Tell us a little about 100th Gallery and
your role?
one hundredth gallery is dedicated to aspiring and emerging
artists. We also work with established artists
who are trying something new. I started the gallery at the end of last year and
currently manage and run it on my own (with some occasional expert assistance
from qualified friends and family).
Charles Harman
Image Courtesy from Business Chic
What are the five words that people who know you would use to describe you and 100th gallery?
For everyone new to art.
What was the purpose on starting 100th
gallery
and how has the concept come about?
The
purpose of starting one hundredth gallery was to provide a launch pad for new
artists to exhibit their work in a formal setting (rather than cafes and
restaurants). Equally, the gallery is for all people new to art; people who
like art but who may think that they do not know anything about it.
During
high school and university, I was an aspiring artist. I had two group shows and
one solo show that I organised myself. When I took my work to commercial galleries
for representation, I was always asked three questions.
- Where have you exhibited before?
- How much of your work sold during
those exhibitions?
- What was the average selling
price of your work?
It
became a bit ‘chicken & egg’. I couldn’t gain gallery representation
because I didn’t have gallery representation.
I
decided to put my art on the backburner until I had the means to do something
about it, and made a commitment that when I did open my own gallery, that I
would never ask those three questions. After 18 years in corporate, most
recently as Director of HR for an ASX200 company, I resigned late last year to
fulfil the commitment that I made to myself way back then.
What are the most common issues that relate to
artists who
come to see you in your Art Gallery?
There
are two main issues that I deal with everyday; however they are not issued in
the negative sense of the word. It’s quite the contrary actually.
- Objectives. The vast majority of artists that I speak with have not thought about ‘why’ they want to exhibit or about their ‘objectives’ for the exhibition. There is a still an unspoken rule in visual arts that you create, and then you exhibit. Few people have questioned ‘why?’. I don’t mind why artists want to exhibit their work (e.g. to sell, to build their CV, to tick a box etc.) but I do feel the need to keep us on the same page and therefore will always discuss objectives for the exhibition.
- Confidence. Artists will always ask themselves and others whether their work is good enough. If you have got yourself to a position of speaking with me, then it most cases it definitely will be! That is what the exhibition process is for. Exhibitions give the artist an opportunity to get direct feedback from the public. Exhibitions and galleries are a marketing tool.
Tell us more about your services that you
provide to the Art industry?
At our core, we are a rental gallery with a
business consultancy focus. We rent the gallery on a wall by wall basis so
artists do not need to take the whole space. We only charge for the walls that
the artist wants and don’t charge for business consultancy that comes with it.
We also do a huge amount of promotion on behalf of our artists and their art.
We have embraced new media and promote work through our blog, website,
facebook, twitter, and tumblr. We also do print promotions in Art Almanac,
Trouble, and occasionally in the Melbourne Weekly Magazine.
The real service we provide is in introducing
new artists to the public and vice versa. We are the launch pad for the next
big things.
Tell us about your process for
working with clients?
We aim keep our processes fairly informal. We
don’t have a formal submission process for artists and we have an open door
policy for the public. As we are for everyone new to art, we aim to take all
the ‘fear factors’ away to make the gallery experience an enjoyable one.
We also do a lot of work by email as it seems
to be an easier and more convenient choice for many artists. There are artists
that we have represented that we have never met!
Bretagne- By Artist Alana Aphoy
What advice can you offer to artists who are
looking for a gallery to represent their?
Be
careful. Your art is your commodity. It is your product and your brand. You
need to own it and a gallery should be there to help you with that. Many galleries
are commercial operations so be aware that they can charge anywhere between 40%
and 70% commission (we charge 11%).
This
is the main reason that we have gone for a rental model. We expect artists to
share in the risk and reward for exhibiting their work; ensuring that they get
a greater reward than the conventional model.
Do you have a book that you would
like to recommend?
Nope. All books are helpful, otherwise they
would never have been published. The thing that I would like all artists to
keep in mind is ‘know why you are creating, and know why you are exhibiting.’
When you know why, you can then develop a plan to achieve those objectives.
By Artist-Christopher Smith
Where do we find your services?
(list office, links websites & contact personnel)
We’re located at 49
Porter Street, Prahran, VIC 3181 and are open 11am-7pm Wednesday to Friday and
12pm-5pm Saturday and Sunday.
We are always
contactable on email charles@100thgallery.com
and phone 0413 00 1234.
Our web address is
- http://100thgallery.com
and you can find us on
- http://facebook.com/100thgallery
- http://twitter.com/100thgallery
and
- http://100thgallery.tumblr.com
Whilst we’re based
in Melbourne, we represent artists across Australia and the world.
