I have a strong passion to bring to light plagues of society that need to be addressed such as sex trafficking, domestic violence, urban poverty etc., Problem is they are all downers/pessimistic subjects. My questions, should I take this approach with my first body of work entering the art world or come into the market with uplifting subjects like beautiful figure paintings?
Thanks in advance,
Santiago Perez
You need to be a member of Art Fair Insiders to add comments!
Replies
Good Luck Santiago. Let us know how your first show goes.
Jacki B
Welcome to AFI, Santiago. We're glad to have you here.
Have you been visiting art fairs near you? Just about anything goes, but the more you have seen the more you can get an idea of where you want to put yourself. In this arena, unlike galleries, you can reinvent yourself and your body of work at any time. I'm with Ruth -- your work sounds pretty serious, and I'd think you'd need to stick to the most sophisticated areas to find collectors for it. Really all kinds of people come to the shows, part of their charm and you never know who is n your booth, but there is lots of "eye candy" -- of course, the easiest to sell, which I'm sure is no surprise to you. Visit ArtFairCalendar.com and see what shows are near you and visit them. You can learn a lot without spending any money.
Pretty always sells better than dispiriting... best wishes
Santiago, welcome to AFI. My advice would be to carefully consider your markets. There is a photographer we have seen at a few shows with photographs that highlight some of the plagues in society you mention. I was talking to him at one show and he only does shows in large city locations, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, etc. He's found a market there, but said any of the smaller towns or the surburban settings are just not his market. He also said he does better on the West Coast than he does in mid-America. Not sure if you would see the same trend / results, but is something to consider.
Thanks Ruth! I am glad to be here. I am planning on attending shows with expected crowds of 10,000+ only. Not that I would mind going to middle america but have just been advised that the smaller shows have a particular market. I am on the east coast so I plan to travel the eastern seaboard pretty much and maybe venture into Luisiana, Alabama and the pan handle in Fl. I already have trailer, pro panels, working on putting together a blog, reading Alyson Stanfield's book "I'd rather be in the studio" just need to get the actual art work part done, I thing it's kind of important lol. I know that the subject matter probably won't appeal to individuals for their home use but I'm guessing someone that goes to an art fair and has a company that's a charity ? Maybe I can do something with the non-profits? I don't know.
Thanks for the advice.
Santiago
Hello Santiago and welcome to AFI. I can only speak for myself but I think you need to think about the market out there. Would there be enough art patrons out there who want to purchase that kind of genre? Nobody wants to be told what kind of art to do. Art comes from passion. Could you stand to paint the uplifting beautiful subjects if it means that you would sell more of your work? Would you feel ok if you took your preferred type of work to a show and only sold a few pieces? Ask yourself those questions before you make a decision. I think a person would have to have a specific place to hang those types of paintings. Most people at shows are buying art work for their homes or business. Could your work be hung there? I am not trying to be pessimistic here. I hope this wasn't a downer for you.
Jacki B