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03/25/2005: "This seat is now vacant"
Between this blog and the last I arrived for my shift at the gallery I’m supposedly directing to discover that the exhibition had been partially taken down ahead of time and replaced by the usual assortment of chocolate-box-cover type works the enclavian artists habitually grace us with [I must say in all fairness that big sales were not forthcoming, BUT visits had risen substantially and I felt it was only a matter of time… but go say that to the potato vendor (I mean no offence to the hard working people of vegetable markets!)].
I’m not a gallerist. I’m an artist running a gallery. Perhaps that is the problem. I don’t focus as much as I should on the $ side of things and loose myself somewhere between aesthetic contemplation and philosophical daydreaming. It has happened twice so far [running a gallery, and the problem]. Once out of necessity, still back in Portugal where we lived before my wife left the three jobs she was working at and took on the new one that has upgraded our lives; and now, five years later, out of passion [foolishness?] and for free [sheer idiocy!].
Both times my initial vision and enthusiasm were exhausted by the insistence from above that I take a more prosaic approach to running the ‘business’. That I start taking a more mercantile look at the $ side of things in the short term; show the unshowable and sell the unsellable. And yet, both times, visits to these galleries had never been so high.
Where once hung Herwig Bayerl’s work [see image] now hangs an assortment of chocolate-box-covers
1st: I live – so it seems – under the false impression that a respectable art gallery cannot reach its cruising speed and a reasonable degree of credibility in the short span of months. 2nd: I have this view that it takes years of consistently good programming and networking to gain the attention and the trust of a serious and discerning public and attract artists that can start making a difference. 3rd: I somehow hold this belief – gullible perhaps – that an art gallery is not a souvenir shop but a project and that as such it requires vision, resoluteness and staying on track. It requires big bucks too – I’m not that daft – but if you’re counting on a fast return on your investment I would definitely recommend the souvenir shop in the mall. What makes things harder to understand this time round is that there is no necessity for those above me to show meaningful figures to those above them.
Because of these beliefs and others [that an art gallery should also be a space that contributes toward a certain type of education, for instance], I am always, inevitably, on a collision course with those from above. I upset them because I voice these views and it is only a matter of time before we reach the final crunch.
I have let those above me know of my intention to stop providing artistic direction as of the end of April. Perhaps I should have been more daring and declared my indignation and unwillingness to continue on such terms but I preferred the polite and non-contentious way because I wish to protect the second project I have lined-up [the one I wanted to tell you about today but have postponed for the next blog]. Call me a hypocrite but I see things differently: there are a lot of artists who have signed up for this one and I wouldn’t dream of making too many unnecessary waves by slamming the door this far on our trip together. Sometimes it makes all the sense in the world to swallow your pride.
I guess that about wraps it up for today. Now that it’s settled and out of the way I can concentrate on painting for the remaining four months I have left on this island. Will I fall into the trap of running a gallery ever again? Of course I will!
