I remember sitting in a dimly lit corner of a London auction house twenty years ago, listening to a man in a bespoke suit explain the “sophisticated complexities” of liquidity management. He spoke about how loans between institutions work as if he were describing the inner workings of a star, using enough jargon to make […]
I remember the distinct, sickening sound of a heavy oak frame hitting a concrete floor in my gallery back in ’98—a sound that felt less like breaking wood and more like a financial heart attack. I spent the next three hours on the phone with an agent who spoke in nothing but impenetrable legalese, trying […]
I remember standing in a drafty, converted warehouse in East London back in 2012, watching a young painter spend three weeks meticulously curating a lighting scheme, only to realize he’d forgotten to budget for the insurance or the actual cost of the floor space. Everyone tells you that pop-ups are this democratic, low-stakes way to […]
I remember sitting in the back of a drafty, unheated warehouse in East London back in ’98, watching three incredibly talented painters argue over the cost of a single industrial lightbulb. They were so busy curating the “vibe” and the revolutionary politics of their collective that they hadn’t even looked at a spreadsheet. It’s a […]
I remember sitting in the back of a drafty community hall in 2004, watching a young painter I’d championed weep with joy after winning a regional award. She thought the trophy was a golden ticket, a sign that the universe finally understood her. But as I watched the organizers scramble to figure out who was […]
I remember sitting in my small gallery office, staring at a pile of application fees from a local non-profit that promised “unparalleled exposure” to a curated group of collectors. It was a beautiful lie. Most artists approach these opportunities with a sense of reverence, as if they are applying for a priesthood, but the truth […]
I spent twenty-six years watching bright, talented people walk into my gallery with a lifetime of technical skill and absolutely zero idea how to actually value their own hands. They’d arrive, eager for the “prestige” of representation, blissfully unaware that the gatekeepers were often just waiting to take a fifty percent cut of a price […]
I remember sitting in my old gallery back in 2015, staring at a stack of invoices and wondering why the “digital revolution” hadn’t actually made life any easier for the artists I represented. Everyone promised that the internet would democratize the market, but all I saw was a new breed of middleman charging hefty fees […]
I remember standing in the back of a cavernous exhibition hall in Basel, nursing a lukewarm espresso and watching a young painter stare blankly at a crowd of collectors who were looking everywhere but at her canvas. Everyone tells you that art fairs are the ultimate shortcut to a career, but most of that advice […]
I remember standing in a drafty convention center in Basel, nursing a lukewarm espresso and watching a colleague spend three thousand pounds on a booth that looked more like a high-end boutique than an art space. Everyone around me was whispering about “brand visibility” and “market penetration,” but all I saw was a frantic, expensive […]