What specifically would you like to know?

Hello Martin,

Excellent idea, and I think you should give it a try. Of course, the obvious
Catch-22 question that comes up when you inquire at a gallery is: "Where have
you previously shown your work?" There are definitely ways around that part,
like entering juried exhibitions, or joining an established group that already
has established exhibit locations. The easy places are restaurants, cafés, or
even some night clubs, which are other areas to show your work.

I think the important aspect to consider about showing your work is what you
want to accomplish by doing that. My own reason for getting back into showing
my work last year was a decision to build my exhibit history. That exhibit
history can be a helpful factor when trying to get into an MFA program
(Master's Degree). Outside of the exhibit history, I hope to get my name out
more; and that has worked, since I had three jobs last year that came about
because someone saw my work in a gallery. The last aspect of why to exhibit,
is getting direct sales. Unfortunately, the reality for most exhibiting is
that they may spend more than what the get in direct sales. Skip Middleton and
his wife have been relatively successful at print sales, and they are a better
resource for that direction than I.

Just by coincidence, I finally managed to post my 2003 and 2004 exhibit images
onto a fine art area of my web site. You might be surprised by some of the
images, including one that appeared on the Shoot In. The images are less
important a consideration in some juried shows than researching the judge.
While the images should be very high quality, and nicely framed, the subject
matter or scene could be nearly anything imaginable.

<http://www.allgstudio.com/fine_art.html> Fine Art Area, click on the
"Exhibitions" image.

If you go for the juried show route, find out who is doing the judging. Read
about what work the judge has displayed, exhibits they may have organized, or
even what college they may have attended. Try to find examples of their work,
or from past exhibit they have juried. When you learn more about each judge,
you will be better equipped to select images that might fit the show. Judges
often choose images based upon an overall look to the exhibit, with the idea
of either complimentary, or contrasting images. With that in mind, you could
team up with another individual to submit similar images into the same
exhibit. Keep in mind that a judge often has very limited time to select
images, so often more subtle images might be passed over. I am not suggesting
simplistic image selection, but definitely keep that in mind for some juried
shows.

I have shown my work since 1996, about the middle of my art degree. I have
shown painting, pastels, charcoals, mixed media, and photography. Some of my
earlier exhibiting was in group shows without judging, in restaurants, night
clubs, and a few cafés. After a couple years I stopped due to lack of sales,
and disillusionment. Only after some more prodding from several friends,
including Skip and Heather Middleton, did I start showing my work in juried
shows in 2003, after almost four years of showing nothing. Since early 2003, I
have made it into every juried show I have entered, though I think that is
more down to my research of each juror, and maybe some careful editing
choices.

I encourage you to give it a go. If you don't make it into the first, or first
few, shows that you enter, keep trying. You likely would not get selected
because your images did not fit into an overall theme, rather than them not
being of enough quality. I have looked at your images, and some are definitely
worthy of being exhibited in a gallery. So get to work!

Ciao!

Gordon Moat
A G Studio
<http://www.allgstudio.com> Updated!