The Dealer
photo collage C. Ascher
Why do people who are not artists or who know very little
about art’s history, practitioners or techniques want to open art galleries? I
have over time observed that there are two motivating factors:
1) they love art
as a superior endeavour, think that artists are ‘special’ humans and want to be
part of their world, and/or
2) they imagine that they will make great profits
with little effort.
Many in both of these camps fail. They either become
quickly disillusioned with artists, often not the most reliable or easy people
to deal with, or they find that despite the huge amounts of effort on their
part, the money flows in completely the wrong direction.
The thing with art galleries is that their owners have to
build interest, not only in the work and the artists they display, but also in
the gallery itself. The essential ingredients are time, consistency, lack of
pressure and increasing trust. These are all difficult things in this age of
fast, variable and stressful. It takes patience, and alas, it takes a budget
that can sustain something that will for a long time not necessarily be
profitable, if it even pays for itself, or that may draw limited numbers of very
demanding visitors, even if they are appreciative. (A public of family and
friends is perhaps encouraging, but long-term, unless they are rich and
collectors, or are actively engaged in promotion, they don’t really affect the
gallery’s success).
All I can say when asked my opinion is this: If you
believe in the art and in the artists you show and follow their evolution over
a sustained period of time, if you don't need them to draw extra customers or
to generate income, if you can spare the time and the space and schedule
thoughtful, competent and engaging exhibitions, then your reputation as a curator
or dealer will grow. Art audiences are
demanding, they need to have informed, informative, stimulating and open
discussions about what they see even if they are “expert’ – sometimes
especially then. You must be able to provide them.
I usually
tell people it takes three to five years for a community to become truly
engaged with a gallery and its artists. I also emphasize that places that try
to razzmatazz, that is, galleries that resort to doing all kinds of
'entertaining' things to draw attention set themselves up for huge expenses for
little gain. They end up constantly having to outdo themselves to keep the
audience coming and burn out pretty quickly. In fact, they run the danger of drawing
the 'wrong' audience for art because art isn't 'entertainment' and art isn’t
about ‘instant gratification’. What art is, well, that’s open to discussion.
