One of the benefits of Axis membership is that the website gets looked at by many organisations who are interested in working with and promoting artists.
Another benefit is that if these views turn into contacts, we provide the mechanism for those people to get in touch with artists. Each month I send hundreds of enquiries on to artists, often with my fingers crossed and a big smile, hoping that a great opportunity for one of our members is the outcome.
- Henna Nadeem Screen, 1997
However, sometimes I have to filter out the stuff that doesn’t meet our terms and conditions. The usual reason for declining an enquiry is that the person is advertising a product or service. The quandary is though, whilst I know a sculptor is unlikely to want to hear about the latest paintbrushes available from China, would that same sculptor be interested in hearing from a gallery that charges to show work… And if so, how much is acceptable?
Is £2,400 for a month’s show acceptable? How about €400 for a week’s residency? So, I often have to turn down specific enquiries and also submissions to the opportunities notice board because is being charged that much really an opportunity?
Some advertisers who trawl Axis looking for artists can circumnavigate my careful perusal of their enquiries by simply going to the artist direct through their personal website. Advertisers may claim to have seen their work on Axis, thus appearing to give some credibility to their offer of ‘showing your work’ and offering a ‘solo exhibition’. But if the enquiry has not come through Axis, from an axisweb email address, then we have not sent it. And certainly we cannot ever say we endorse every enquiry that we do send on from the website. I always encourage artists to undertake their own checks and I am available to answer questions on any enquiry that I send through.
Last year I sent an enquiry from a gallery on to Julie Parker. They were interested in offering her an exhibition after having seen her work on Axis. The show, which includes Catherine Bertola, Paul Hazelton and Stephen Livingston, opened on 7 February at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York. Some of those exhibition opportunities that come through Axis are genuine and rewarding…
But if you get an email from a gallery, maybe in London, that excites you about the possibility of showing work, mentions Axis but isn’t clear that they will charge you a whole heap of money for their services, please do forward it on to me and then delete it….
I received an offer that did come via the axis website, in such a way that Hayley could not recognise who it was from. Of course the offer sounded great, they mentioned one of my paintings they had seen saying it was ‘brilliant’; ‘just the kind of thing that their clients are looking for’, and for $1,900 I could participate in their super well-connected Broadway Gallery, center of New York, full page in their magazine, etc etc.
A couple of tips that helped me uncover this was all b–t: I looked at their facebook page and saw their gallery looked badly presented – cables not chased in, and that the clientele at the show certainly didn’t look as though they could afford to buy anything except thrift store specials (like me!). The gallery was also on the seventh floor of some block or other (address of gallery gave that away), no passing trade there.
Secondly I checked the link to an interview with the gallery director on ABC news – he really was interviewed, but most of the comments warned against him!
Thirdly, after asking for $1,900 for services, he wanted 30% of any sales made in the gallery!
Fourthly, I doubt any self-respecting gallery owner is going to tell you that your work is just what their clients are looking for.
Fifthly – if any correspondence has more than one spelling mistake and erratic layout, that is not a professional outfit! Dodge the bullet, before you have to bite it!
BEFORE you invest CHECK them out. And having read Hayley’s blog, it may be a good idea to contact her too.
I won the Pollock Krasner Award for painting and Artistic Endeavour last week! It is such a boost and I am so grateful to Axis for providing the opportunities section on the site. Its really difficult being an artist in the middle of Rural Wales..Your Service is Vital.