corporate art who do you contact?

[arca andy]

I live and work in London....I city stuffed full of office blocks with multi-national companies around every corner. And I am sure all of them want so have some of my B/W prints on their walls (why won't they?)
My question is: Do said conglomorates have specific art buyers or, which I think more likely, is work commissioned through 3rd party art buyers/gallaries?
Any experiences selling in this field will be gratefully received
Ta Andy

[Greg Miller]

There are art consultants that work with businesses. They work with the business to identify the art styles that fit the business' desires, and then identify the artists who are a good fit. They will collect portfolios from each artist, and guide the business representatives through the process of selecting an artist(s), and specific pieces to use. Then assist in buying and preparing the art to be hung. That has been my experience anyway.

So best to get to know who those art consultants are that corporations in London use. Then develop a plan to introduce yourself, and market to them.

It is also good to build a reputation in the art world. It is a lot easier to convince a corporation to pay (handsomely) for your work if you are already a pretty established player in the art world. Get published, exhibit your work in prestigious venues, get articles written about you,...

[Drew Wiley]

It's all about connections. But the hard reality is that a lot of corporations are skinflints
when it comes to what they'll actually pay for decor. They tend to like a lot of big prints dirt cheap. Even if you get a connection, by the time you've paid for the framing and a middleman (agent), you'll be lucky to break even. If you have people skills it might be better just to do your own marketing in person. It won't hurt you to ask around. And maybe there's a local coffeehouse where the right kinds of people hang out. You could
volunteer some prints to such places and then just casually remark that they're yours.
But there are probably quite a few other people trying to play the same game, if this is like
any big city here. But sometimes someone will be interested in a personal rather than a
corporate purchase, and this kind of transaction is generally more generous.

[Greg Miller]

This has not been my experience. These tend to be very high end deals with big budgets. i have done quite a bit better than break even. art consultants usually order the prints and then manage the framing on their own. They want matting and framing that fits their overal design scheme and have framers that they know and trust. I get paid what i quote with no commissions or any other deductions.

But, as i wrote before, i do agree that networking is key. get to know the consultants that have te right businesses as clients. businesses that rely on image and reouation don't want cheap art on their walls, and tey know that good art comes with a price.

[Frank Petronio]

For lower end stuff, sell through a good frame shop that has architectural firms and interior designers as clients. Every large architectural firm has interior people and that can be part of their job.

Exploitive resource industries love nature shots! I knew a great photographer who worked for Exxon, made very sensitive portraits of Intuit and Polar Bears.

[Drew Wiley]

Nice observation, Frank... kinda like JP Morgan hiring Curtis to photograph the Indians he was conspiring to forever extinguish.

[Greg Miller]

I knew a great photographer who worked for Exxon, made very sensitive portraits of Intuit and Polar Bears.

Exxon wanted portraits of QuickBooks? ;)

[Frank Petronio]

opps lol the new spellcheckers get me in worse trouble.

[Brian C. Miller]

No, Enron wanted portraits of QuickBooks.

[arca andy]

Thanks for the quick answers ....At the moment I do a lot of work for the NHS here in the uk and they have used a few of my (non LF) photos as large wall panals, with great effect. The buyers of their art tend to be the folks who work in the marketing departments of the various health trusts we have over here. But they do use a lot of interior designers/architectural practices........
I guess each organisation will buy their art in different ways and (with most things photographic) there is no hard and fast rule!
Ta again Andy

[Darin Boville]

Nice observation, Frank... kinda like JP Morgan hiring Curtis to photograph the Indians he was conspiring to forever extinguish.

I think Curtis came a'beggin for the cash. Great bio out of Curtis by the way, by Egan.

--Darin

[Drew Wiley]

Could be. But Morgan would have wanted the Indians swept away regardless of documenting them or not. Reminds me of each time I get the monthly copy of NG magazine, each time with at least one enviro article in it, but then the endleaves always
contain ads by some big oil company creating havoc somewhere. I was actually offered the
adv and PR photo role for a huge oil co once, but not my cup of tea. The interview with the CEO was interesting. He showed up in Levis and a plaid flannel shirt for weekend coffee, delighted to be an ordinary civilian that no one had to suck up to that day. Come Monday, he'd don his suit & tie and go back to bribing Nigerian presidents and polluting rivers. Clock-in, clock-out, just for a helluva lot more pay.

[John Kasaian]

A photography student at my college went out to the airport and shot some planes belonging to a regional airline (this was long before 911, mind you) He sent copies of the prints to the airline's CEO and they offered him a gig as the in-house corporate photographer.
A sweet deal for a 20 year old eh?

[Andrew O'Neill]

Intuit

Frank, spell checker got you on this one, too...:)