I’ve reached the point in my art “career” that I feel like I’m immune to all of the art scammers out there trying to take advantage of struggling artists.
I market my portfolio of fine art photographs and art pieces myself via fine art prints and licensing. I’ve pretty much totally bypassed the middleman or gallery and basically sell directly through online marketplaces and my stock agency who do take a cut of course but only when something actually sells.
There are so many people taking a piece of the art pie from the actual creators it’s no wonder most artists struggle to make a living. Educators, galleries, art supplies, art studio landlords, art associations, art center – you name it, there are people making money off of artists all along the way.
They have no incentive to sell, as they have already been paid by the artist.
Some of these organizations are legit. They are mostly non-profits, applying for grant money from corporations, state and local government designed to help the arts community. They use the money for staffing, building rent and maintenance, advertising, and then perhaps use what is left over to hire artists to teach classes or provide show space (where they take a cut of the proceeds).
I’m in the position to support my local arts center so I do. I’ve taught classes, been paid and then basically turn around and give the money back through annual fund drives and art auctions.
I’ll participate in members shows where I lay out the cash to print, frame and mat a piece of my fine art photography. If the piece sells, I’ll hand over 40% of the proceeds to the organization. Financially none of it makes any sense for me as my sales through my POD partner Fine Art America is much more carefree and profitable.
I simply post work in my portfolio and then it is printed for the customer on demand. No trying to guess what someone might buy. No guessing what kind of framing they would like.
But at least I’m supporting the arts in my local area.
Lurking in the shadows of the artworld are all kinds of schemes to prey off of artist’s vanity. Let’s face it. Creating art is ego driven. We create fine art for no one but ourselves but hope that someone else out there gets the work like we do enough to spend money on it.
Nothing massages the ego more than a buyer willing to spend hard earned money on our artwork especially with all of the choices available.
The “Artworld” with a capital A has a rule for artists that gets repeated over and over. You must have a resume with a long list of shows. This just feeds the industry of sketchy galley spaces and seems kind of outdated in the Internet era. After all if someone wants to view my work, all they have to do is look at my portfolio online.
Art scams prey on artists’ desperation, naivete, and ego with flattery. Artists are desperate for someone to legitimize their efforts and hard work.
Juried shows, vanity galleries and similar pay-to-play type scenarios prey off the insecurities and egos of artists using flattery. Granted some juried shows are legit and some gallery spaces are legit. But if you are paying to display your work, lookout. Most legit galleries only take a cut if the work sells.
A Vanity Gallery is to Art what Vanity Publishing is to Books. It makes its money from the artist NOT from sales of their art.
Some of these sleazy pay-to-display galleries are basically walls for rent. Others are down right scams where an entry fee is collection, the art is shipped to some far off show, placed in a storage locker for few weeks and then shipped back at the artist’s expense.
There have been court cases against some of the juried shows where the artwork was never even unboxed!
A variation on the Vanity Gallery is the Gallery with the frameshop attached which wants to show your work – but only IF you frame all your artwork using their exhibition frames and pay for the brochure and all invites.
And how valuable is your resume full of sketchy shows and fake juried shows going to be in the end? Show it to a real gallery and they’ll dismiss you as a fool.
I’ve decided to sell my work directly to people who will enjoy it without the need for any fluffier around it or some gallery owner there to tell the buyer why they should buy my work. My work speaks directly to the buyer. It’s not difficult to understand and it’s not difficult to purchase. It’s affordable because the extra layers of commission have been removed.