In art, a gallery is an exhibition space for the display of artworks, most of which are for sale. Unlike art museums, galleries can be visited for free but may require an appointment or advance booking. A gallery can be a private business or nonprofit, and is found all over the world. Most galleries are small businesses, and the money they earn from sales goes to running the business.
A gallery also takes a major role in the management of the careers of its artists and works tirelessly to promote their work, expose them to public, collectors, media, cultural institutions, and more. The gallery also helps establish the correct value of an artist’s works within the professional art market, both locally and internationally.
To accomplish its mission, the gallery scouts for emerging and established artists and then collaborates with them to present their works in exhibitions, which are called shows. The artists that a gallery collaborates with on a long-term basis are called represented artists and the ones that participate in one-time collaborations for specific exhibitions are referred to as exhibited artists.
Aside from curating shows and building its portfolio of artists, galleries act as the artist’s dealer, which means they take care of the logistics, paperwork, and financial aspects of selling an artwork. This includes invoicing, tracking artworks that are sold to private or public collections, monitoring the secondary market for an artist’s work, and transporting artworks from the studio to the gallery and back again.
Whenever a gallery wants to exhibit or sell an artist’s work, it will approach the artist and ask to view his/her portfolio. Typically, the gallery will request high-resolution photos of the work and will then decide whether to invite the artist for an exhibition or to make a purchase.
The gallery’s selection criteria is based on several factors, including the artistic quality of the work, its relevance to contemporary issues and trends, its ability to draw interest from a diverse audience, and its commercial potential. The gallery also considers its local and international reputation, the size and quality of the collection it has built, and the reputation of its director.
When approaching a gallery, it is important to carefully research the gallery and its directors. Avoid sending a pitch that includes obscure, “creative” forms of writing like poems or stream-of-consciousness rants, quotes from works of fiction, or terse, elliptical statements. Instead, be clear about your intentions and what you are hoping to achieve with your pitch. Be sure to include a short artist bio that highlights your career and mentions forthcoming shows or projects. This will help the gallery to understand your work in a more meaningful way and is more likely to result in a positive response. Finally, don’t be afraid to ask for feedback from a trusted colleague or advisor. They can provide valuable insight into how to improve your proposal. Then, once you have a strong, well-researched proposal, you can send it off to the gallery with confidence.