Kellygraphite 8 x 10
copyright Jeanette Jobson
Today I attended the opening of an exhibition 'erotic' being held at the Leyton Gallery. Despite the rainy skies, it bustled and while the door sign warned that minors under 18 would not be admitted, I thought there was little in the show that would offend. Iakov Afanassiev had let me know the exhibition was opening today and he had half a dozen or so very well painted nudes hanging.
Steven Clarke had written a piece in Report on Business for The Globe and Mail on Bonnie Leyton and the gallery back in May, studying how marketing can push the gallery forward to the next step for success. I found the final synopsis of the article summed up advice that, while directed towards this particular gallery, would be useful to any artist or business owner.
- Trends
- Diversify
- Visibility
- Networking
All are good jumping off points to consider for # 3 on my list - Marketing.
3 comments:
Good advise. The 'build it and they will come' attitude just doesn't work in today's economy. As artists we have to be ready to market ourselves as well as our work as never before.
The points you listed are perfect. Thanks for the reminder. It's good for all. Very well put. Thank you.
In terms of diversity I'm always torn by the idea of whether you should produce work that will sell even if it is not true to your creative self. As to marketing - when you figure that one out, please let me know!
I think art has several sides to it.
Artists create because it is in them to do so. Yes, we can produce what we think the market will buy but that's a big leap of faith, as the market is fickle.
But we can still create what we want to create (outside of commissions) and produce options such as prints, cards, etc. that we know will enable more of the buying public to experience our work. That is what my concept of diversity is.
As for marketing, there are theoretical methods of marketing yourself and your work. The part that fails for many artists is that they have the materials and methods to do so - websites, blogs, business cards, etc. - but don't put the effort and planning into marketing to reap benefits.
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