Waiting “to be discovered” by a gallery or patron is something you should avoid at all costs. Not only because of the fallacy regarding this romantic idea of the genius artist living in misery waiting for a rich patron to show up and suddenly change their life, but also because this belief makes your career stagnant.
By believing that your big time will be determined by outer forces, you’re essentially embracing stillness, leaving others and luck to dictate your business path and hence slowing significantly down the development of your career as an artist.
You should seek to take action all the time and one way to start is by making sure you show up and exhibit your work regularly. If you have not been invited to participate in a show by a gallery, curator or institution, you still need to make sure to display your work from time to time because people need to see your pieces on a regular basis.
By organising your own art exhibition, you won’t only increase your visibility as an artist, but also practise your selling skills, gain contacts and earn all the profits you generate from the sale. I know that the idea of producing your own show can be overwhelming for some artists, this is why I’ve put together a step-to-step mini guide on how to organise your art exhibition:
1. Collaborate with other artists
I always advise my clients to ally with fellow artists and produce a group exhibition together, rather than a solo show, because of several reasons: first, it will be way cheaper as you will split the expenses among the participating artists; second, you can make use of the other artists contacts and network to help finance your show, attract press and relevant individuals from the industry, etc. Third, your show will gain credibility as producing a solo exhibition by yourself might come across as desperate and portray you as an artist with a big ego.
2. Choose a theme for the exhibition
Once you reach out to prospective artists whose work you mutually like, the next step is to determine an exhibition topic that aligns with your practice, is relevant to our contemporaneity and that will potentially attract a broad audience.
3. Create an exhibition budget
State in an excel sheet or other document a breakdown of all the expenses you will incur in order to produce the exhibition, from gestation, to production, execution and promotion.
4. Secure a venue for the exhibition This can be the trickiest step depending on where you live. First, compile a list of potential venues, including non-art spaces too. Look for spaces that are large enough to accommodate the artwork and provide enough space for visitors to move around. Once you know your ideal place, start negotiating hire fees as well as the possibility of collaborating with them in some way, as they might be willing to give you the space for free for a limited period of time in exchange of something (e.g. promotion, social media shoutout, etc. Research the space well and be creative with what you can offer them).
5. Put together a schedule for the exhibition
This should include the time for setting up the artwork, the time for the exhibition itself, and the time for taking down the artwork.
6. Promote the exhibition There are different tactics to promote your show. Sticking to the basics: create a nice exhibition poster with the title, dates and feat. artists of the show, generate an email campaign weeks in advance of the show, print out the poster or flyers, use the social media channels of all the participating artists to announce it, etc. This will help to draw in a larger audience. Bonus tip:
While you’re putting together your list of potential exhibition venues, research if there are some production grants in your city/country and other ways to finance your show without only using your own money. Likewise, reach out to local beverage brands and collaborate with them so that you can be sponsored and receive drinks for your opening reception.
Have you ever organised your own show? Let me know how it went and your experience of it
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