, if
you find a gallery, who does these top
tier art fairs, you know, you already know
that is a top Gallery. From the A level. You've
got the B level fairs and then you have
the C level fairs. So I would say the
B level fairs, there are more of them. They probably have more
galleries doing the fair. Not necessarily easier
for gallery to get in, but there's a higher chance
because there's more space. In other words, these
fairs are quite large. So my gallery, I was more doing the B levels because
the A levels are just notoriously
difficult to get into. So I did fairs
in Germany, Italy, I did Spain, Paris, So I did Europe
and also America. I did The New York and I did Miami. And that was how I was promoting my gallery and also my artists. And that was how I was
expanding my network. And that is something
you need to think of because just
because you find a gallery, who is only local. but if they are an active
gallery, artfair network,
then you are good to go, you will get that global representation that
you're looking for. Their PR. Nowadays, especially
after the pandemic is more and more relevant
to the art world. It's very important. A lot of buyers now, in the past, they would not buy an artwork if they
haven't seen it live. Things are changing. People are actually buying
more virtual than ever. So if your gallery is savvy and you can see they're active on Instagram and they
know how to use it. They have a very good website, then that is
something you really need to take into consideration. So you might have
a small gallery. Maybe they're only
in a small town or village where you are. But don't let that deter you if they're very active, virtually. For instance, nowadays
you can even do virtual openings
where you can click on the Login button and then
you think you are virtually in a gallery show even though you're the other
side of the globe. So technology like that
is being used a lot. So if you have a small
gallery that is using technology and social
media very well. Perfect. That's something that you
should take into consideration. An active gallery does on average five shows
a year minimum. In other words, every two
months there is a show, summertime and winter
is not unusual. where a show might go longer because it
is a quiet time of the year and very
rarely would you do an opening during Christmas,
August, for instance. So watch out for galleries who are active because the
more active they are. In other words, if they do
at least five shows a year, There's also a
higher chance that they will do a show with you. You would like a gallery to
involve you in an opening. and if they are doing that, then you have a higher
chance that you will have your first gallery, solo or group show.
Projects and collaborations. Now what do I mean by
that? A few galleries, not all of them, do work
with freelance curators. And there's a reason for that. A curator, especially
if they are well-known, they are very often working in collaboration
with museums. They have a huge network that is part of their business
is to network and get to know buyers, artists,
galleries and institutions. A gallery who would like their Artists Program
to be recognized, considered maybe for a museum show, would work with a curator as
a bridge towards that goal. The curator would have a
discussion with a gallery. The gallery would
pay them a fee. And usually a show
would be a mix of the artist program,
the gallery program, as well as maybe some outside
artists the curator has identified with and whom they feel would fit well
with the show. Because the curator has
this fantastic network. The gallery opening would have their important people invited who would probably show up. And I'm talking about
museum directors and institutions, big
corporate buyers, which every gallery
would be happy to work with and to have
purchase art from them. So look out for galleries who, when you look at their program, their calendar, see if you see something along the lines of
guest curator with a name. If you see something like that, that you know, okay, they collaborate
with curators as well, which is a good sign. Reaching out to the gallery makes sure that you are not too similar and not too
different in their program. I know. I'm trying to make this
as easy as possible, but first of all, make sure you are a good fit. A good fit means that if a
gallery does mainly paintings, or let's say mainly
established artists, or maybe a particular
genre or culture. For instance, maybe
they only do Brazilian artists or Asian
female, what have you. And you're none of these
things then don't bother, don't bother approaching them. Having said that, if you
feel a gallery is maybe specialized in
paintings and you are a painter and you
can see they don't have anyone like your work. By all means. Approach them. Now if you see a
gallery that has artworks are very
similar to yours, highly likely they
would not want to represent you because
you are too similar. I am discussing this idea in greater detail in the lesson included in this course
under rejection. But just to touch upon it. And now a gallery is reluctant to create competition
within their program. So if you happen to
see a gallery with maybe one or two
artists whom you feel could be your twin. That is a reason why they
would probably not wish to work with you because
it makes zero sense. So trying to find a
gallery that I would say find the middle ground
relevant to your work, but not a copy paste. So to summarize,
when you're putting down the criteria together, which is very closely based on the template
you fill out, think of location. Do you want the gallery
down the street from you? Or you don't really want
that because where you live, is there are not many
buyers or they're not very outward savvy or
for whatever reason, maybe you want to
find a gallery and the nearest large
city, for instance. Now, maybe you all in a
place where there's a lot of creative events happening and a local gallery
is the way to go. Having said that,
you would like to have an international presence, maybe that gallery is
social media savvy, uses the latest virtual tools
to make virtual openings, or maybe they are art fair active. So that is also something
to keep in mind. Another one is their network. Who do they work with? Do they have curators, freelancers that they invite? Finally, how active are they
and PR in social media? Because the more
active they are, the wider their network because nowadays people buy
a lot virtually. And also gallery shows. How active are they? How
many shows do they do? The more shows they do, that means the higher chance you have of buyers coming in
discovering your work. Well, we just went through the different points
to consider when building your criteria or finding the perfect
gallery for you. I would suggest to download the template that's
available here that will help you to ask the right questions and make a list of the
galleries that you find. I'm sure there are
galleries out there who are not a 100% fit. But if you think a
70% fit, go for that. Because you never know
and keep an open mind. Because maybe one gallery might
not be the right for you, but maybe they will know
someone else who is. Which brings me to the next
topic in our course, which is, how to approach your gallery once you
have identified them.
5. How to reach out and make first contact: So you've done your homework, you have come to the conclusion that the gallery route
is the one for you. You have done your research, you put your criteria together, what kind of gallery
you wish to work with. You've identified
some galleries, maybe near where you live or further out, maybe
even internationally. Alright, now the time has come. You need to reach out to them. So how do you do that? I have to say this topic
is very dear to my heart because there are the right ways and wrong ways of doing this. My job now today is to make sure that when you
approach a gallery, you have a higher
chance of at least, of getting a conversation. Now, think of it this way. Think of it as
applying for a job. When you're applying for a job, when you write your letter
to a potential employer, your goal is not
necessarily to get the job. Your goal is to
land an interview, to get that conversation. Because it's through
the interview and conversation is where you have the chance
of landing the job. Very rarely will employ
employ you based on your CV. Same thing with galleries. A gallery would like to
see the whole package. I have to admit I had
situations where I represented artists for short time because
we had a character clash. Personality, didn't work
out, loyalty, trust issues. And I have to say some
artists are indeed, yeah, there could
be drama queens. So that's why having the whole package to
have an artist who is not only very talented, but here's a nice
person to work with. That's gold for any gallery. Alright, so now let's
talk about how to make your first contact. I would say there's direct ways and there's indirect ways. I would suggest start first
with the indirect way, meaning, use your social
media platforms effectively. For instance, you have a good Instagram account and you have some galleries
you've identified. Start following them. Start making comments when
they're posting something. When they're doing
something on Facebook, write something on Facebook or like their
opening or whatever. Try and have an indirect
conversation going because maybe with chance and
with a bit of luck, you might have that
the gallery will visit your social media account. Now what a gallery
expects when they visit an artist‘s social media
account is a topic for itself. And I think if not already, I will do another
course on that topic. Because having a good
social media account is one of the ways to attract a gallery to maybe find
out more about you. The direct way, I would
say there's three avenues. You've got your emailing. You've got the gallery visit, and depends on the gallery
you identified, art fairs. The email is probably the
one that is most used. And I have to say I would get on average at least one,
maybe two emails a day. And no, I would not
respond to all of them because it's just too many. Very rarely would I respond
to an artist and I'll give you a
scenario in a minute. What I would suggest
is when you write the email, first of all, make sure that the opening makes it clear to the gallery
that you did your homework, that you visited their website, that you tried to
find out about them. And you studied what artists
and what program they have. Maybe you visited their
gallery show that occurred a week ago.
Write that in there. I visited your gallery last week because I have
actually identified you as a potential
gallery whom I feel would be a good fit for my work. That could be a way
to start your e-mail. Then you must have a section, paragraph number
2, that makes it easy for the gallery to
find out more about you. Put the link of
your website there. For instance, attach
three JPGs of your artwork, please make sure they're
very good images, and please make sure
they're not very big. There's nothing
worse than having an e-mail that takes
ages to download. 1MB is max, please. And even better, include
some images of installation that shows your artwork
in a room or on the wall, gives a good idea for
the gallery of how your artwork could look in
an installation scenario. Finally, end your e-mail, With a call to action. So instead of writing well, I hope to hear from you. I would say write
something along the lines of “…do let me know if my
work is of interest to you. Because I would like to then come and visit
your gallery maybe next week to come by with
my portfolio personally.“ And putting a call to
action like that would at least give you a
higher chance or probability that the gallery
will actually respond to you, at least with a
„no, thank you.“ But at least, you know,
they read your email. That is what I would suggest. You have a personal
reason why you contacted them so they
know that this is not a mass chain e-mail that
you sent to a 100 galleries. Make sure they can
easily find you. JPGs attachments. Put your website link there. And finally a call to action. That's what I would
call a classic email. Now, gallery shows. If you go to visit the
gallery personally, I know it's very
tempting to go when they have actually a show going on. That is a worst time. Don't do it. The gallery, art dealer is in stress when they have
a gallery opening. They have just worked
probably through the whole night installing everything to make
everything beautiful. The artist is there 90 per
cent as well personally. And who's also a nervous wreck. Obviously the opening….
and the artist is there with the gallery trying to mingle and talk to buyers
because guess what? Both of them would
like to have a sale. The last thing the
gallery needs is then a random artists to come up to them with a portfolio and say, „Hey, look at me.“ Gallery has no time for that. And guess what? The artist whose show
is now being held, they don't want to see the gallery’s attention being
stolen by someone else. If was the other way around, you wouldn't be
too happy either. I would expect. So. When should you go to a gallery? Well, just go after
the show when they are resting and
probably exhausted. But let's say the
show was on a Friday, which is often the
case or Thursday, just go the next day and
see if the dealer is there. When you do walk in. Now this is my advice. Make sure you are positive. Smile, have some good vibes. I cannot tell you…. How should I put this? As I said before, working with an artist who is not
only very talented, but who has a great personality
and is a great character. They are such a
pleasure to work with. It's like gold standard. I mean, that's a package
every gallery would like. If you walk in there
with a smile and say, Look, I know you're really busy, but I hope you don't mind if you have ten
minutes of my time because I really
love your gallery and I love your program. And I would really
appreciate it if you just give me five
minutes of your time to look at my portfolio and maybe you can give me some
advice and some feedback. Honestly, a gallery
would have to be made heart out of stone. Not to say. Yeah, sure. I'll give you five
minutes of my time. Let's have a conversation. So go to the gallery when it's quiet and
they're not busy. Bring a portfolio with a big positive attitude oozing out of every
pore of your body. Now what can come out of this conversation
could be two things. Number 1, they
might say, Oh my God, you what we've been waiting for. Well, congratulations. If that's the case, highly
unlikely, but you never know. Secondly, what could also be a very good positive outcome is that the gallery might say, I'm sorry, you're
not a fit for us. Now, ask the gallery
in that case. I know …if you can think of other galleries
in your network, that could be a fit for me. I would really
appreciate it because any advice would really
help me along the way. Now, galleries rarely
work in a bubble. I mean, I had a huge network. I mean, I had a joke that
my nearest family was actually my fellow
gallery colleagues because I saw them more
often than my own family. I know it's quite,
it's quite sad. But anyway, so I would suggest that have a conversation with
the dealer and say, look, I may not be
a good fit for you, but maybe you know
someone who is. If you're lucky. And if you won their heart, that dealer will actually write an email on your
behalf and say, Look, there's artists came by, not for my program, but maybe
it's something for you. I would suggest you have
a conversation with them. It doesn't hurt to ask, That's my motto. Art fairs. Now if you identified a gallery that is
active at art fairs there is a right time and a
wrong time to approach them. So what should you do? By all means go to
the art fair because you want to see how
the gallery works. How do they install their show? How do they mingle and how do they communicate with buyers? Because a very committed, communicative and social
savvy gallery is what you need if you want to actually sell and get
your career up and going. So by all means, go to the fair just to see
how they are, how they work. When should you approach them? Art fairs, normally during
the weekends are very, very busy times and
they are in stress because that is
basically the days when they want to sell and get their financial investment paid back because art fairs are very, very expensive to do. You don't want to approach
a gallery when they're in stressed and they're talking to buyers during the weekend. I suggest go on the second
or third day of an art fair. The first day, which
is the opening, is normally busy
and the weekend. So go in in-between days, that's your best bet. Have your portfolio with you. And again, positive attitude. Smile, have some good vibes. Hey, I hope you
had a good fair so far and I know you're very busy, but if you don't mind,
I have my portfolio because I think you'd be a
perfect fit for my program. Can you have a look? See what they say? If there are, luckily, if
you're lucky and they're bored, they would give you
the five-minutes and have a look at your portfolio. You never know. I mean, I have to
admit when I was doing art fairs and during those bored days in between
the opening and the weekends, that's when I would go visiting other galleries at the fair. And that's also when
I'll be looking at art from other artists. And 90% of the time I would
say that's when I found new artists to represent
in my gallery. I would approach
them because I saw them at an art fair
with another gallery. So I would say the gallery
would already be in the mindset of new artists
if you know what I mean. So if you know a gallery and you want to do the
art fair circuit, approach them when they're
doing an art fair, doing the quiet days. So I hope that has
helped you the indirect, indirect way of how to
approach a gallery. It's not going to be easy. It's not going to
happen overnight. You've probably would have
to approach many galleries in order to get even a conversation going, let
alone representation. But please don't give up. There is a gallery for
everyone out there. Think of it as
applying for a job. You need to apply many times
to get that interview. So think of it this way. When you do approach a gallery, maybe have the mindset of well, I'm not looking
directly for a gallery to have their arms open and say, Yes, we will represent you. But at least have a conversation going and you never know
where that might lead you.
6. How to handle rejection: Right… Well, now we're going
to talk about a subject that is not very pleasant, but we need to discuss
it because rejection is probably the main reason
why many artists end up giving up their journey and finding a gallery
to represent them. Because let's face it,
approaching a gallery, approaching anyone really scary. Nobody wants to get rejected. Whether it's a
gallery situation, friendship, relationship. What have you. First of all, think of it this way. When you're
approaching a gallery. It's like when you're
applying for a job, how many jobs have you
applied for in your life? And it took quite a while
before you landed an interview. But when you got your
rejection letter, you weren't maybe
gutted forever. You knew it wasn't personal. Your skills and experience maybe just didn't
fit the company. They didn't reject
you as a person. Now, I know is that artists, you may feel a little
differently because you're putting your work
and your heart out there. Which is why please
think of it. Again. It's not you, it's your work. But because of gallery rejects, you doesn't mean that you're bad artist or you don't
have what it takes. It could be for
very valid reasons that have nothing
to do with you, but it's really more
business-related. I would say there's
three main reasons why they might reject you. You may not fit their genre. And you may be maybe the wrong timing
because many galleries, especially if they are
starting out, there, are still searching
and they're not quite sure about which direction
they want to go to. That was, in my case. It took me two years to figure out that my gallery should go in the abstract mixed
media genre and not maybe the realistic life
painting genre, for instance. Now, besides the reason
why you may have been rejected because you didn't
fit in their program. The other reason may actually be that you're too similar to an existing artist.
Let me explain. As a gallerist. I have a program of artists
who are also my clients. Now remember, my artists, pay me a commission and they expect a 110 %
from me that I'm loyal and I make sure that I am focused in
helping their career. Now if you are one of my
artists in my program, the last thing you would like
to see is me accepting another artist who
is very similar to you, to the point where you could mistaken that it
could be your work. A gallery should not have two artists who
are too similar. Because, why would I want two artists compete
among themselves? In my gallery? It doesn't make any sense. So when you're
looking for a gallery and you see a gallery that
has very similar works. That could also be a reason
why they will reject you because they're loyal to
their existing artists. Look for a gallery, who -as I said earlier on in
the course - has your genre. You can see there is a nuance, there is a synergy. You can see yourself there. But at the same time they don't have someone like you
in their program. Okay, So what's the key message? First of all, please
don't give up. No one said it's
going to be easy. And rejection is part of life. Fact. It is what it is. Do your homework,
do your research, put down your criteria, as we discussed earlier. That will help you to find
the right Gallery and to avoid statistically
too many rejections.
7. How to prepare working with your gallery: So you approach a gallery
and congratulations, they are interested
to work with you. Now comes the work. In order for a gallery to
start working with you, they will need some key
things from you because they need to now start promoting
you among their buyers. And there's a list of things
that you need to deliver. Now, let me just read
them out for you. A gallery will need a
price list from you. They will need JPEG images
of each of your artwork, maybe even a video, an updated CV from you. Maybe social media links. If you're active on Instagram, for instance, that
would be useful. Your artist statement. And they would also
check your website. When I, except an
artist into my program. The first things that I
will do as , number one, I will update my own website, meaning I need descriptions
of the artwork. I need really good images, and I need to have also
an artist statement. I will probably then send out a newsletter or press release to my network of buyers to
give them the good news. Meaning, I will need to have
some blurb from the artist that they can explain
their philosophy, their approach, and so
forth, their background. So I can include that
in that communique. And more often than not, we would also be then planning the first gallery
show with the artist. So there are a lot of
things administrative that need to happen so that I can help the artist to be number my buyers and hopefully
a successful opening. So let's now talk about
format so that when you do send in your
information to your gallery, they will kiss you
because you have done it correctly. Alright,
let's dig in. First of all, your price list. Now everyone likes to have information organized
in a certain way. I love it when I get a PDF, not a Word document but PDF. And in this PDF, the price list, first of all, the data is not more
than one MB large, meaning it's not going
to clog up my inbox. Now the way you do it
is to make sure that the images that you put in your price lists are
just screenshots. Don't drag and drop jpegs because they're going
to be very large files. Now, I like things clear, meaning that three columns with rows for each
artwork would be ideal. So the first column
will be a screenshot, a jpeg of the
artwork in question. The second column, your title, and the size of your artwork. Now, I was an
international gallery, meaning I had American clients and I had European clients. I think you know what
I'm trying to get at. When you put the size, please put in inches
and centimeters. You just convert on Google. It's very, very easy. But please do it yourself because it has happened a
few times where there was a mistake and a European
client got an art work that was totally the
wrong size because inches was mistaken
for centimeters. Yeah, the artwork
turned up really, really tiny in the end. So let‘s not go there! Provide inches and
centimeters so that we avoid any kind
of misunderstanding. The third column. As we said this is a price list, please make sure that when
you put your price there, that the top of your row, the column that you
put in gallery price, and artist price. I like both. I like to have the net that
you expect from the sale. So let's say an artwork is
Gallery price is $1,000.- let's say, meaning 50% commission
for the gallery, 50 % commission
to the artists. So write that down. Write down. Gallery price $1,000
stroke / artists price $500 US dollars. Meaning that's your net. I need now as a gallery
representing you , very, very, very good jpegs. Please take your photos of your artwork in
natural lighting. And try to avoid artificial
lighting because it will avoid overexposure and shadows. If you have artwork that
is three-dimensional, do the sides, bottom any
angle you can think of. And do a quick video
just ten seconds with your phone in natural
lighting because that can really make
or break and help a gallery convince
a potential buyer to buy your art work. Especially now people
are so used to buying online, a video is
actually not a bad idea. Now, thirdly, makes sure that
when you do your images, that they are jpegs and no other formats. JPGs
are user-friendly. And they are the normal sizes that are not too
big and it's easier to upload for website. So JPGs is the way to go. If you have many artworks
to send to a gallery, I would suggest to look into
the tool called WeTransfer. Usually it's free of charge, you just sign up and
with WeTransfer, you can just load
more than one image. And then the gallery gets a link and they
can download it. It's a lot easier than
sending 20, 30 emails with with a lot of attachments. It will also avoids
emails getting lost. You send 30, they only open 20. They don't realize
that you sent ten more images, things like that. So you use the WeTransfer tool, one link with all your artworks. It makes everyone's life
easier and it will also help you to make sure that you have not forgotten any images. Social media. I'm sure
you've got Facebook. I don't think Facebook really is a big interest
to your gallery. If you use Instagram, however, that will be good. Give them,
your Instagram account. And they can maybe
come back to you and ask you for some images that you may have of your artwork that maybe
is from an installation. Some of the types of
images I like to use on my website when I have a new artist is not only to
show the artwork itself, but also some
installation shots. So if possible, if you
can hang it somewhere, a nice wall or
situation that a a buyer can imagine, “oh, that will look really good in my bedroom or my living room.“ That will be really useful. So think of that as well. Now the artist's statement, I have to admit 90% of the
time I ended up rewriting the artist statement that
I received. And I get it. It's not easy to
write about yourself. But checkout the topic in this course about how to
write the artist statement, because that will help also
the gallery to build a story, to build a narrative
that will help the gallery sell your
work to the buyer. So a very good artist
statement is very important. Now finally your CV. Make sure its very well layout, so it's easy to read. Now in this case with a CV, send a Word document, please. Because if you look at
the gallery websites, 99% of the time they will
copy paste because they have their own layout in
their website format. They have their own
particular format. In other words, do send a Word document that is
easy for a gallery to copy paste into their website. A PDF will be a bit more
challenging in that case. Alright, I think that's it. Have all of these things ready so that when the
gallery says green light, we want to work with you. They will think, Oh my God, this person is so organized. So get together. They have wonderful images. I think we made a wonderful
decision to work with them. Good luck.
8. Your first gallery show: Well, should the day arrive that you get your
very first gallery show. let me be the first
to congratulate you. This is a big deal. I felt I will include this topic because maybe there
might be some questions that I have had in the past from artists
and I thought I'll just go through them so that you know exactly what to expect, what is expected of
you as an artist, and also what the gallery is
going to do in order to make sure that this show
is a successful for all of you. First of all, types of gallery shows. You have the solo show, meaning only one
artist is being shown. And then you have
the group show. Now in my gallery case, I always did a mix. Our most probably do maybe three or three or four
solo shows in the year. And then I'll do three
or four group shows. Okay, so let's say
you have a solo show, meaning that your
artwork is strong enough in the galleries perspective
to carry a solo show. Now, this is a big deal. This is a lot of work involved. And normally, depending on
the type of artwork you do, the gallery will plan a minimum of three
months in advance. Usually, a gallery already has her calendar planned in
the next six months, and a show would normally
be six weeks in duration. At least that was my case. I would have shows that
what last six weeks, very rarely more
than two months with maybe a week break in-between
or just four days, which would be enough for us to uninstall and install
the new show. So the breaks in between
would be very minimal, where there'll be
no show to see. I mean, rent is expensive. So the more active and the more openings
you have in the gallery, the more higher chance of sales. So if you are discussing
with your gallery, you would have, as
I mentioned before, three or four months
planning in advance. The gallery would
need from you as soon as you are
creating new works. Very good photography. And of course, your
price list and a blurb about your
vision, your theme. Maybe you have a topic
you want to address. Maybe you are inspired
by something which has produced this new body of
work for your solo show. Discuss also with your
gallery because they will also help you along
your journey. If you are thinking of doing
a whole new body of work, they will also help you maybe
in terms of I don't know, maybe style or size
because they would like to have your show fit very well
in their gallery space. Personally speaking
in my gallery, I had three rooms. I had one room which I would
paint in different colors. For instance, I
would have dark or black to have a big impact. And other wars would be in
white, things like that. So that would be something the gallery will
be discussing with you. If you have a group show, you would probably; number one, only have to produce a third of the number of works
if you had a solo show, which is an advantage for you. Honestly, if you are a fledgling artist and
you're starting out, I think a group show
would be better for you because the pressure
would be a lot less. I have spoken with some artists whose first show was a solo show and they were a nervous wreck because they knew it
was or make or break. It was all about them, focus all on them. And also they knew that
the gallery really needed their sales in order
to survive and pay the rent and salaries
for the next two months. So I think to get
the pressure off, if your gallery, suggests
a group show; yes. take it as a huge advantage because then the
risk, if you like, the financial risk from
the gallery perspective, is also divided up. Another advantage
in a group show, and that's what I did. I would mix fledgling
young artists with established artists. There's a reason for
that. In marketing, we call, this
the halo effect. So having an established
artist in a group show and you are being shown in that same show
will give a buyer - - And this is how art collectors
interpret the situation- They see, “…oh, here's a
young unknown artist. And yet they are
being shown with this very established artist“… meaning that the gallery
is communicating. “I see the future of this young
artist to be very soon in the same level as this established artist.
In other words, yes. purchase, invest in
this young artists because there's only
a matter of time, there will be growing.“ So that is just an idea of how galleries think and how
they plan group shows. Personally speaking,
I really liked doing group shows because I
normally would have a theme. And based on this theme, select three or
four artists that they would be
harmonious together. And yet very different. It makes for an interesting
show for the buyer and a larger selection for
the buyer to choose from. What else do you need to expect? Well, the reason why a
lot of galleries like to plan three or four months in advance also has to do with PR. If you look at a print
media, for instance, a lot of the calendars that are the upcoming
gallery shows in, I'm sure in your city,
you have them as well where you have
little booklets of the art scene and what's
coming up the next few months. You need to inform these print media
at least two months in advance what show
you're going to be having. That is also another reason
why you would have a minimum of minimum of three months
because you don't want to, as a gallery, you
don't want to miss the opportunity of promoting
your upcoming show. In these booklets and magazines that are freely distributed in, well, normally in
gallery spaces. So that's one reason.
Another reason is you want to have
a bit of momentum. You want to start teasing
with newsletters. And of course, you want to
give time to build a kind of expectation and enthusiasm among your buyer group to make sure that you have a
successful opening. It's wonderful to
have an opening and it's jam-packed and a
lot of people are there. Maybe there's word of mouth. And slowly, hopefully the
artist's name will grow in awareness among not only the gallery
network, but also beyond. So that's another reason why we galleries like to have a
bit of time and planning. What else? Well, installation
and logistics. So there's also a lot
of planning involved, especially if you're shipping
your art from a to B. Let's say you need crating, you need time to plan that. If you are shipping overseas, please put a minimum of four
weeks and you're planning because you might find that air freight is
really expensive. So that will give you time
to plan with sea freight. The freight normally takes minimum three weeks
to six weeks, depending if you're
shipping from Europe to America, for instance. That is another reason
why you need some time.
9. A last word….: Well, you've made it to
the end of this course and I would like to thank you for being with
me on this journey. I certainly enjoyed filming these and putting
together the curriculum. I sincerely hope that you found some nuggets of information
that you can use and implement directly
when you're starting your journey and finding a
gallery you wish to work with. What was important. I feel is for you to
understand as well, the holistic approach in
the sense of not only focusing on how you would
make of your first contact, but also understanding how a
gallery things and what they expect and also what is expected of you when you do
start working with them. If there is any questions
or any elements in this course that you wish me to expand for future courses, then just use the discussion box below and I'll promise
you, I'll have a look. And I will start putting on my thinking cap on to
think of new courses so that you will be able to continue your career
journey successfully. And behalf of myself
and Mimi the cat, who tried multiple times to be included in these
video filming. I hope, to see you soon
in the next course. It was a pleasure
having you with me.
Jasmin Kossen, Art Dealer and collector, curator and career coach
