Art and Bill Gates

"I am picking up a lot of unease from artists about going with commercial galleries, myself included. I think the internet and blogosphere is the direction a lot of artists are going..."

I received this interesting comment from April Jarocka a couple of days ago and, with my own web site on the launch pad, I'm prompted to outline my thoughts concerning galleries and the less traditional, web-based method of presenting and marketing my art.

In doing so, I accept that I'm unqualified in any practical sense to offer an opinion on the effectiveness of the internet as a marketing tool, or whether it can successfully replace the more traditional gallery outlets. If nothing else though, it might be an interesting and timely exercise to record my thoughts so I can reflect later on how well thought out (or how naive and foolish) they turn out to have been!

My last foray into art as a part-time commercial venture was around 15 years ago. Apart from some local art shows, I sold through a couple of city framing retailers masquerading as galleries and enjoyed a good relationship with them. I had no prior expectations of them and they managed to sell most of the work I presented them with relatively quickly, relying only on passing trade. When it came to framing my work, which was usually Conte or acrylic on paper, I felt it was worth the added expense of a double matte and, together with glass and mouldings, the final cost was far from trivial. I was happy to accept the galleries' advice when it came to setting prices and was elated enough just making a sale. In fact, my prices were such that with gallery commissions and the aforementioned framing costs taken into account, it might have been more lucrative flipping burgers.

Fast forward to 2009 and the ground rules have changed markedly; as April points out, the internet is the new paradigm. Add in a sprinkling of suspicion and a dash of cynicism which inevitably comes with age and experience, and I find the gallery option much less appealing than it once appeared. In my mind, pricing my art realistically remains a black art and I would almost certainly accept the advice of the gallery, as I have in the past. However, with the world economy still shaky, I wonder if their need to turn over stock and generate cash flow would outweigh any desire they might otherwise have had to put my interests up there with their own. Harking back to those intimidating framing costs, the issue of dead money tied up on gallery walls is a further disincentive.

If you’re reading this, you already know the power of the internet. Political and geographical boundaries are rendered (mostly) irrelevant and our target audience extends to the far reaches of the globe. With a potential market such as this, I’m opting to sell my work online, unmounted and unframed, which removes one of the objections I have to selling through galleries and greatly simplifies shipping. The other advantage of a web-based shop front is the opportunity to offer originals and limited-edition prints from a single point of sale in an effort to cater to all budgets. My belief that signed and numbered prints are a hugely attractive marketing option again stems from the computer age and is reinforced by my experience as a software developer. How successful would Bill Gates have become if his team of developers had created Microsoft Office, or any of his other products, and the code and copyright had then been sold to a single purchaser? Likewise, I don't think I should limit myself to selling original paintings and drawings through a gallery when my digital imaging company of choice also offers a “print-on-demand” service and are happy to run off single prints as and when required.

I doubt that anyone questions the wisdom of marketing via the internet, however, it would be great if those of you with practical experience could chime in and offer up your thoughts on the relevance of galleries in the big picture, and the extent to which they've played a role in your success.

Cheers
Pete