Vanity Galleries and 5 Ways to Recognise Them
Introduction
In the 21st century, many people prey on the desperation of dreamers. As an artist of any kind, you have to be honest with yourself, especially about your worth, or you will be taken advantage of, or worse - taken for granted. Shams and frauds are prevalent whatever you do, there’s always somebody somewhere looking to make a little money from you, trying to sell you something or deceive you. These hustlers are global and within all cultures and professions, and the art-sphere is no different. There are too many to list in a single blog post, so instead, we will focus on one of the most deceptive ones - vanity galleries and shows. I am a painter and will therefore focus on these, but there are vanity publishers and vanity labels. They all have one thing in common - they want you to pay them for exposure.
A vanity publisher will have the author pay for the publishing, and a vanity gallery will have the artist pay to put on a show. The artist is expected to pay a fee to exhibit their work to the public and these galleries and businesses make most of their money from artists rather than sales. These tactics come in a variety of flavours and forms - it may be expected monthly memberships with a promise of a show within a given time frame, or just a straight-up sum of money to be paid per show. This is deceitful because this is how a lot of galleries operate, and membership fees are common in all kinds of collectives and coops - so how can we separate the real deal from the shams? There are a few tell-tale signs and we’re going to be looking at them in just a bit, but first let’s take a closer look at how these entrepreneurial vultures feed on the carcass of the art world.
Modus Operandi
These parasites prey on the ambitions of aspirants and use people’s insecurities to make money. Because somebody trying to make it in the art world will often take on these opportunities, thinking that you have to spend a little money to earn some. But there’s no earning in these shows, you’re better off throwing your money in a well, at least then these vicious vultures wouldn’t be able to continue feeding on the work of others. They sell a false idea that if you pay them they will expose you to the world, where immediately your real sales will begin. By paying a fee to them soon you’ll be making those precious sales you’ve been praying for. Any upcoming and rising star knows that to make money they first need to be known, and falsely they believe these opportunities to be the way to be known. The truth is that, unlike commercial galleries which rely on art sales as their business model vanity galleries rely on the fees artists pay to exhibit in them.
Vanity galleries have no incentive to make sales, they’ve already made their money - the profit of fees from a large number of amateur artists is enough for them. They put no extra time or effort into marketing, or attempt to make art sales. They do not rely on carefully curated artists and building relationships with collectors. These galleries operate on two completely different ideas and it’s easy to tell when a relationship between two is symbiotic or parasitic. A commercial gallery puts time, energy and money into cultivating collectors, sales and artists, they only profit when the artist profits. A vanity gallery however doesn’t care about its host, they have drained them financially and creatively. Not only should they have the audacity to ask for a fee but worse yet is that they should have you do all the work. They expect you to do everything and still expect you to pay - imagine you show up at a restaurant and the waiter takes the leftovers in your bag, puts it in the microwave and then serves it to you. Weird you think but maybe some of the other guests will appreciate your cooking - you soon realise there is no one else in the restaurant and then the bill is brought to you; the gratitude tip is already written on it. Vanity galleries will do the bare minimum and often not even that and they lie through their teeth.
Behind a fancy facade and a false promise of exposure, they promise you the world. They do lying well, they go to great lengths to seem legit and look professional, and a lot of them will appear to have a selection process with esteemed judges and limited spots available. They will utilise every trick in the book to make you fear being left out of this wonderful opportunity for you. They will pretend and deceive, lie and manipulate and often will end up stuck in the elaborate nets they have spun themselves into. They will boast about international shows in the capitals of the art world as well as digital shows reaching the furthest corners of the earth - and you can be a part of this too, you only need to bust out that fat wallet of yours. Vanity galleries are best avoided altogether, they may pretend to care who they exhibit but the truth is they don’t, they rely entirely on ignorance to make their business work. Ignorance of what they are and what their tactics are - if you’re well informed they stand no chance. Do not give them your money - it will do nothing for you. It’s a complete waste of your time, energy and capital. No serious collectors, critics or established artists deal with them, and the most traffic they get is the occasional lost soul or fooled artist who shows up. Learn to identify them and stay clear of them.
Discerning Galleries
The thing is, operating a business takes money and running an art business or a gallery is no easy task. It’s not uncommon for galleries, art collectives and similar institutions to have entry fees, memberships and other monetization methods - therefore we determine a vanity gallery solely based on the fact that they want your money, most people want your money. We will be looking at 5 things to discern a vanity gallery from a legit gallery.
- Quality of the Work Exhibited
Vanity galleries have no quality control - this might be difficult to judge since it seems, neither do most modern or contemporary museums. However, galleries or cooperatives tend to have either aesthetic values or themes they stick to and individual shows often deal with a common subject. It’s not uncommon for vanity galleries to exhibit anyone and anything regardless of experience, theme, style and more. Aesthetically shows for vanity galleries can be chaotic and seemingly random, with little to no artistic coherence. When applying for a gallery one can look at the previous shows of a gallery - does your art align with what’s been previously shown? Are the levels consistent or is there a wide range of skill and experience on show? I don’t want to say that they exclusively exhibit “bad” art or amateur art, and there’s also nothing wrong with giving a platform for beginners - it needs to be done, and that’s another reason why vanity galleries are so awful because it’s a terrible introduction into the art world for newcomers. The quality of the work exhibited means inconsistencies and a lack of care for the total composition of a show or exhibition. Usually, vanity galleries will exhibit multiple artists at the same time, each having a single or few paintings - this way they can charge as many fees as possible from the artists. It’s also not uncommon that they will charge for wall space - cramping in as many artists as possible and making the most money per square meter as they can.
- Sales Tactics
These tactics aren’t directed at the audience but rather at the artist. They follow the standard procedure - don’t miss out, time-limited offers, exclusive deals, discounts and so on and so forth. The sales tactics commonly used today are too many to discuss in this short text and I would recommend you pick up a book about how to make sales, not to sell more but so that you can protect yourself against these heinous and often immoral tactics to psychologically manipulate and hurt people. If you’re looking at a gallery and the offers they run for exhibitions and shows and the sales tactics are not aimed at the visitors and buyers but rather at the artists, you can be sure that it’s a vanity gallery. A commercial gallery doesn’t need to lure in artists because they don’t make a living from their money - they put their focus on the experience of their visitors and viewers, they don’t use scummy tricks but rather work on cultivating long-lasting and personal relationships with their audience. If the spokesperson you’re talking to about a potential show is trying really hard to sell you the exhibition and is reaching for your wallet then you can be sure it’s a vanity gallery.
- Reviews
Google is your friend when it comes to checking out what other artists say about a gallery. A lot of vanity galleries can be difficult to find in real life because they either don’t exist physically or they are very obscure and hidden. If they exist physically it’s often in cheaply rented places and in spots that are far away from the public. They make it hard to find them because they don’t need to attract visitors, they make their money from the artists paying them. The best you can do before applying for any gallery is to speak to artists who have had a show with them previously. There are plenty of international art forums but also local ones where you can ask around, you can do your online research to find out what experience others have had working with them. Vanity galleries don’t have good reviews ever and often try to hide public opinion about them. Like most other scams they have bots perform fake reviews and the testimonials on their sites are fabricated. Take your time and do your research - remember they prey on ignorance and being well-informed is your best defense against them.
- Contract
They ask you to pay for all expenses and have you do most if not all of the work. Including insurance, marketing and shipping. They also take very steep commission rates, and they don’t rely on making sales to run their business, to them it’s more like a lottery and if an artist should make a sale against all odds then they want a large piece of that cake. As a rule of thumb, most galleries take a commission rate of between 20-40% on sales and ask that you take this into account when you price your work. Anything above 50% is too high and is quite uncommon - even if the gallery was legit and famous I would be very wary of such a steep commission rate; I’d call it greedy even. Different galleries have different policies on insurance, hanging and transportation of work and often you are expected to pay for all of it. However legit galleries will provide help and be of assistance when it comes to organising these things. Vanity galleries are never helpful and another foul practice of them is more hidden fees. One thing you might not have considered when signing up for a show is a storage fee - one that is not uncommon for vanity galleries. This means that if you can’t come collect your artwork on the second to the set minute then you will be charged an additional fee. These hidden fees will have to be displayed in a contract should you sign one but with vanity galleries it’s often a verbal agreement only and they will try to charge you extra whenever possible. No gallerist worth their salt would ever imagine charging you extra with all these hidden fees.
- Contact
If something seems too good to be true it probably is. Vanity galleries don’t put their money into advertising towards attracting visitors and potential art buyers and collectors; instead, they advertise towards artists. They pool their resources towards targeting and finding artists and therefore if you have any kind of online art presence you will eventually be approached by these maggots who will offer you an opportunity for a show. They will approach you with sugary praise and buttered-up compliments - anything to get their grubby little hands on your money. Not saying you won’t be approached by a legit gallery but if you receive offers out of the blue, especially when starting you can be sure it’s from vanity galleries.
With all of these in mind, you should be able to tell what’s a vanity gallery and what’s a legit gallery. The art world is treacherous and filled with vultures and necrophages who would feast on the dying body of culture, wherever there’s money to be made these worms will swarm. Stay safe out there and don’t let them fool you, know your worth and don’t be led astray by your insecurities hopes and dreams. Never work for exposure, get paid and do your work diligently and honestly. If you want to spend your money on exposure then pay for an ad campaign - don’t give in to these galleries, because they won’t do anything for you and it doesn’t reflect well on your work. Everything they do you can do yourself and better, don’t waste your time, energy and money on them. Stay away from vanity galleries.
