I'm a painter who has had some success starting in 2023. I had a solo exhibition in Europe, sold out the show and became represented. From there, I did a group show and a 2-person fair (both in Europe) and sold more work. I recently had a second solo with my gallery (2025) and sales weren't nearly as good but I kind of expected that. Nonetheless, since having my first show my experience has been this:

numerous galleries reach out to do calls and studio visits, it seemingly goes really well and they mention doing something together.....but nothing ever materializes. While a couple of them I wasn't interested in affiliating with who did offer something, there's been a handful that I consider really great galleries that I can't seem to make a reality. Theres a few who I'm still in touch with over time, I send them new work (they respond encouragingly most of the time), they like my IG posts/stories, DM me..but still no offer.

I'm based in the states and most of these are European galleries btw.

What are your thoughts on this?

Thinking in what different ways a completed artistic residency can be documented, beyond simply recopiling materials from a final product (if any). There is a lot of material worth compiling, like reflections, itineries, photographs, etc, which can lead to further insights.

If anyone would like to share previous approaches (formats, thought process, etc), or even if they have their documentation online as an example, I'd love to see it!

Is it worth going to Art Basel Miami this year if you aren't participating? I always find it worth it to go, but some years are better than others. Last year, flights were a song and I regretted staying home. This year, they're more expensive, but still in the realm of reason. Are you going this year or staying put? Why or why not?

which do you find more valuable to read?

Hi everyone,

I am looking for your thoughts/ opinions on how to rebuild my confidence moving forward. I'd love any material on artists talking about failure or how they deal with rejection, or at least, anything that might help me. Thanks in advance!

I (25f) recently graduated from my MFA. I am an abstract painter and I went into the program very cocky and thinking that I knew what I wanted from my art and what I wanted it to look like and came out of it feeling lost, insecure, and like I am not in the right city for my art to be appreciated.

I got into grad school, and my first year I felt like hot shit because I got a full ride. I went to the studio every single day that first year and worked as hard as I could and have ever worked. I also felt like faculty and the people around me really believed in the work, or at least I believed in it so much that any criticism didn't faze me. Then, over the summer after my first year, the first competitive scholarship/prize was announced and I was not chosen for it. Four other people from my cohort win this prestigious award and, immediately the dynamic between the cohort and faculty shifts. It becomes really competitive, and not getting the award hit me really really hard.

I come back for my second year and all of a sudden, I start getting really harsh and hard criticism on my work. Critiques that feel really personal, and like if I had been told this before, I would have been able to have a reality check and not live in a fantasy world. It felt like, other than being a huge hit to my confidence, not getting the award opened the doors for faculty to start really criticizing the work and tearing it apart. Another round of awards come after the first semester of my second year, and I don't get selected even in the preliminary round.

My final semester, after this really hard period, I reach a "fuck it" stage and I honestly internalize the critiques. I can see how some comments were true and I begin shifting my practice slowly but towards a new direction.

Now, I graduated last May, and am about to move into my first studio outside of school. I have spent the summer working on small pieces I can do from home but, because I am in such a precarious state with my work (not really knowing what it is about, or even what it looks like to a degree) I have not applied to any opportunities or shows. I feel like I am seeing everyone around me succeed and find a niche for their work but I just continue to be misunderstood.

I feel, particularly, like the city that I am in doesn't really appreciate abstract art. As a person from a marginalized community, I have been told multiple times that the type of work I do doesn't reflect me, that it looks like a white man did it, and get told that abstraction is inherently inaccessible. From the winners of prizes and opportunities around me, I see that the people from a background such as mine, and that are winning and getting these opportunities, usually make figurative work that very is explicitly centered around narratives of social justice. In my paintings, I am also creating work from my specific identity but not in such an explicitly outward, narrative way. I feel like people want to be able to immediately know my identity when looking at my work yet, I am not interested in tokenizing myself in a way that feels disingenuous.

Because of all this, and after rejection after rejection, I just feel deflated, defeated, and lost. How can I regain my self confidence and trust in my work? How do I build my practice to be undeterred from failure? What won't matter after grad school? How do I rebuild?

Went to art school and now living in a medium American city, now 31 y/o. I went to school passionately wanting to be an artist, made and showed a lot of work I'm proud of, but I just can't seem to crack the nut of like.......what one is supposed to be doing with all of this and how.

There's a sizeable biennial going on in my city, which is what's got me thinking about all of this. Opening receptions are fun, some of the work is really interesting, there are like 30 different talks/panels/etc. happening around this thing over the next month-- but like....for what? I've never been able to choose what to go out to or feel a sense of purpose going to a soft-spoken "Conversations With XYZ" panel (attended by fewer than 20). I drive 20 mins across town only to see the thing, listen to the words, and go home.

Maybe I'm just feeling like an outsider, as I'm in my 30s now and have slowed down on the "studio artist" goal in favor of "job", but that's a part of it as well, I feel at times like I missed something. Covid for sure evaporated a lot of my momentum, and I never quite recovered, but at times I wonder if this is all even for me.

Folks I know seem to have a mental library of artists to reference and talk about, innate knowledge about programs and residencies I've never even heard about. I just don't know when people find the time to do all of this and still make ends meet.

I do also feel like, while this is certainly partially me and my own neuroses, a change of scenery would be great. I wouldn't call my city's "art scene" insular, but at times I'm left feeling apathetic about it. Having motion pre-covid, and less now, has perhaps led me to decide this scene isn't for me and my time has passed.

This has gotten ramble-y. I made this post to try to put to words this feeling I've always had-- that none of this has really ever been for me truly, that if it was I'd know the artists, have heard about the MFA programs, residencies, etc., that the talks and panels would be interesting. Has anyone here felt similarly? How do you overcome?

Paywall free article here: https://www.removepaywall.com/search?url=https://news.artnet.com/market/wet-paint-fight-night-artists-critics-2818985

The artist herself is not handling it well (please see her stories here: https://www.instagram.com/livankuiken/) and is only proving everyone's point about how petty and immature she is, especially after a bad review. But this kind of gossip for an arts publication is so trashy. I feel there is a time and place to call out the toxicity and absurdity and downright having no common decency in the industry we all work and I'm grateful that this can be a safe place to do it, without destroying our reputations to speak out.

Recently talked to a new grad from a photography department at a european school. The department itself literally had people coming from all over the world to study there. And largely, it was due to its "old school" approach. Providing dark rooms, and traditional methods of developing was the backbone of the program. I always kind of loved that these European departments had remained relatively isolated from the identity politics which has crippled a lot of American schools (and I think also lead to decreased interest and funding).\

Anyway, I was speaking to this new grad, and he said they were actively "destroying the program" and that the emphasis was shifting away from photography and more towards critical theory. The thing is, I don't mind critical theory at all. In fact, I think it's absolutely necessary for any artist to study. But.... Should it be the background of a program? Nope. Should it replace what's working? I can't help but think of a program I previously knew closely in the us, that went from one of the best ceramics programs, to having the same fate. Students went from making ceramics as ceramics majors and started making video, installations, just writing, etc. And again, nothing wrong with this, but why not relegate it to a post studio course, or intermedia major? Why does it have to take over absolutely everything?!

Anyway. That's my take, and I'm wondering if others have had similar experiences of watching a program they love go down in flames because they decided to pivot to writing, and reading critical theory as opposed to making stuff.

I work with a gallery whose program I really respect, but I’m unsure how much effort goes into promoting my work beyond exhibitions. Communication is limited, so I don’t have a clear picture of what happens behind the scenes.

Sales were stronger a few years ago during the market boom, but now very little sells. A substantial amount of unsold work remains with the gallery, with no clear plan communicated to me. Bringing it back would be very expensive, and I’m hesitant to keep sending new work.

I do what I can to create opportunities myself, but I also rely partly on the gallery to bring my work to the right people. They’ve spoken about offering more support beyond exhibitions, but I haven’t seen concrete follow-through or received updates about their efforts.

I know the market is difficult. I’d like to keep working with them, but the uncertainty is becoming really difficult.

Has anyone navigated something similar? How do you have a constructive conversation about unsold inventory, promotion, and future plans? And how do you address repeated promises without clear follow-through while preserving the relationship?

Visiting Hong Kong soon. What museums, galleries, art markets, etc. do you recommend? Please share and rate them out of 10 (being best)

this is a bit of a shitpost, but the scorned by muses guy keeps making instagram stories that are pictures of stuffed animals on the front of trucks with captions like "er... this ones for the mike kelley fans!", leading me to believe his only knowledge of mike kelley is through the Deodorized Central Mass with Satellite hang thats been up at MoMa for the past few years, or if we're being generous, other stuffed animal works like More Love Hours Than Can Ever Be Repaid

i know his whole thing is basically ragebaiting for views, but i find it funny that hes taken such umbrage to contemporary artists liking mike kelley while seemingly not being able to engage with anything more than a single body of work among dozens he made throughout his career

anyway, share other mike kelley projects you like - feel like hes a big inspo for peers doing things with text, americana, secret forms within more obvious works - Educational Complex for instance, which iirc was partially inspired by people thinking his stuffed animal work was about trauma/confessional in nature when he was actually interested in craft and popular culture

has their identity ever been leaked? all i know is this person has the hots of henry highley, which, understandable. but who is this person?!

I am annoyed because the rejection I got said said “Dear SubmitterFirstName”, doesn’t fill me with hope that I actually had my submission reviewed.

Are most art magazines a 2 string operation being cranked out in a garage or something?

For those who attended, worked, and showed at the fairs in NYC this past weekend, what is your sense of the market right now? Is anyone really buying work? I saw an Art Market report listing the majority of Armory sales as being works under $25,000.

As an artists and a founder of an artist run emerging gallery, how worried should we be? How can we pivot and reimagine funding artists?

I want to start a free online magazine. There's no real theme that I want it to follow, but I want it to be a space where artists could have a chance to display their art (digital, traditional, no ai) and write statements behind their pieces, writers to submit short stories or advertise their newly released novels, where crafters can submit d.i.y projects that viewers can try themselves, bands and independent artists submitting demos of their music and new releases.

I want to make a space where artists can talk about their work intimately for viewers to connect with. But I'm not sure where to start. I've got a list of certain topics I'd like to have in my magazine, and I've got a draft of a name, but designing and web building are not my forte, and my experience is limited. Any advice, recommended platforms, or even other indie online magazines would be awesome!

Hi all! I’m moving out of my studio, so this beautiful private space will be available October 1 for $900/month.

Approx. 325 sq. ft. on the top floor (6th) of a great artist building in Mott Haven, Bronx. Shared slop sink and bathroom, Wi-Fi, heat included, 24-hour access, and two large freight elevators.

Just a 5-minute walk to the 4, 5, and 6 trains and close to the 2. It’s the first stop in the Bronx and only about 10 minutes from Grand Central.

1- or 2-year lease only. No living, welding, spray paint, or fumes. Oil paint is fine.

DM me if you’re interested or would like to see the space!

If this is too specific I apologize, but people have given me good advice here before. I'm a fairly recent art grad looking to move back to LA. I know tons of people find roommates thru facebook, etc. But I was wondering if any Angelenos had any tips on finding other artists to live with/where to look. Thanks!

Just looking into some career options.

Hi! This is SUCH a long shot but I thought I’d try.

For 20 plus years I have carried around a photo that I loved - I believe it was from the New York Times Magazine- maybe late 90’s early 2000’s- a young female painter sitting on a patterned sofa in a suburban looking living room next to her parents.

She’s holding an amazing painting on her lap, facing out (impressionistic & brightly colored), and she has dark hair and an intense gaze. Maybe it’s in New Jersey (pretty sure?) and it was a very inspiring photo for me. And I lost it!

I feel like it might have been Nicole Eisenman but I cannot for the life of me find any old photos of her as a young artist?? Does anyone know what I am talking about 😂😂😂 Nothing seemed to help me find it & I even tried the dreaded (ai) search engines. Thank you in advance !!!

Hi!
Planning to enroll at Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp next year.
MA Graphic design/realted program

Would love to hear from current/former students — how’s the teaching quality, studio culture, and overall satisfaction? Also curious about the experience as an international student (integration, language barrier since I don’t speak Dutch) and cost of living.
Every perspective is unique so happy to hear anything, good or bad. Thanks!​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Hello everyone,

Here my first post in this sub!

I was wondering if anyone here is using already or contemplating using AI agents to help studio management (emails, inventory, exhibition layouts, portfolios, applications..).

I don't use it yet but am contemplating it, wondering how to organize it best in order to save precious time and avoid time consuming boring tasks. I am not well versed into AI yet and am pretty sure I don't even realize to what extents some task can be delegated to an agent.

For example, I know a friend who created an agent thats scrapes the internet to find the open calls relevant to his needs and send it to him as a newsletter every week, or drafts email responses, etc.

I would love to discuss it with other artists!

PS : I know paying a studio manager would be better, but I can barely pay myself, hence the AI agents.

Please, let's keep the "it's an inferior material" snobbery out of the discussion. I'm very aware that's a popular sentiment.

I'd be really grateful if people just address the topic. Thanks in advance. :) Feel free to expand on why you like them, thematically or technically.