from Danielle Gustafson:
I appreciate the advice to emerging artists..I am a grad.student in a painting department in Chicago and am just starting to grapple with the issue of showing..and how and where...and I must say that it is a formidable task..one you cannot learn in art school...at a certain point you just feel ready..that the work should be out in the world and then there are completely new issues to deal with beyond the work itself...also the relationship between artist and gallery and dealer seems to be a very nebulous one..or at least one that is very complex and your statements and credo helped me to understand it a little better...one question..do you show or do you make a call for slides ever for emerging artists?? do you need to make a call for slides or are you just always dealing with a steady influx of choices?? also I was wondering if you know of any local message boards or discussion areas that local artists are using??? anyway thanks again...
I answered:
You ask about gallery / dealer relationships and I have to start with a disclaimer - I think our relationships with artists may be very different than with other dealers and their artists. I just don't know - I am speaking only for myself.
When we begin a relationship with an artist I look at it as being a minimum of a ten year relationship - these things rarely happen all of a sudden, but are more like a courtship that reaches fruition.
With the more successful (older) artists we work with there is a periodical exchange of ideas, sometimes strong friendships and sometimes just a boring business relationship - but we are excited by the art.
With younger artists there is a lot more hand holding - advising and discussing. I avoid suggesting that an artist change his or her vision to accommodate mine - too many dealers do this and destroy relationships. I am however very willing to discuss strategy, which I construe to be "how do we take this artist's vision/aesthetic and make some money?"
I don't know what this tells you about artist/dealer relationships. I see the relationship as a team effort; us and the artist applying our distinct and occasionally overlapping abilities and connections to augment the career of the artist, and by extension, ourselves. If an out-of-town dealer approaches one of my (local and probably younger) artists, I expect the artist to consult me, and together reach a consensus about the wisdom of the potential relationship. If the artist makes deals without consulting us, sells work from the studio without consulting us - I am offended and the relationship is in trouble. The artist / dealer relationship is very analogous to dating and / or courtship. The team thing is important to me.
When I have questions about what is good for an artist - I remember my priorities - 1. do what is good for the art. 2. do what is good for the artist 3. do what is good for the gallery. Seems to solve a lot of problems before they happen.
Slides: no I never put out a call for slides (well almost never) - people send them in all the time - (SASE is important) - there are times - like 2 months ago - when I put out the word that we are doing a group show ( happening now ) and I get a lot more slides than I usually do - in the process we discover some new people. In this group survey at the gallery presently there are 30 artists - 5 we represented already - 3 are represented by other galleries - 2 or 3 I hope to develop a further relationship after seeing the slides, one I feel like I am eager to do something with after the show has been up a week - the other two I have either lost interest in the art or the person.
First prerequisite is for us to like the work - second is to want to have a long term relationship with the person. Then we proceed slowly - well sometimes - and see what happens.
message boards: don't know of any - but I do know that the Chicago Artists' Coalition does have a web site - call them if you can't find it from webcrawler or alta vista - I bet they have what you are looking for or something close. (they didn't - anybody got any ideas?)
Anyway - you are doing the right things so far. don't expect miracles overnight - proceed thoroughly - follow your instincts - be who you are
thanks again for your response, your interest and your questions.
From William Potter:
My work is abstract, often described as being minimal or post-minimal. I however find these terms problematic.
I am glad that you have decided to run a web page. Today I think that we are only as isolated as we allow ourselves to be. So now it is possible to visit your gallery anytime I have the urge to due so.
I am interested in your commitment to abstraction. What role do you see the younger artists playing in the language of abstraction? This is a question that I am always asking myself.
I hope that we can have a dialogue of sorts. I am interested to hear your views on art, artist, abstraction, and anything else of relevance.
I answered:
thanks for your input - I appreciate it
I first became aquainted with your gallery through an undergraduate professor of mine, James Bruss.
I like Jim's work a lot - we do pretty well with it - I am not convinced that there is anything particular to his work that is specific to age - this is in response to your comment about the role of younger artists in abstraction. His work could be done by a 25 year old with adequate training.
It is difficult to do anything new in the art world anymore - which in some regards is kind of freeing - enables you to be yourself more easily - this is always the priority in art - be it abstract or otherwise - be who you are - either put yourself into your artwork, or seek to find yourself in your art. To some degree this necessitates understanding the art that has preceded you. One needs to have decent knowledge of the history and styles of many artists since say 1920. If you digest all that stuff - you will answer a lot of questions about who you are by gauging your response to it - it will also mean that you don't have to repeat it - then go about making your art -make it yours, not theirs - and progress will happen.
You've got to know what is going on and has gone on so as not to be derivative - not a good thing in the art biz. Then just be you and make art - make it honest - make it sincere - make it good.
I like art that is fresh. Fresh does not mean earth-shattering - it means unique - interesting, honest - relates to what has gone on before, takes it a step or two further and introduces some new ideas - some of it technical - some of it concept.
Rarely do I see stuff I consider fresh - but it happens
William Potter replied:
The term fresh is interesting, for me it means a continued search for something of excellence. But for me a fresh work is not necessarily a resolved work. This might sound a little strange. But think about a work that might be a derivative of something , that work is resolved (resolved before it was even started). So a derivative work is something that is stale as opposed to fresh. Fresh indicates a forward momentum.
I was able to see the Mondrian retrospective at MOMA, and I consider that experience really important to me. There was one room that was kind of set off from the exhibition that contained sketches and some unfinished work. There was one work that I held my attention for a long time, it was this unfolded cigarette pack that he had drawn a simple composition on. For me this unfolded cigarette pack held that moment of freshness, when things are being figured out. Before this I never realized how improvisational his paintings were.
I think that part of the contradiction of being an artist is that the goal and the risk is resolution. I think that we are all familiar with artists that have leveled out, caught in a rut. But we are also familiar with artist that never resolve anything, that are all over the place. Both are tough places to be.
An artist needs to maintain a vitality in their work.
from Robert Pulley:
Thanks again for taking the time to post your various philosophies on art and the business of art. I have a friend who has begun doing some photography and is looking for a way to get it out. She was asking about how I felt was the best way to approach galleries. I suggested she check out your page for the gallery owners view. I had come to similar conclusions about the necessity for personal contact and at least the seed of a relationship or a connection. So I revisited the page tonight to remind myself of what I was recommending to her and once again I found that there was some real value and straight talk there.
www.cpbx.net/PBXonline/Arts/listings/bpulley/pul.html
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