I’m so happy to announce that I am now represented by Chase Young Gallery.
Chase Young Gallery is one of the best comercial galleries in Boston and has always been my favorite. They are well established—having been around since 1990—and have a great location in Boston's SoWa Arts District.
I've been at Bromfield Gallery since 2020 and I have now left that gallery to join Chase Young. Bromfield is an artist run, cooperative gallery. I think it is also one of the best galleries in Boston and I'm very grateful for the opportunity I've had to be a part of such a great community of artists.
I've been going into Chase Young Gallery for what feels like a decade or more, having polite conversations with Kate and her team, showing my work when asked about it, and doing my best to remember to send follow up emails afterwards. I honestly mostly go in because I'm always interested in what they've got up on the walls. I always hoped it could also lead to representation, but I think if you're not also engaged with what the gallery is doing that sort of relationship isn't going to work out.
I was very happy when I went in with Tally after my last solo show at Bromfield and Kate mentioned that she had seen the show. Then she casually mentioned that they were looking for another artist. This. Never. Happens.
I don't know if you have ever been an artist in a commercial gallery but my usual experience is that if they find out you are an artist they will usually just stop talking to you. Sometimes they will politely take your card, but sometimes they won't. They will rarely ask any questions. It was always different at Chase Young Gallery for me. Kate and her staff have always been very nice and welcoming and even curious about me and my work. When the opportunity came to try and establish a formal relationship I had to jump on it. And also Tally was loosing his four year old little mind putting up with a bunch of adults talking about adult stuff and so we had to leave the gallery pretty quickly.
I followed up with emails. Emails led to phone calls. Phone calls led to a studio visit. I spend a day cleaning the studio and bought fancy donuts from the Korean donut shop next door to my studio building. The donuts were a hit and the studio visit led to an offer to represent me. All of this happened over the course of several months.
So what does it mean to be represented? The good side of it for me is that the gallery has an established client base of collectors and a high standing in the arts community. They will work to sell my paintings and for the most part all I have to do is make the paintings. I don’t have to go to monthly meetings or pay membership dues or gallery sit like I had to do at Bromfield (I actually like gallery sitting, but it is a task that consumes an entire day). When someone asks me if I have a gallery I get to say, “yes, I’m represented by Chase Young Gallery in Boston.” I think it will also be easier to get gallery representation in other regions now. Frankly, there is a level of prestige that comes with commercial representation.
The not so good side of it is that the gallery takes a 50% commission on sales. This is pretty standard and is part of why paintings sold in commercial galleries have to command a higher price point. The relationship is exclusive on the East Coast outside of NYC, meaning I can’t show my paintings in other venues in that area where the work will be for sale. I also can’t sell work directly out of my studio; I can have collectors come for studio visits, and they can leave with paintings, but the financial transactions have to go through the gallery and the gallery takes a commission on those sales as well.
It also means my prices are higher now. That’s good and bad. I’m entering a more rarified art market, and that’s exciting, but I hate to shut out potential collectors who can’t afford the higher prices. I need to think of ways to be able to keep some work at a lower price point. Maybe I’ll try to do a better job promoting my work on paper, which is pretty inexpensive if you don’t mind getting it framed yourself.
Anyway, I’m super excited about this, and I’ve got a few pieces up in a show over there right now! Check out their Seasonal Group Show featuring two new paintings from 2024; Don’t Try to do Anything to Stop It and Got Him on the Phone He’s OK; and a classic from 2019, Not Even the Little Things. The show is up through December 23, 2024, and the reception is Friday, December 6, 6-8pm
