Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Little Annoyances :(

After my last post I feel I must blog this off my chest.
It is fashionable to bag commercial galleries for the way they mistreat artists but little is said about the relationship between regional galleries and government funded museums with the artists they show.
Last year a collaborative project I am involved in was scheduled to be shown in association with a curated exhibition at a regional gallery in 2010. We were advised of the exhibition dates and asked to submit images for media releases and gallery publications. I entered the exhibition into my schedule for 2010 and took advantage of the release of discounted airfares to book my flights to attend the opening. I also made sure that no other commitments interfered with the exhibition.
After the Christmas break my collaborator called the gallery to check that their projection equipment would be compatible with our video only to be told that the curator was no longer with the gallery and as a result the exhibition that was on at the same time as our exhibition had been cancelled. This seemed reasonable given the circumstances. Then we were told that our exhibition dates had been changed and that they were intending forward us the new exhibition schedule.
I am aware of the disruption that must have been caused by the staff changes and that it takes a huge amount of organisation to run a large regional gallery but, I am a little annoyed that we were not consulted to see if the changes were convenient. All to often the artist is forgotten.
I'm really happy and appreciative of the opportunity to have my work shown in regional galleries and I'm not playing the prima donna here. I'd just like to say 'hey we are part of the show too'.

1 comment:

Candice Herne said...

Yes Susan you have every right to be a little annoyed I would be to. A little bit of customer service goes a long way. I hope it all works out for the best and you get the opportunity to enjoy this fabulous opportunity. Candyxx