Hated It!

Hated it! These are words you may often hear walking around Chelsea on any given day. If you don’t actually hear those words, you can probably imagine those words in a thought bubble over many peoples’ heads as they’re cruising the blocks of former hookerville between 10th and 11th Avenues.

I am often quick to judge shows I see and probably don’t give them enough thought before determining my love or hate for one. I must admit, I don’t “get” a lot of what I see in galleries. I guess I don’t understand what makes a show successful. Are sales what determine success? I try not to judge whether an exhibition is a success solely on sales. It’s a tricky situation–we as dealers obviously want to attract an audience to see our shows (critics, collectors, curators) but we also need to generate profit in order to continue doing what we love to do.

Many of my favorite shows, in our gallery and others, are not big money-makers. What is so special about certain shows that always seem to get major reviews? Does the hype make a show “good” or does a “good” show generate hype? Who determines what makes a show a success, and are the artists being left out of this equation? There are thousands of amazing artists living in New York. How do they gauge their level of success?

I wish I knew the answers to these questions and I’m amazed at how often they come up while talking with my friends and colleagues. I hope that galleries show artists they strongly believe in and hopefully success for those artists will follow.

posted by Steven Sergiovanni

Comments

[Renata]

What makes a show a success? Enough people out there who like it and will talk about how much they like it, influencing people to buy the art and influencing people to go see the show. Answering the "why do they like it ?" question...

I think it's a complicated equation - no one ingredient really equals a show or artist's success. It's a dash of actual talent, a dash of hype/myth surrounding the talent (cult of personality stuff and/or the persona that a dealer creates for them to the world at large), and a smidgen of plain luck and good timing - supply and demand.

At one point there was a total zeitgeist of any faux-naive art relating to youth culture, with everyone snapping up drawings and assorted odds and ends by artists gathered under that umbrella. We might still kind of be in that moment. Then, it will be a "return to painting." Then back to photography. At least, that is how the art press will position the market.

But in reality, collectors are so varied and so are their tastes, that at any given point in time there will be a demand for anything and everything. It's really just a matter of making enough of them aware of the fact that you've got what they want...right?

[Caribbean Gyul]

What makes a successful show depends entirely on the subject matter and how much passion, beauty, clarity can be bestowed on the artistic piece. I know when I walk into a gallery, I want to be stunned., or at least feel some sort of emotion as simple as laughter. Art in my eyes, is not about Polictics, it is not only the message even though art is about reminding the people about Conscience. Art is also beauty and we are all different, so beauty is subjective. I want to say WOW!! whenever I look at a piece of art, It may be disgusting, it may be pretty, or simple or Over the top, all in the mix. Art and successful art is about what catches the eye and imagination.