Gallerist Edward Winkleman On Approaching Galleries

I get asked all the time about the best way to approach galleries, and there are definitely rules of thumb, but each gallery is different. Because they are all run by different people. I often feel like people forget about me, the person, because they are so fixated on what I can, should, must do for them.

Edward Winkleman of Winkleman Gallery (formerly Plus Ultra) writes an art blog well worth bookmarking because of posts like this one where he gives advice to aspiring artists. It’s good stuff, and it’s nice to hear that I’m on the same page with another gallerist on many things. Here’s just a bit:

Don’t make mistakes that will discourage you. You’ll encounter enough of that without bringing it on yourself. For example, we had an artist come in with his CD the other day, asking us to look at it, assuring us he was the best artist out there. We asked him, as we always do at that point, if he was familiar with our program. He said “No.” We took the CD anyway, just because he insisted, but the work was nothing at all like the art we show. Even if it had been, we already didn’t like him (because he didn’t take the time to get to know us before asking us to consider him). He wasted his time and money, and our time. More than that he consumed a chunk of our goodwill toward other artists (experience that enough times and you begin to shut down toward the cold call approach).

Go read the whole thing here: One More Time With Feeling (Seriously)