Planning an exhibition: What do I ask?

Basic questions:

1. Rental gallery (you pay for space) or Curated (they choose you)

2. How much if rental gallery and for how long? (1 week, 2 weeks, 3 weeks, 4 weeks, etc).

3. The distribution of the sales: how much % you/how much % gallery gets.

4. Will gallery hang or help you hang?

5. Will they supply frames?

6. Will they promote show, if yes where and how and to how many people and through how many venues.

7. Opening night: how does it run: they supply food/wine or you: who pays

8. Will they continue to “promote” your work or is it a 1-time deal (for that specific length of time)

9. Sales record (do they sell well), traffic record (lots of people, who goes there, do they have relationships with collectors/media,

10. Ask other artists who showed there what they think.

11. website: good?, archived? Do they have other means of sales/distribution or only on-the-wall vehicle.

12. Do they represent?

13. who owns: artist run cooperative, public-funding or private

14. on and on and on…

Best advice I can give you is this: start going to galleries and making real, genuine friendships. I never even told the gallery my wife and i deal with here that I was a photographer until after 1 year of knowing them: that way the relationship created was true and genuine. HOw much does the gallery know about art (many know shit). How much does the gallery know about PR, selling, collectors, artist relationship. Many know shit. The key to a good gallery (and you should think about this more than just the exhibition) is the relationships they have with their artists and how they develop that so it is a win-win for everyone. Although, if this is your first exhibition, just the first-time thing is pretty exciting and daunting. :)))

Pricing of prints, that’s a whole new ball-game…pased on what prints, artist name, time/energy/cost you put into printing, profit (he-he-he, what the hell is that? ;) ), local market for purchasing…competition, etc ….

i wish you the best of luck for a fun, exciting and great exhibition Alan! :))

hope this helps you get started! :))

cheers,
bob

Alan, first you need to find galleries or any spaces in Singapore where photos similar in subject matter to yours are on display. Prices vary from place to place. Pricing depends on how much you spent on each piece, printing, matting and framing, etc.

michal: :)))

would LOVE to, but im only a photographer, not a gallery owner ;))))))))))))

running for food :))
b

Singapore is a bit of a pain as it is all about the money and prestige as far as galleries go…..........lived there for 3 years never exhibited or intended to. Try Indonesia they are more receptive to art and photography

Hi Bob, thank you so much for your tips. I’ve started to ask those questions. Let’s see how it goes.

Imants is right—not easy finding a gallery here.

Hi to all, I am very pleased to see this kind of conversation,... so I can see that making your own exhebition is quite a complicated deal…Recently joined this site, and my page is in construction heheheh…
Alan, good luck!!!
also here in Italy is the same thing..the gallerists are just interested in bisness…
but…keep on!

I’ve been silent follower of this thread.

Any progress Alan?

(dont believe we’ve met, but we’re both from singapore & lets just say, i have vested interest :p)

I haven’t been working too hard on this, I must admit.

But there’s a new gallery that has opened in Singapore (always a good sign!). Have you checked this out?

www.2902gallery.com

Rental gallery, but reportedly Southeast Asia’s largest.

I started showing just a few pieces at a gallery here, but I don’t see having a whole gallery for just my work. The market for photography here just sin’t what it could be.

Mary VIrginia Swanson has a site with some helpful information:

http://www.mvswanson.com/

She has a self-published book which I think is pretty good as well.

The Basic Questions given above are all very relevant, but I wonder if you’ve also asked yourself why you want to exhibit your images, and what images and how to show them?
From my experience those are the most important questions. What are you trying to say? Obviously it’s nice to make a bit of money from it, or at least cover your costs, but whether for profit or pleasure or self promotion, or a combo of all three, without having something to say it won’t fly very far.
The best shows I’ve done have been with non-profit publically funded cultural organisations who have some idea of what constitutes art and are open to new ideas. My least satisfying shows have been with private galleries who are mainly interested in turning a profit.

Hi Alan,

Have checked out 2902gallery, no listings for rental course but they sound pretty flexible with the amount of space. Sounds interesting. Just curious about what the theme of your work will be that you’re planning on exhibiting? Or you planning on a solo exhibition?

As Nigel suggested, the toughest question is “What are you trying to say?”

I’m stumped. One gallery that was initially interested turned away because the owner couldn’t see a “core” in my work.

That’s the goal for the year—finding a theme.

What about you, Joel?

Hey Alan,

I have stories that are a mixture of work-in-progress & stories completed. I’m just not convinced enough to exhibit in Singapore. Sad as it sound, there’s a whole lot of apathy going around this place, at the end of the day its all about economic returns and practicality. The PJ community here is also non-existent. Hence, although i really want to exhibit, going through all the hassle to nail sponsors, make prints & rent gallery space…. is too much for an audience that frankly don’t care.

For now, i’m just contented to slowly migrate stories out from my HDD to the internet. I update a photo journal as much as i can. You can view it at http://thepicturestory.blogspot.com

What are your thoughts?

Joel,

I went to the Thirteen exhibition opening night yesterday - it was mostly kids. We’re talking under twenties, both photographers and visitors. In a way, you look at that and you think, sure that’s a good direction - we’re building a generation of photographers and viewers.

But the content was… something else. Except for one photographer, who walked the backstreets of Jakarta, the rest lacked spirit.

Overall, yes, it’s a sad state of affairs in Singapore. There’s very little interest in photojournalism work or the simplicity of story telling. Hong Kong and Tokyo are far stronger markets for these.

Had a look at your website—thanks, it’s now part of my daily RSS reads.

a.