I remember sitting in my small gallery back in 2004, staring at a stack of applications from artists who clearly thought they were writing for a PhD committee rather than a human being. They would hand me these dense, impenetrable walls of text, filled with words like “juxtaposition” and “liminality,” used as if they were […]
Most artists approach the search for a residency like they’re looking for a holy grail, convinced that a few months in a drafty studio in Tuscany is the only thing standing between them and a career at the Tate. They spend thousands on application fees and travel, chasing a prestige that often doesn’t exist, only […]
I remember sitting in a drafty studio in 2004, watching a brilliant painter I represented spend three weeks weeping over a fifty-pound application fee for a residency that offered nothing but a bunk bed and a sense of prestige. We are constantly told that the secret to a sustainable career is some magical, all-encompassing complete […]
I remember sitting in my back office in 2004, nursing a lukewarm Earl Grey and staring at a three-page agreement from a dealer who had more charisma than sense. He promised the world, but the fine print was a graveyard of artist rights, specifically regarding how he’d handle my best-selling painter’s secondary market sales. Most […]
I remember a painter I represented in the late nineties—a brilliant, messy man who could capture light better than anyone I’d ever met. He signed a licensing deal for a stationery company because they promised him “exposure,” and within six months, he realized he’d essentially sold the rights to his soul for the price of […]
I remember sitting in my back office in 2004, watching a young painter realize—with a look of absolute, gut-wrenching horror—that he had signed over the reproduction rights to his entire portfolio just to get his work on a single cafe wall. He thought he was being “professional,” but he was actually being cannibalized. Most of […]
Stop treating your art like a charity project and start treating it like the business it is. I spent twenty-six years watching brilliant painters walk into my gallery with nothing but a portfolio and a prayer, completely blindsided by the sheer mechanics of a sale. Most of the advice you’ll find online is either way […]
I spent twenty-six years in a physical gallery, smelling of turpentine and expensive espresso, watching artists mistake “visibility” for “viability.” Now, every time I talk to a painter, they point to a flashy Instagram reel or a predatory website builder as if that’s a substitute for a business model. They think a complete guide to […]
I remember sitting in my gallery during a rainy Tuesday in October, watching a young painter stare at a price tag she’d handwritten, looking as though she were deciding whether to sell her soul or her rent money. She had followed some online “expert” advice that suggested a complex formula involving square inches and emotional […]
I remember a Tuesday in mid-October, years ago, when I walked into an artist’s studio for an open house that was supposed to be their “big break.” The room smelled of cheap lavender candles and desperation, and the artist spent forty minutes explaining the metaphysical significance of their color palette to a woman who clearly […]