Anyone can have a show (?)

[Jac@stafford.net]

I have a message from a late middle-age amateur photographer who is a billionaire living in Monaco. The photographer had previously informed me of local shows, some of which were of remarkable 'name' photographers from all over the world and also shows of nonsense amateurs with just plain nothing worth viewing; their social position, wealth, made their shows happen, which turned at best to wine tasting events which are stupid but a suitable analogy. The message included, "Anyone can have a show here." Yah, I suppose,

Trying to be relevant, I look to the Internet and the same seems true. The very difference seems to be the profitability of the show in terms of popularity if it becomes a financial advantage, for better or worse. Is the 'net a leveling influence?

I think not.

[LabRat]

Everyone's a star on the net!!!

Put up enough money, and anyone can have a show at MOMA... (Look what happened with that Bjork show...) ;-)

Steve K

[faberryman]

Trying to be relevant, I look to the Internet and the same seems true. The very difference seems to be the profitability of the show in terms of popularity if it becomes a financial advantage, for better or worse. Is the 'net a leveling influence? I think not.

Can you rephrase this statement. I don't think I understand the point you are making. Galleries have shows to make money. You can walk in with a portfolio of exquisite images, and if the gallery owner doesn't think he can sell them, you are out of luck. Of course, you could agree to rent the gallery for the duration of the show, which I assume is what the billionaire is talking about. The web is essentially free. If you are good at promoting yourself, you can build a following even if your images are not anything special. Whether you can monetize that following is another story. I guess if you are willing to spend the money, you could SEO the hell out of your website and hire social media consultants to ramp up your presence on the web to gain an edge. Hard to compete against that.

[Jac@stafford.net]

Can you rephrase this statement.

Considering your response you don't mean that. You have written your obvious little bit.

[jp]

Gallery owners need to make money. If it's all legit business and paid for up front rather than by sales, that's fair. I don't think the Internet has much to do with it, except it can promoted without buying ads in local papers or sending written invitations.

I have great respect for Bjork but she's not a mega star in the US. So crazy and creative is she, it's not surprise the people putting on the show couldn't figure out a way to show what she's done, much less please critics in the process. I would say her fans would be good MOMA prospects but perhaps MOMA crowd might not be good prospects of being Bjork fans. Something critics won't understand if they are not fans.

What the Net can level out is people can show great stuff or bad stuff on flickr, forums, etc.. You don't need connections or money to show your work digitally. That is good. You can write/publish/print on demand books in the same way using the Internet without money or risk. It is also good, even though some people will make crappy material. Just like a loom can make ugly sweaters faster than a knitter. But we would be foolish to be luddites. It's an expansion of creative freedom and reach.

[Pieter]

Everyone's a star on the net!!!

Put up enough money, and anyone can have a show at MOMA... (Look what happened with that Bjork show...) ;-)

Steve K

The Bjork show was about money, but not how you imply. MOMA wanted attendance numbers, wanted to attract a younger, different audience. Their support base is slowly dying off. Showing improved attendance makes it easier to raise money. Private funds are needed, the U.S. gov't does a pitiful job of supporting the arts (vis a vis GNP) compared with many other countries.

[Mark Sawyer]

Gallery owners need to make money. If it's all legit business and paid for up front rather than by sales, that's fair...

If a private gallery's operating expenses are not paid for by sales, it's not a "legit business". Private business is about profit, not art. Art just provides a "legit" façade. The gallery owner's trick is walking the tightrope between the two.

[Tin Can]

Biz is Biz

Art is Art

Mix if you like

We have been making art for a long time. 64,000 years at least. http://www.latimes.com/science/scien...htmlstory.html

I prefer non professional artists, they are a little less vain, but not much.

My biggest Art mistake was selling a few of my sculptures.

That was 20 years ago and I learned a lesson.

The real question is why make any Art?

[DrTang]

The real question is why make any Art?

the chicks!

[jnantz]

there are lots of galleries and lots of places to have shows
and the person who makes the "art" can be extremely good or not
( and who knows what that even means because things a lot of people
things is just fantastic, other people think is garbage and visa versa )
someone can have a gallery opening at their local public library, at art walks
in banks or office buildings at street fairs, in restaurants or coffee shops or ice cream shops
or bakeries, or bars or co-operative galleries where he or she helps pay rent and depending
on the level of help and particpation gets a solo show, or pay to play ... in boston/cambridge
there was the "zeitgeist gallery" years ago and they would happily take your $$ and let you have a show
in their space. they were kind of known for doing shows for artist musicans like peter wolf ( from what i remember )
as well as anyone else who wanted to show their artwork there ... and i used to always get emails from
the agora gallery in nyc .. an established gallery attended by collectors and other buyers, large mailing list
so all the artist has to do is pay the $ display the work and they do their thing, fill the gallery with perspective buyers
and do the opening and advertise / market ...
no clue if the internet has changed the playing field there sure are a lot of people online from the age of 1 to 100 who are all artists
and didn't the smiling primate just get rights to his image in a large court case ?
im looking forward to space junk and sun spots bringing us back to 1880 so we can see who is
riding a penny farthing and who is wearing formal wear, who is using j.lane dry plates, and
who the new local art galleries lit by gas lamps and heated with coal, will be displaying ...
cause they say >> everything is local.