Marketing Mondays: "Where Can I Show?" Part 1

These are the kinds of queries that readers of this blog have sent in over recent months: 

. "Is it career suicide to show in a coffee shop?"

. "What non-gallery settings are OK to show in?"

. “I need to show. What are my options?” 

David Headley large-scale triptych in the atrium of the 153 East 53rd Street Building, New York City, up through the end of February

I'm following up on last week's post on Empowerment. Thanks to the artists who responded with really great comments and suggestions. Let's see if we can keep the converstion going here.

Artists want to exhibit their work. Until or if you get wallspace in a commercial gallery—and let's acknowledge that not every artist necessarily aspires to commercial representation—the answers here are worth exploring. In previous posts I have talked about open studios, co-op galleries, academic galleries in a two-part post here and here, all good, and the dreaded vanity galleries, which are not good, not good at all.  In this two-part post let’s consider some other venues. 

Restaurants and Coffee Shops

I’m not a fan of showing in these places. Coffee shops? Your work, especially work on paper, will come back reeking of of caffé—a lovely aroma in the morning, but not so much when it has permeated your work. Restaurants?  I fine with having my work in a restaurant if it has been purchased to be part of the complement of architecture, furnishing and art (OK, to go with the décor).  Same with commissions. But I don’t think exhibiting is a good option. The art is not the reason people are there; no matter how good it is, it’s going to be subservient to the food. And more to the point: No one is there to sell the art.

Over to you: Who has had a good experience with these venues? Have you had sales? Has the visibility led to a better opportunity? Or conversely, has it not been a good experience?
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Design or Architecture Firms

This is a better fit. The people coming into the space are there to design or commission buildings, homes and renovations. Here, art is a more visible statement about how esthetic and utilitarian elements unite to form a habitable space. Bonus if the space is regularly used for exhibitions, has dedicated lighting, and holds openings.
Over to you: Have you shown in such venues? Your experiences?

Sarah Hinckley is an artist whose work I like immensely. I first saw her paintings at Sears Peyton, a commercial gallery in Chelsea, but here it's a 2010 solo at Steven Harris/Rees Roberts, a design firm in New York City. Hinckley shows widely at galleries around the country, as her resume indicates

Libraries

Even when art is not the primary concern, there's a gravitas to a library setting. Often there's space for exhibiting work. Larger venues may even have bonafide galleries--and the largest, actual gallery directors. Here's an example: The Flinn Gallery at the Greenwich Public Library, in Greenwich Connecticut, with a curator and exhibition space capable of hosting more than one show at a time.
Over to you: Have you shown in a library? Your experiences?

 The Greenwich Public Library (image from the library website) and sculpture, below, by Kim Bernard from a current exhibition (photo courtesy of Art in the Studio blog)

Residential Building Lobbies and Corporate Atriums

Corporations typically install in their lobbies artwork which has been purchased specifically for the spaces, or installed as the result of a corporate curatorial program. Ad hoc showing, then--"i.e. "May I show my work in your lobby?"--is not usually an option. 

Not everyone gets a banner to go with their atrium show. Well, not everyone gets an atrium show; this was curated by a duo of private dealers, Andrea Callard and Karen J. Cantrell, whose by-appointment gallery I'll mention next post)

David Headley banner above, at 153 East 53rd Street, aka the Citicorp Building, and another installation view, below. Bonus: the atrium is open 7:00 a.m. to midnight
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Residential lobbies, on the other hand, may offer great opportunities, particularly if you live in the building or know someone who does. A personal experience: When I was president of my co-op, a modernist building in Chelsea, I initiated an exhibition program that drew work from friends and from my own studio to display on a marble wall that faced the entrance. Typically I showed one large work at a time.  Several sales came my way as a result of the exposure—a consultant occasionally brought clients into the lobby to show them the work—and having the work there freed up some storage space in my studio. But an equal benefit was to the community. Each installation enhanced the ambience of a building that 150+ residents called home.

Nancy Azara's 24-foor-long Heart Wall, installed in a Madison Avenue lobby as part of a curatorial program, remained on exhibition for close to a year

The program at DM Contemporary includes a changing exhibition in the lobby of work from gallery artists. Here it's a print by Mary Judge behind the concierge desk

In more commercial terms, a gallery I work with, DM Contemporary in Manhattan, maintains an exhibition program in the lobby of the building where it’s located.  The gallery has a strong presence in the lobby, the artists have visibililty in a gallery-installed show, and the residents get to see great art. Win/win/win.
Over to you: Have you shown in building lobbies? Your experiences?

Do-It-Yourself Spaces

The range of DIY spaces is vast, from an empty storefront to rehabbed office space. The Volta Art Fair, which takes place in March during Armory week in New York City, is not a DIY project, but it's located on one floor of an otherwise empty office building; likewise, other satellite fairs have been locating themselves in empty warehouse spaces around town.  These are good models for an ambitious (and well-funded) artists' project, especially if one of the participants has real estate contacts. On a smaller scale, there was the late, lamented Pocket Utopia  a narrow storefront space in Bushwick, which put on exhibitions, offered residencies, and brought a lot of artists together, the brainchild of artist Austin Thomas.

Two DIY venues

Above: Austin Thomas's Pocklet Utopia in Bushwick (photo via Newsgrist)

Below: Castleton Event Space in Hudson, New York

Installation of prints by Marylyn Dintenfass in the main exhibition space of the Castleton Project and Event Space in Hudson, New York. The show was curated by Lisa Mackie and Peter Mackie, and organized by John Stookey

Below: The Castleton building

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Last summer I took part in a three-floor show curated exhibition in an enormous renovated building: the Castle Project Event Space, a gallery/workspace in a renovated Oddfellows Hall, in Castleton, New York, about 100 miles up the Hudson. It was unconventional but visually effective, 12 artists showing on three floors and an opening that drew the artists, their friends, some New York dealers, and local residents.
Over to you: Have you shown in DIY venues? Your experiences?
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If you do it right, DIY projects can offer great opportunities. But they require no small amount of sweat equity. You—or someone—is going to put in a shitload of work to pull it off.  Sales? That depends on the venue. Publicity? Typically that's up to you.

Next week: The By-Appointment Gallery, Flat Files and Curated Online Projects