Scoping
First and foremost, it is important to understand what kind of gallery you're submitting to. I will always recommend visiting the galleries you're interested in and attend their receptions before approaching with your portfolio.
One reason to be aware of where you're potentially showcasing your work is that if this gallery already has a collector base; those buyers are coming back with expectations to find, and possibly purchase, work that is similar to what that gallery is known to exhibit.
I wouldn't expect one of our buyers to come into a show and purchase an oil painted landscape when they come to us looking for graff and related pieces-- of course it is possible, I just wouldn't count on it.
From the high end 'Blue Chip' wine and cheese galleries, selling pieces worth more than you and I make in a year-- to the community building galleries that always offer open calls and anyone can submit to. It's important to be aligned with the gallery's aesthetics and content.
The Community Spaces
What I mean by community galleries are those art spaces that are almost always, if not always, having open calls and inviting everyone to submit work. Whether or not they actually accept everything varies on how they like to run things.
These spaces typically make their money on things outside of art sales, think community centers, coffee shops, retail stores, city offices, etc.
These are a great place to start as they can be easy to be accepted into and the people attending and/or buying pieces from these spaces are less concerned with investment and more or less buying art impulsively or out of hobby.
The Commercial Galleries
Commercial galleries are just that; their business model is to sell art and often build curated shows that they are expecting to bring in buyers. These spaces generally build up a list of artists to who they offer solo and/or group showings to as well as represent, similar to a manager.
These galleries typically specify to the artists what pieces they want to display, because they think it will sell well to their collector base. I'm sure some of these spaces value cultural and community significance but their main priority is to generate sales.
The Buy In's
If you have some experience with approaching galleries or even just find the 'Artist Call' ads on Instagram you probably have come across a Rental Gallery. These are spaces that you have to buy into, meaning that the artist has to pay a fee upfront in order to even be considered in showing; you're basically renting the wall space with the possibility of a sale.
Along with the fee they may also require a commission of sales as well, and it's typical that these galleries require the artist to put up their own work and manage their own display inside the space.
These types of galleries can be a little risky for emerging artists.
Vanity Galleries
The vanity galleries are appropriately named; as they are often located in high traffic areas, think high numbers of tourists, often charge exhibition fees as well as membership fees, hanging fees and maybe marketing fees.
Some of these galleries can charge thousands of dollars to show in their space, and they often approach emerging artists betting that they're desperate for a spot in the gallery's location. Making most of their share through the fees, they don't typically ask for commissions on sales.
These galleries are exploitative in my opinion and I would not advise getting involved with them.
Blue Chips
These are the big guys; museums and very high-end commercial galleries that are very exclusive to exhibit only majorly historic pieces (think Van Gogh, Keith Harring, Jackson Pollok, Basquiat) and very select established artists.
These institutions have pro art dealers that sell art that has an established market value from long-term stability. What I mean by that is that these artists, through their work and consistency, have proven to be highly sought after, either before or after their death.
When I mentioned "investment" before, this is what I'm talking about; when art reaches this level it's actually a financial investment like stocks. Big collectors that buy these pieces can hold onto it for 10-20 years and re-sell it to buy a home, or even use it as collateral for a loan. It's serious business.
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There are other types of galleries but these seem to be the most relevant and talked about. And there's plenty of galleries that mesh different models together or do things differently, not every space is going to fit these exact descriptions.
This is the most important.
Making the jump from just making art for yourself or for social media to showing up in person and putting yourself out there gives you the opportunity to meet potential buyers (which often times, if you're charming enough, can seal the sale), meet other artists, and build a relationship with the gallery/staff which can get you into some pretty cool situations.
Peace ✌️
Definitions:
Exhibition: A curated, planned, public display of an organised collection of objects or works, which are considered to be of scientific, historic, cultural or artistic interest.
Submission: An act of submitting something as for consideration.
Reception: A social gathering often for the purpose of extending a formal welcome, used in a sense for a gallery opening night of a group of work.
Curated: Carefully chosen and thoughtfully organized or presented.
Exploitative: Unfairly or cynically using another person or group for profit or advantage.
Established: Successful for a long period of time and widely known.