What Attributes Does a Gallery Look for in an Artist Who Wants Representation?

Описание: Gallery owner Mark Sublette shares his 25 years of experience in what he looks for in an artist when he shows an artist in his gallery. Important for any artist who is interested in showing in an art gallery.

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What Attributes Does a Gallery Look for in an Artist Who Wants Representation?

So, what do I look for when I want an artist to join my gallery? So, I've been doing this 25 years, and I get about an artist a day (who) contacts me through the internet, through mail, phone calls, walks in my gallery, and it's pretty much the same thing; I'm looking for an original voice that has shown that they are really ready to be in the field, and somebody that I can get along with.

Now, that seems kind of like an odd thing that you would want in an artist – somebody that's easy to talk, to get along with, but in my gallery – for me – it's about being kind of a family. So, I have to deal with these individuals. I'm in control of providing them their livelihood when I sell their art, so I want to be able to feel like their family. I want to really feel good about being able to sell artwork for the artists, and if I don't like the person to begin with, you know it's hard for me to sell. It's not fair to them and it's not fair to me, because I want to sell for people who really I like, and understand that I'm making a difference, hopefully, in their lives and they're making a difference in mine.

Having their artwork is a big responsibility, and I think, as an artist, if your dealer doesn't feel that responsibility, or you don't feel it in him or her, then you may not have the right person. If they're just looking at it as a product or a commodity, (then) I think this is the wrong person to go with. Granted, they may sell a lot of paintings, but really is that good for your career?

That's the other thing: I want to look for an artist that I can help with their career. You know, I don't just want established, old school artists that maybe make a lot of money. Yeah great, that's a wonderful thing and it pays the bills, no doubt. But, it's also very gratifying from my end to find somebody who's got this original voice.

When I say original voice; what does this mean? This means that they paint or sculpt; they see the world a little differently than their brethren. Now, they may have influences; most artists, if not all artists, do. There's artists that affected the way that they see things, but you have to realize that if you are an artist, and you don't have original voice, and you're just painting like somebody else who's making a lot of money, for me, that's not the person I want.

I want to be able to look across the room, and a mile away, and go, “oh wow, that's a Howard Post painting,” and I can do that with a Howard Post. He has a very distinctive style and colors; no one paints like Howard Post. Or, if I see an Ed Mell a long distance away, I can tell by his colors and the way of his composition, and quite frankly, I can do this for all my artists. They have very distinctive styles. They're doing their own thing. They're not trying to be somebody else.

So, what I look for in an artist is that voice, and then there's a commitment; you need to have a commitment. What does that mean? Generally, it takes – you know the old Malcolm Gladwell – it takes 10,000 hours to become a good artist, and it probably does. So, that means they need to have been painting for about eight to ten years before they're going to get to the abilities that I'm going to go, “Ok this is somebody I want to handle.” I think the shortest period of time has been about six years (that) somebody's been painting that I go, “Wow, I can see that they really have it.” So, realize that if you're an artist out there and you want representation, most galleries that have been doing it for a long time are probably not going to look to you or consider you, if you've only been painting five or six years. Does that mean I won't look? No, I'll look. I look every time. I want to see what's out there, and it helps my eye, and quite frankly, I might find somebody that I go, “I can see you're going to be great in five years or three years, keep painting and come back and see me,” and I've done that, and actually in one case I've taken the artist on after they (you know), they just got better. They needed the time to mature, and they just weren't ready for my gallery. But, I could see that they had the abilities.

So, as an artist out there, the things I look for in an artist are original voice, a nice person, and a commitment to what they're doing. If you have those, then you're right in the right path for being an artist.