Be Prepared

Getting noticed in the art world is tough, especially given the sheer amount of chatter some gallerists have to cut through, especially given the sheer volume of requests, DMs, and emails being sent around in the digital age. So that leads me to the most important point: the more well-organized information a gallerist has when receiving your submission, the better your chances for success. There’s been countless instances where an artist has submitted work to us, but its just one or two photos and no supplemental information. This immediately disqualifies a chance at the gallerist investigating any further simply because they don’t have much to go on. 

A well organised and easy to navigate website and/or portfolio is imperative to success. Think about how many times you’ve read a brochure, gone to a website, or tried to navigate a menu and how quickly you might lose interest should you not be able to find the information you wanted easily; same goes for a gallerist with your artwork submission. A gallerist sometimes has to field multiple submissions a day, on top of the usual responsibilities of running a gallery. If finding out what they need to know seems too difficult, they’re more likely to move on. Most important to an artist is of course, their artwork - it is the first thing they need to see in order to make a decision on whether or not to start a conversation about onboarding an artist, so make sure it is easy to see, easy to scroll through, and well labeled with all its didactic information: title, medium, year, size. It is always helpful to categorize your artwork, either by thematic series, or by year, or by medium. Seeing a consistent progression of work throughout the years is encouraging to a gallerist, especially for younger artists. 

A good example for an exemplary website is the one of Abbozzo Gallery artist Alex. R.M. Thompson, where you can easily find his CV, and Portfolio.

Beyond the artwork, the vital information gallerists want to see is on the CV, so make sure it's up to date. Do you have an education in the arts? Have you had any exhibition history? Have you won any prizes for your work? No matter how big or small the exhibition or accolade, seeing a history of an artist working at their practice tells the gallerist the artist is serious about what they are doing, and knowing this is vital for a gallerist to see. 

Pro tip: To get your foot in the door, scan local art listings for open calls and calls for submission. Even getting your artwork into an open call exhibition is still an exhibition, and the larger the history or body of work exhibited, the more reassuring to a gallerist. Its a snowball effect. 

Historically, galleries have typically looked for at minimum, a Bachelor’s in Fine Arts, and of course an MFA being even better, but the prevailing wisdom is changing. There has been a massive uptick in the success of self-taught artists and artists from various backgrounds that inform their practice, so don’t let that gap on the CV deter you from approaching galleries. There are even galleries out there that look for and champion artists without traditional arts training backgrounds. So don’t be discouraged, keep at it and try to find the right space for you, which leads me to my next point: do your research.

Take the time to get to know the galleries you’re submitting to, become familiar with their staff, their ethos, the other artists they work for, the exhibitions that they have run. Being aware of these details when introducing yourself shows the gallerist you care or are interested in what they do, and this can go a long way. Individualising and personalising your email / submission to a gallery is the first step in getting them to take a closer look. Addressing a gallery director or curator in an email by name, goes way farther than you might think. Conversely, seeing a long list of other galleries in the mailto: address bar is the quickest way to get your submission deleted or archived without a second look.  Make sure your aesthetic of artwork, or your theoretical practice, or ideology matches the gallery you are submitting your work to. Maybe it goes without saying, but if you are a landscape painter, don’t submit your work to a pop-art gallery, if you’re a sculptor, don’t send your submission to a gallery that doesn’t carry three-dimensional works, this might seem obvious, but its a mistake I see happen with a lot more frequency than you might expect. The more aligned your work is with a gallery’s ethos, the better. 

Be Around

Perhaps an underrated tip for getting a gallerist to take notice of you is simply to be around. Attend gallery openings, go to panel discussions, attend art events, just like brand recognition, seeing the same people around creates an inkling of familiarity, and repetition allows for gallerists – who are used to having strange and unfamiliar people approach them constantly  to show their work – might put their guard down a bit and entertain a longer conversation about your art. A face you know is always better than one you don’t. 

At least in Toronto, there seems to be a growing sense of artist solidarity and support for eachother, and I must say I personally believe it bolsters the health of the art scene immensely. A sense of community. Seeing artists we like and trust go support another, helps us trust the work as well. Word-of-mouth has historically been the best form of advertising and I imagine it will continue. 

-BZ