How much would you pay to browse in a shop?
Yes. Just browse.
I’m not sure what my maximum figure would be, but last week I shelled out £7.13 (£5.94 + VAT) to visit Mr. Bingo’s new shop & studio. It was advertised as a limited access event, with the entry fee deducted off any purchases made. Alas, I didn’t buy anything and it turns out the shop is now going to be open to the public every Friday, for free! So my ticket was essentially a donation to the arts, but it was nice to briefly chat to the man himself. (Note: His intern calls him ‘Bingo’ but it’s ‘Mr. Bingo’ for the punters.)
The experience got me thinking about how creatives can effectively monetise, because I wouldn’t have gone to Mr. Bingo’s shop had I not been scheduled to be in the area or known it was eventually going to be open for free. That led to me doing a tally of all of the newsletters, podcasts and other artistic entities I’ve enjoyed this year, and to which I’ve made financial donations or paid for a subscription. Embarrassingly, the count is zero.
It’s not that I’m not willing to pay for content. I’ve been a member of Barbican, Tate and the RA for years. I have subscriptions to two major national newspapers and three streaming services. And I gladly renew those subscriptions annually because membership provides access to a large amount of extra — and crucially, excellent — content that isn’t offered for free and/or uninterrupted by adverts. That’s an offering that small independent entities will struggle to match, but that doesn’t mean I can’t support them.
My problem is the analysis paralysis I get when trying to decide which few, of the many I enjoy, should be given more than just a like. I’m hopeful that one day some clever techbro will launch some kind of artistic revenue share for the visual and written arts. I’d gladly pay a top tier monthly fee if I knew it would get fairly dispersed to everything I’ve engaged with.
Until then, I’ll continue to keep my website and newsletter free, and ad-free, as a way to pay it back. Thankfully, galleries are also still free (and long may that last!) so when you visit be sure to tell the gallerist if, and why, you liked the show.
Issue 123
Sculpture, survival and a spooky surprise. Featuring: Eva Rothschild at Modern Art; Annabelle Agbo Godeau at Alice Amati; Dante Elsner at Alice Black. Plus two honourable mention artworks.
Read the full issue online for mini-reviews of each show, with two dozen photos!
More Reviews:
Here’s a longer review for you to enjoy, of a show I really enjoyed!
Embodied Forms: Painting Now @ Thaddaeus Ropac
I am reminded how engaging abstract figurative can be.
What else, and what didn’t make the cut?
Quantity ≠ Quality. I went to 20 shows last week but only 3 made the Roundup. Why?
The shows at Brick Lane Gallery, Fitzrovia Gallery, Horse Hospital and Morley Gallery have now ended. These venues typically have short-run exhibitions and they’re often hit or miss. In this case, all four had group shows that I’m glad I attended since each introduced some new artists for me to consider, but overall they provided a similar experience as Brooke Benington, Cedric Bardawil and Haricot Gallery. They all fall into my “if you’re in the area” category. They’ve got some interesting artworks but aren’t “can’t miss” exhibits.
Unlike the following shows, which in hindsight I probably could have skipped:
Albion Jeune is showing work from an artist that makes machines to make art. In this instance I thought the machinery was more interesting than its output, and the machinery can only be seen on the artist’s Instagram.
The show at David Zwirner has been getting rave reviews but I can’t see what all the fuss is about. The compositions just weren’t that interesting, and I thought the hazy figures were poorly painted. The paintings at Somers Gallery also featured bad figuration and weird composition, although some random blotchy textures managed to briefly capture my interest.
Unlike my visit to Corvi-Mora/Greengrassi which was just frustrating. The work upstairs looked like decorative ironing board covers and the most curious work downstairs was laying on the floor, except I wasn’t about to crawl on my tummy for a closer look. Then despite two gallery team members eagerly advising me to go to Neither, their satellite gallery around the corner, it was closed when I arrived. A glance through the window revealed mostly football themed paintings. Yawn. Own goal.
I enjoyed my chat with Ed at Ed Cross Fine Art a lot more than I did the work, and a visit to Jealous Gallery made me question whether it’s actually a gallery or just a glorified poster store.
Art appreciation is highly subjective and despite not finding any of these shows were to my taste, I have previously enjoyed and raved about shows at most of these venues. I wouldn’t be surprised to see these galleries eventually re-emerge into the Roundup.
Anonymous Art Anecdotes
“They are hugely intuitive.”
That was the most laughable line of BS that I recently overheard at one of the mega galleries. I say ‘overheard’ but really I was eavesdropping as I slowly, and as inconspicuously as possible, followed two ladies who lunch around the show.
After one of them finished an obnoxiously loud phone call that she took as soon as they entered the gallery, they approached the front desk and mistakenly thought they could get the price list from the gallerina. As if! They were made to wait for a sales director that immediately sussed them out as monied time-wasters, so their brief curated tour included little more than pithy snippets of information quoted verbatim from the press release, as well as the exact dimensions of the works… in centimetres! People think you care when you’re being specific.
It was a brilliantly lazy, passive-aggressive sales pitch and I loved every second of it, but only because it wasn’t being directed at me.
Looking ahead…
A few things I’m excited to visit this week:
Lydia Pettit & Olivia Sterling: Bitches In Heat @ Guts Gallery — 13 Sept - 13 Oct
Maya Golyshkina @ Seventeen — 13 Sept - 26 Oct
Mixtape @ Pi Artworks — 14-28 Sept
Sam Burford @ Fiumano Clase — 14 Sept - 12 Oct
For more options, please see the list in Newsletter Issue 121 - September Preview.
The Gallery Entry Game
I know many of my readers pay very close attention to the details in the art they see. But how many of you are ‘actively looking’ before you walk in the gallery?
Here’s this week’s challenge. Good luck! The answer will be in next week’s newsletter.
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Last week’s gallery was… Soho Revue! Congratulations if you were one of the 71% who knew the correct answer, or maybe you just made a lucky guess? 🤫 Here’s what it looks like. Can you spot all 5 of my photo edits?
What else would you like to see / read / know?
Thanks for making it all the way to the end of my Newsletter. Did you like what you read? Was there something else you expected? Leave an comment and let me know!
Fantastic newsletter- as always - from a Canadian fan 🇨🇦