The First Week: A Promising Start

We've now been open officially for one week.  There's been real variation in visitors each day.  But it's still definitely better than the temporary gallery spce we were using before.


Every day we've had serious collectors or art consultants come in and express interest in this artist or that.  Another thing I'm learning as a novice gallerist -- art consultants are people paid to help their clients choose which art to buy.  Cool, no?  Some of their clients just want "something pretty that will coordinate with the colors in the sofa and carpet".  Others want advice on "what will be the best investment" -- who's the most promising up-and-comer.


The daily grind is much more interesting and exciting than I expected.  In Silicon Valley, or even a mid-stage start-up, you're doing the daily grind in exchange for a paycheck.  Here, the daily grind results in payment due to art sales after expenses.  So there's an entirely different pressure coming to work in the morning than I've experienced in my previous career.


Much of it is new and exciting, but I still can't get away from spreadsheets and databases.  At least I think I'll never have  to write another PowerPoint deck in this life.  (Knock on wood...)  And of course it's  interesting talking to the people who come in about the art, the background of the artists, their motivations and techniques, etc.  


I'm still waiting to get some pictures of the opening party, but here are some pictures of the finished gallery.  My new home for the next 5 years!


Here are some images from our reception desk and one corner of the gallery.  Notice Cartier's red blind's across the street. Click on the photos for a better look.

And a photo of our office.  The big star sculpture on the wall is by David Buckingham.  He's an interesting artist.  He lives in LA and goes out to the desert to find colored scrap metal -- old signs, farm equipment, trucks, even buildings.  He has spotters and tipsters who let him know about new finds.  He pays the owner (if he can find the owner, that is) and uses a portable plasma torch to cut away the metal, brings the metal back to his studio to cut up and weld back together.  Nothing is painted -- he uses only the original painted metal in his work, bullet holes, rust, and all.


A lot of his art is text-oriented, but some is just fun.  Check it out with the link above!


Cheers!


Updated May 4, 2010.