Billy Joel’s song from 1982, ‘Pressure‘, was inspired by the pressure to creatively deliver for a new album. It is a feeling that many creatives can recognise.
For a visual artist, it is really hard today to land a solo exhibition in a gallery – be it a commercial enterprise or a museum show. And those opportunities only come around every couple of years.
So, the pressure is on – to make an impact to lead to other opportunities, and to sell. Let’s face it, this is often your fleeting moment to get your work in front of collectors and have their full attention. It is no wonder then that you are feeling the stress.
These are the five top pressure points on your journey to preparing for a gallery exhibition. Know how to recognise them, and work through them – so you get to hold that glass of bubbly on opening night, stress free.
Jump to:
1. The pressure of scale and volume
Ambition can be expensive. Creating a whole new body of work for an exhibition is going to cost, so you need to be strategic from both an artistic and a financial position, when it comes to scale and volume.
You want to create enough work to have the luxury to edit it back for a cohesive show, but then you don’t want to spend every penny in the bank on your exhibition, resulting in a diet of rice and two-minute noodles for the next six months.
Tip: Start by knowing the gallery well. You can’t visit it enough in the planning of an exhibition. You want to have a thorough knowledge of the space. Attend all the exhibitions in lead-up to see what others have done, and whether you think it works for the space.
Observe how people flow – do they go in one direction, what’s the lighting like, what are the impact walls for site lines, are there weight restrictions for hanging or floor works? You want to know the space, as if you built it.
Only then can you confidently estimate how many works you need to produce and what scale they need to be. It will also help you to determine how many impact walls require “hero” artworks. Think of their placement first, and then build out from there.
And ask the team at the gallery – hey, they are the experts of hanging shows in this space – so use their knowledge as a guideline. But be warned: so much more always fits on the “paper” plan than in the real space.
Also, just because you have a paper plan, this doesn’t mean you won’t feel the stress of delivering it. Leave yourself with enough wiggle space in the body of work to adjust during installation if you have to.
2. The pressure to create cohesive work
Now that you have an idea of how many artworks you need, what’s next?
Too often, I walk into an exhibition and it reads as a group exhibition, where a bunch of different ideas are played out. More successful is an exhibition that presents in a cohesive way. In the stress of having to create enough work, we can often get derailed and just “pump”. Remember to keep a clear view in mind of what this exhibition is about – not just how it looks.
Plus, most artists won’t have the luxury of space to mock up “the hang” in their own studio. But you probably have room to play with clusters or pairings. Sit with them. Feel them, feel confident with them.
Tip: Put the floor plan aside and create an ideation zone in your studio. I know this sounds pretentious, and the stuff of marketing companies, not artists. But it is a really useful tool that can be adopted, and adapted, for your needs.
The problem with creating a body of work is that our head is often sent spinning. This will help keep you on track – and later has the bonus of helping with titles for your works.
On a studio wall, post up a word that captures that main theme or idea for your exhibition, and then build out a flotilla of notes. These connecting points may be as simple as a trigger location, or as complex as art historical references and your influences.
And, as you start to finish paintings or sculptures, I recommend taking a Polaroid, or a quick snap on your phone and print it out, and then add it to the wall. (Bonus: you can then wrap the piece and put it away for safety and added space – or, better still, get it photographed early and to the gallery for pre-sales.)
Start moving these elements around on your wall, so that they connect visually and gel in a cohesive way. Do they make sense visually as an exhibition? Effectively, you are mapping your exhibition so that it reads cohesively for the viewer/collector, and so that those key concepts start to make sense.
3. The pressure of admin
‘I just want to be in the studio’ – is probably the statement you are going to say most in the months leading up to your exhibition. Daily life and administration seem to get increasingly in the way.
To ward off the stress and pressure of delivering on demand, sketch out a timeline and stick to it. Know when you need to get your works photographed, to the framer, or when the gallery wants an artist statement.
Our advice is to get your website and CV sorted early. Get a nice updated portrait photo done before the studio chaos settles in, and get your head around your own promotion (yes I know, most artists hate this!).
Social media is a key factor in preparing for an art exhibition today; ignoring it will be to your detriment. You can’t rely exclusive on the gallery (it has a whole stable of artists to promote). Consider using a scheduling tool for your social media, and share the journey of making the work.
It can feel like there are a hundred details needing your attention – and that’s before you step into the studio – so we created this checklist to help you navigate the administration.
Read: Checklist: 43 things to tick off for your exhibition
Tip: My first tip is don’t worry if the house is a mess and the floors go unvacuumed more than usual. You are an artist, not a maid – and job number one has to take priority for now.
My second tip is to work out what you have to do yourself, and what you can get others to do. Understand early on what the gallery is doing – are they sending invitations, are they doing marketing etc… You don’t want to be landed with “I need your mailing list today”.
And tip number three is to schedule out some time every week to do you exhibition admin, so it doesn’t bleed into your studio time. And if you are on top of things, then use this weekly pause to go for a walk, see a movie or get a massage. While these are small indulgences, they are great for clearing the head, and may allow for a solution to a problem you are facing in the studio to bubble up.
It is like tapping the release value on a pressure cooker. Release a little steam to keep you cooking.
4. The pressure of editing
You have worked bloody hard on all these pieces … so why should you leave some out? Simply, congested exhibitions look rubbish – unless of course you want to mimic a last-century salon hang.
What to leave out is the biggest stress point for any artist. But you have done a lot of the work already, thanks to your new skill of cohesive thinking and understanding the volume of works needed.
Tip: Ask yourself, what pieces best embody the theme or concept you are wanting to convey? Do you have a mix of sizes and price ranges across the works on offer? Even if you are just showing one consistent scale, consider a few smaller works for the gallery to sell out of the back room.
If you have doubts about including a piece, listen to yourself and pull it from the main body of work. If you have duplications, again, cut one.
Now, once you have your draft show list – cut it by a third. Yep, brutal. You can always have these pieces in the back room. Too many works create confusion for buyers – just like anything, too many options can result in potential buyers walking away from the sale “to think”. And 90% of the time they never return.
5. The pressure of pricing and pre-sales
Yes, we know that you are haemorrhaging money producing all this new work, and it is preying on your mind. And, yes, you will need to do this – price your artworks – but don’t freak out about it too early on.
The best time to price the pieces is when you have a complete body of work. The gallery is going to pressure you for early images and details for pre-sales. Pre-sales are good – they start fuelling interest around your show. But they are not essential.
When it comes to pricing, consider the gallery commission, and your cost of framing and fabrication – you want to cover your costs in your artist price. You may have expensive freight to deal with, so consider if this is something you will cover or whether you should add some pad into your prices.
Read: How to price your visual art
Tip: When I started in a gallery, the owner said to me that the same effort goes into selling a $500 artwork as it does a $5000. The collector will buy it because they want it. So don’t sell yourself short.
In the aching desire to sell work, we often make it “affordable”. Rather, give it a fair price for your career experience, and the complexity and refinement of the artwork.
On the same token, don’t overprice it. Too often I have seen work in group exhibitions where the emerging artist’s prices are explosively high compared to the other artists. This, in part, is about creating an illusion of desire and worth – a market game – but it can fail as a device as much as it can work. Do you want to take that gamble?
While art schools and advocacy bodies have pushed for equitable pay for artists in recent years, the reality is that artists are rarely paid equitably for the hours they devote to their practice. The better bet than looking at award wages, is to look at the market itself. This is where art fairs are a great tool to help place where your work may sit. And, again, talk to the gallerist.
And remember, an exhibition is a great opportunity, so enjoy the journey of making and sharing it with others.
