Sculptor Society of Canada Gallery

More and more you see calls to artists where there is a $25 to $35 submission fee. I have also seen some that are asking for $10 per image submitted. This fee doesn’t guarantee that you are in the show only that you can submit.

I have also noticed that alot of calls state that you the artist, have to incur the cost of shipping the work to and from the gallery. I found this from a website call:

“Shipped works must be sent in an easily reusable container/packaging with return shipping prepaid, and include the return shipping label with the work.”

I get it that in order to survive that some galleries need to levee these charges especially artists run centers.

For Example:
I was juried into a The Sculptors Society of Canadian a few years ago. They are based in Toronto and I live in Alberta. In order to show in the gallery I have to pay a $50 submission fee as well as pay for the transport of my work there and back. This is a great group and a lovely gallery and I get it that they don’t have alot of funding. For a venue like this perhaps it would be alright to particpate and pay the submission fees maybe once a year???

I still don’t think artists should have to pay submission fees to show their work! I have always had a policy never to pay submission fees to exhibit my work especially not to a vanity gallery.

Do you pay submission fees to galleries to show your work?

Footnote: There was quite a disscussion on this at Facebook from artists as well as a gallery owner. You can follow it here by subscribing to my Facebook page or sending a friend request. I like everyone.

If you think it would be nice to be given a chance and have the market prove them wrong chances are the gallery is not going to be pushing your work. Meaning it will more than likely become your off site storage.

It is a symbiotic relationship or at least it use to be. Quiet interoverted artist needs professional well contected art dealer and well contected art dealer needs art.

The art world is changing and I hear and read more and more about artists taking their own careers in hand and finding their own market and marketing to that market.

It is not an easy task taking one’s art career into your own hands. Most artists rely on the galleries to be their spokesperson and advocate but if you are looking for a starting point check out these resources at artbiz.ca/links

Do you have any resources for marketing your own artwork that you would like to share?

To have it added to the list of links at artbiz please leave it as a comment below.

Kim Bruce, 2011 Knowledge Encasutic & found objects 7" x 4' x 1.5"

I am a great lover of books both for their content and their aesthetics. Books have been around me my entire life. My Mother is a big reader and has even custom built book shelves into her home.

I daydream about writing a book although I’m not sure what that looks like in words. Mine is a visual language.

Books grant knowledge and present ideas but what if you could not access that knowledge. What if it was taken away? No you can’t turn to the internet that is not what this is about.

These altered books act as my canvas and present themselves as the keepers of knowledge. Vaults. Unreachable. Inaccessible.

This gallery owner said as he was viewing the piece that is pictured here, that it was “high art”. So what does that mean exactly? Is it just a nice way to say that my work isn’t salable?

This is what I found when I did a search on the term “High Art”.

Let’s make a list of the things that characterize high art and distinguish it from low art.

1. Complexity of formal properties.
2. Complexity of the responses to the works, which sometimes have no name.
3. The fact that a full and fuller understanding of the work (either the form or the content) allows for an ever fuller enjoyment of the work. One has to gradually grow into the work. It does not reveal everything it has in one exposure.
4. The fact that a full understanding of the work can enhance an understanding of other aspects of life as well.
5. The fact that great works of high art are cross-cultural. They can be enjoyed by people of other cultures who have no other experience of the culture that generated the great work. Each great work of art is potentially a work of world art, not subject to the conditions of its composition.
6. If, according to 5, the work does not fade with distance, it is also true that it does not fade with time.
7. Works of high art are deeply related to morality, in the widest sense of the term, and sometimes problematize morality itself.
8. High art has a history, in which styles, techniques, genres and the entire orientation of the work of art is changed. Properly speaking, low art has no history.
9. Works of high art are individual. They bespeak a personality behind the work. Low art is best when it is anonymous.

Read the rest of this article by Lawrence Nannery

So according to this particular gallery owner rather than trying to find gallery representation apparently I need a patron (one that supports, protects, or champions someone or something). So here goes…

WANTED: One (or two) filthy rich self made entrepreneurs from “high culture” with an appreciation of “high art”. Preference given to those with a slight feminist bend. Please apply within.

This is a list of my all time favorite rejection letters, emails. Here goes…

“We are not accepting any submissions right now because we have too many artist.
Good Luck,”

If they have “way too many artists” would this not be a disservice to the gallery artists.  Okay; moving on…

“I wish I had the space, you would not believe how jammed up my backroom is!
We damaged two pieces this morning just trying to move things around… : (“

Good to know how you handle the work in your care…moving on.

“Are you doing a new series of encaustic work for the summer in a brighter palette?”

Not the right question (see my post Paint, sculpt, print what you want)

“Thank you for the update, but yours is not the work for me. Best of luck to you.”

Straight and to the point.

“Please remove us from your mailing list. Many thanks.”

Okay then…

One of my favorites:

“Thank you for your submission but upon review we feel your work does not fit with the curatorial vision of the gallery as we are looking for landscape artists.”

I submitted my encasutic landscapes.

My all time favorite:

“Thank you for contact. We love your work and hope to farther talk with you on your preferences for an exhibit in our space.”

“We would be interested in knowing if you are comfortable with showing single pieces or if you favor the all story with the all number in the series. Either way we would set dates with you for exhibiting in the coming year !”

“If this is conciliatory with your vision let us know and would be rather exciting if you were to send an example of your work for our tactile appreciation of it.”

I know it reads as an acceptance but here’s what happen:

I was thrilled that I received such a quick response, like the next day and in response to my email requesting their submission guidelines. It wasn’t a formal submission yet but I do send out all my emails with a link to my website in my signature. So I thought that they clicked through to my website and voila. Also I know that one of the gallery artists recommended me so I thought perhaps they prescreened me.

I decided rather than email back and forth that I would start the relationship off on the right foot and phone the gallery to talk in person. Which I did but was put through to voice mail. So I left a message thanking them and asking for a call back to discuss which series and which piece they would like me to send.

Nothing – no response.

So I sent an email, still no response.

Well anything could of happened. Maybe they went on vacation the very next day. Maybe (god forbid) someone died. I waited a week, still no response. I tried again to phone; voice mail and I left another message. Nothing.

Finally I sent one last email and to this day have never heard back. I can only guess about what happened and it is my guess is that they sent their email to the wrong artist and didn’t have the courage to fix or admit the error. Obviously I will never submit to this gallery again.

Moving on…

Do you have a favorite rejection letter you would like to share?

“Just tell me what you want me to paint and I will paint it”

This was on the heels of a discussion about how the gallery system tries to manipulate the artist voice and steer the artist in one direction or the other to make them produce work that in invariably the same but sale-able.

It is kind of a double edge sword. On the one hand we want to sell our work so then why not produce what the market wants and your sales are hence forth guaranteed… aren’t they? The gallery said they would be. But on the other hand, hum… are you copping out?

We want to paint, sculpt, print what we want to paint, sculpt, print and the dam market is suppose to come breaking down our doors to get it.  But they don’t.  So you compromise and paint, sculpt, print what the market wants so that you can paint, sculpt, print what the hell you want and decorate your own walls and the walls of your family and friends (hey that’s their job, to support you with their walls).

So tell me what do you think about creating what the market wants so you can create what you want?

What you need to know:

Ask for a floor plan for the space?
If at all possible visit the gallery yourself to become familiar with the space and take your own measurements.  Having a floor plan of the space and pictures will help you visualize the installation in the space provided. You may need to make adjustments if for example the ceiling height is higher/lower or your allotted wall space is different than anticipated.

When are the installation dates?
If you can be there to install try to do it earlier rather than later. This will give you the time you need in case something unforeseen happens and save you from being there until midnight or finding yourself short of materials and all the stores are closed.

What technical support is available?
Again never assume that the gallery will know what to do with your installation. More often than not in artist run centers and galleries that are not the MoMA, the gallery installers are students there to learn and earn credits.

What equipment and tools are available for installation?
If your work has any special hanging requirements talk about it with your gallery contact. You might be required to supply the special installation items so give yourself plenty of time to source suppliers. Make sure you describe your work, how it was made and what attaches it to the wall.

I always bring my tools with me because I know I’ll have the right size drill bit, etc. Also if you need electrical outlets inquire about extension cord routes in relation to your installation, you might have to supply your own extension cords.

Do a dry run: install your work in your studio.
Chances are you have done this in order to create the install in the first place but if you are grouping pieces to create an installation work like I have done with the piece Cruciform then don’t think that you can figure it out on site. A dry run will help you work the bugs out of the installation process and confirms your dimensions. Map it: do a drawing indicating dimensions and a starting point for the install. It will also make the actual install go so much quicker and smoother.

If the exhibit is out of town provide the gallery with installation instructions and drawings with dimensions. Photograph the work from various angles already installed and send them with the instructions.

If there is a catalogue being published for the exhibit, ask what type and how extensive a publication it will be. Often artists with installation work will not have professional print ready images of the piece being shown. Don’t count on getting those images from the gallery when they document the exhibition as this may be too late to be included in the catalogue.

At the end of the exhibit
Find out when the work will be coming down and try to be there to disassemble the work. Sometimes the work doesn’t come down the same way it went up so make sure that uninstall instructions are also included with the work when sending out of town.

Always be prepared and you will have the best show ever.

The response was over whelming, 19 38 comments. Admittedly a few of those comments were me connecting with an artist who owned a piece of mine. Very cool this small world of ours. Still the stories ranged from work lost in fires, stolen and or mishandled and it all seems to come down to contracts and insurance.

My piece Ink Well was damaged by a gallery during installation. It was an accident and yes I had a contract with the gallery and they did have insurance on the work while it was in their possession.

What did I do? I took it on the chin.

Why?

1. It was a public not for profit gallery.
2. There were extenuating circumstances with the people involved that I think are to personal to publish here.
3. I was able to piece the work back together (sort of).

While the damage to this piece brought a tear to my eye I was able to make something of it. The gallery gathered up all the fragments and most of the breaks from falling off the wall to a concrete floor below were clean.  But because this work is encaustic I could not just glue it back together.

Hesitantly I applied melted wax as slip and used my torch to fuse. I had to pass the torch over the surface to create a good bond and remove the crack lines. This process moved the current layers of wax and the colours thus creating a whole new piece.

While I still prefer the original piece I am happy that I was able to maintain the focal point at the center of the piece which was my favourite aspect of the original.

Ink Well Before

Ink Well After

Which one do you prefer?

In the Form Series I utilize a grid in alot of the pieces. This grid has popped up now in my encaustic abstract landscape work. In the work below I introduce the use of nails and other found objects to create a dot grid. The dot grid is also created in some pieces by drilling a hole and filling it with another colour of encaustic.

Last weekend I delivered a few of these pieces to Edge Gallery in Canmore, a destination for the next time you head to the mountains.

Group show at Jarvis Hall Fine Art where for the first time the installation of “The Collective” will be on exhibit.

Reception: July 21, 2011 at 5:00pm to 8:00pm;

Show Dates: July 7 to September 2, 2011

Jarvis Hall Fine Art
617 11th Ave. S.W,
Calgary AB
403.206.9942

Exhibition Images