A gallery is an art space or venue where artists display their work for people to admire and/or buy. Most large cities have at least one museum that features artwork from various time periods and mediums. These museums are rich resources of knowledge about art!
Most major metropolitan areas also have plenty of private galleries, which are run by individual owners who showcase works they’ve made. Some use very expensive materials like gold or marble, while others stick with more basic things you can find at any home improvement store.
But whether the artist uses really expensive material or not, what matters most is that they put significant effort into creating their piece. If someone spent hours painting a masterpiece, then it should be admired just as much as if she used no brush at all.
Getting your art shown in a gallery isn’t easy, but there are several ways to do it. You may already know some artists and dealers, so this article will talk about how to get yourself noticed as an artist.
Make sure your work is clean and easy to edit
When it comes to showing off your artistic talent, there are two main ways to do this- through creating sculptures or paintings, or by taking more abstract forms such as drawing, painting, or designing.
The first way to show off your talents as an artist is to choose a medium that you have already mastered and then take it one step further. For example, if you are very skilled at depicting landscapes, then why not take some pictures of nature and edit them to look like a piece of artwork?
By doing so, you will highlight your ability to use photoshop effectively while also showcasing your creative vision. If you are very good with colors, mix those together and design something!
You can create new designs and patterns with these colors, or add additional touches to make them relate to each other.
Provide your work to the gallery in the correct medium and environment
When offering your artwork for exhibition, you should know how to prepare to show it!
As we have discussed before, presenting your work in the right setting is an integral part of getting others to recognize its quality.
If you are giving your work as gift or sale, then this article doesn’t apply but otherwise – if it’s not displayed properly, no one will ever see it!
Posting pictures of your art online is great, but they must be good quality and clearly marked up so people can identify them.
You also need to make sure that copyright free images are okay to use.
Make sure your work is properly lit
Even if you are painting a still life, like putting together an object for a house tour, your lighting matter very much! You want to make sure that whatever light source you use does not completely wash out the image.
You also do not want too strong of lights which can really overexpose the picture. If there is too much light, the image will be bright and white, losing part of its depth.
Artists usually use natural sunlight as their main light source due to how often they have it. But instead of using a full strength lamp directly overhead, create a more soft glow by placing some gray fabric or paper under a low criosphical light bulb. This way, the artwork gets enough illumination but nothing extra.
Try experimenting with different sources of light to see what works best for you.
Offer your own aesthetic sense
One of the hardest things about showing art is not being too influenced by what other people think are beautiful. If you’re ever feeling pressured or discouraged, it’s important to remember that most people don’t have an artistic aesthetic sense.
We all have our personal styles — some like bold colors, others prefer minimalist designs — but none of us really know how someone else would apply those rules to art.
So if you feel like something looks ugly, try thinking about why it does! Is it because it’s totally different from yours? Or could it be due to bad illustration techniques?
Alternatively, you might want to check out some of the artist’s previous work to see whether they use similar tools and materials. It may inspire you to pick up the pencil yourself!
Another way to ensure your artwork gets shown is to look at galleries online and read their FAQ pages to find out more about them. You can also visit local museums and study their collection.
Ask for what you want
Asking for what you want is never easy, but it’s essential if you want your artwork to get shown in a gallery or published as part of a collection. It will take some work, however!
The first thing to do is determine what kind of show you want to put your art into. A solo exhibition at an artist run space? An exhibition with other artists at a nonprofit organization that supports emerging talent? Or possibly inclusion in a group show at a museum or large public venue like a fair or event site?
Once you have determined the type of show you desire, find out which galleries fit that description. Some are very open to new artists, while others may be more selective. Make sure to check out both online and offline resources to learn about their policies and procedures.
When contacting these exhibitors, make sure to emphasize how much you appreciate them supporting the arts by including your work and offering it for viewing. Also, be clear about why you designed your piece and what inspired you to create it.
Think about the price
Before you start asking every gallery if they’ll show your artwork, make sure it is priced correctly! Pricing art can be tricky, so do not get confused as to what prices are appropriate.
Most galleries will tell you that they want to see clear pricing of the work before agreeing to have it displayed, which makes sense. They want to know how much money you are making off of their organization or collection, so why would they accept lower fees?
By this time, you probably realize that creating new art takes a lot of effort and energy, which is another reason most artists cannot afford to create new pieces very often.
Artists who produce frequent works may earn more per piece than those who only create one or two, but most people will never recognize their work because it does not exist many times. This is an important factor for artistic success.
To truly succeed as an artist, you must understand the value of your own creations, which is impossible unless you create them frequently.
Some galleries are not set up to sell artwork
Most museums and art institutions have an online gallery or representation page where they list their current exhibitions, as well as information about how to become a member and purchase tickets.
Some of these sites also offer tips for artists on how to get their work shown, such as posting pictures and descriptions of your artistic projects, creating reviews and comments about the exhibition and its artist(s), and contacting curators and organizers to ask if you can send them an article or talk about the exhibition.
These sites also recommend against using copyrighted images, instead use “stock” photos that are free to use unless otherwise stated.
Appeal to their customer service
As mentioned earlier, most major museums and galleries have online resources where you can find out when your art is being shown, how to visit, and sometimes even ticket information!
Many large companies like this do not just offer these services for free, it costs them money to provide all of this content. So, they invest in efficient marketing strategies to draw attention to themselves and get people to interact with their site.
By offering great customer experience (“service”) through social media, web pages, and other sites, they are creating an audience that comes back regularly to see what new content they have.
This is valuable advertising for their company because now there are external references establishing their brand as credible and professional.
