tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5636973144013531508.post5822248529714098504..comments2023-06-09T04:26:46.508-04:00Comments on Pen and Think: Parallax Art Fair, New York CityLynnette Shelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11977466341624173046noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5636973144013531508.post-66074574711450834772013-07-31T11:02:16.155-04:002013-07-31T11:02:16.155-04:00Love the "anonymous" comments. I was sen...Love the "anonymous" comments. I was sent an email from Dr. Barlow and will not be taking part. This is unacceptable and all of you should get your money back for the lights.These type of organizations know that artists don't have the money to pursue a screw up like this. And to "anonymous" who paid over $15,000. dollars US to do a show and had these problems or worse, that's your problem. Quite frankly you want a gallery to do the big Art Fairs and rep you. You don't want to put out the money to do it yourself because 9 times out of 10 you are screwed.sandra floodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12309366740236791609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5636973144013531508.post-17216390678187989692013-06-14T11:28:05.532-04:002013-06-14T11:28:05.532-04:00Can I just jump in with a few comments about shows...Can I just jump in with a few comments about shows/fairs/gallery’s etc. with all these comments flying about nobody seems to have any experience to back up what they are saying.<br /><br />Ok so some of you have paid £100-1000 for a space at a show.<br />I have paid in excess of £10,000 in the past for a show. <br /><br />You had bad lighting at a show of which you paid £25 a light. <br />I have paid £150 each for ten lights in the past, just to turn up and the organizers not to have enough for the show. And the lighting crews to be on lunch break for what seems to be the entire day. (Got to love unions) <br /><br />You turned up and some of your booth was not finished painting.<br />I have turned up and the booth had still yet to be built. <br /><br />You all seem pretty fast to trash the fair but how much work did you really put in to make it work. If each exhibitor can get just 5 clients and there cheque book to turn up x60 exhibitors that’s a potential of 300 sales lets say only 50% purchase a piece AT the show. That means each artist still makes 2-3 sales. At a three-day show with it costing a MAX of £1000 to partake. That’s pretty damn good going. If your work is £2500 you see where Im going with this. <br /><br />Ok so there was not much publication about the show... well if you pay him £5000 he might just be able to get 1/16 page ad in say the FT or Guardian. Advertising doesn’t come free.<br /><br />Lets take the gallery option. In one week you may be lucky to get 70 people come through the doors to see your gallery show. At an art fair (almost any art fair) you will get this every hour from the moment the doors open to the moment the doors close. <br /><br />Anyways rant over. £1000 is peanuts for a show space if you want to play in the big league art world your still going to have all the same issues but trust me £1000 booth fee wont get you through the front door.<br /> Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5636973144013531508.post-64296230643859288092013-04-18T22:40:03.916-04:002013-04-18T22:40:03.916-04:00Hi, to the poster above whose wife shipped to the ...Hi, to the poster above whose wife shipped to the show last year. Am I correct in assuming you did not actually attend the show in person then? While I am glad your work was returned to you safely, if you had seen what I had seen by going to the show in person, you would have realized how worthless and a waste of money it was to to ship your work.<br /><br />First of all, the artists that were AT the show, were able to salvage the bad lighting on their booths by running out and buying lights during the show. People who were not at the fair had their booths sit in the dark all weekend. Secondly, while the fair advertises that fair staff will be on hand to assist with sales, this is not really the case. There was nobody manning the floor to assist with any sales inquiries. There were a couple of interns near the front entrance who I believe had a CC processing machine but unless you happened to notice them, you'd have to leave the main exhibit area and find them to buy anything. In other words, unless you were physically in your booth to assist with helping the customer get sales info, then your work was not sold. So if you were not at the show, you had no chance at selling anything. The interns who were at the show did not know anything whenever I had a question for them. I once asked one of them for a red dot to denote a pre-sold piece I had at the show and they didn't even know what a red dot was. Which shows how much sales experience they had (i.e. none as a red dot is pretty much the universal signifier at an art show when something has sold and the fact that these interns did not know what it was shows their lack of experience at any previous art event). The exhibition manager was seen on the floor at times throughout the show, but no customer would have known who she was to ask her for help. She's also the same person who said she couldn't help when I asked her what was to be done about lighting. She also told me to email about refunds when I got home from the fair. When I asked her would the money be refunded, she would not answer me definitively.<br /><br />THIRDLY, it's a moot point on whether it was easy or difficult to buy an artwork from a customer point of view, because hardly anybody showed up to the fair beyond friends and relatives as the show was not marketed or publicized very well. I asked Chris Barlow about this and he blamed the hurricane from two weeks previously as having affected the PR company they were using. Firstly, if you are only STARTING to market an international art fair two weeks before the actual date, then you have already doomed your event's promotion. Most major magazines and newspapers would have assigned any coverage of such an event well before this time, so even if the hurricane affected the PR company, they SHOULD HAVE put out most of their major promotion before this point. So I just don't believe this to be completely accurate.<br /><br />Anyway, whatever you decide to do, good luck. I just don't have any faith in this particular fair.<br /><br />Lynnette Shelleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11977466341624173046noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5636973144013531508.post-19640546542636734382013-04-18T22:09:29.772-04:002013-04-18T22:09:29.772-04:00Here are some other artist opinions of Parallax Ar...Here are some other artist opinions of Parallax Art Fair:<br /><br />http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Feedback-on-Parallax-Art-Fair-756247.S.198457372<br /><br />And the general concensus fits what Ms. Shelley has said above.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5636973144013531508.post-26665003413038647512013-04-18T16:24:32.237-04:002013-04-18T16:24:32.237-04:00My wife had a piece last year at the show which sh...My wife had a piece last year at the show which she shipped. She had a pleasant experience, even though the piece could not be sold (due to the lack of a NYGRT app), but her piece did arrive back safely and intact. Based on her positive experience, I am submitting a piece to the show. Very sorry to hear about your experience, it take alot to prep/ship for a show, and that can be quite a let down if itis run poorly. I hope they have corrected the situation. I have dealt with "Chris", and he seems to be on top of things. We'll see. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5636973144013531508.post-12377008111207882272013-04-05T09:01:23.764-04:002013-04-05T09:01:23.764-04:00Hi Anonymous. Thanks for your comment. I agree wit...Hi Anonymous. Thanks for your comment. I agree with your assessment mostly. I have always been against vanity galleries and doing that type of thing though I don't know if this is exactly the same as you always have to pay to exhibit in an art fair to rent the space. it's not a gallery situation where they only get paid if they sell your work. THAT being said, the art fairs are still supposed to do marketing and promoting of the event so that people show up to the event, and the event should not be a disorganized mess, which, unfortunately was not the case here. To be fair, I believe the lighting situation we had here, was not a problem at other venues that the fair has been in. They really needed someone with more experience actually at the show running things and taking care of issues as they arose but there but that was just not the case.<br /><br />Well, I guess you live and learn. I have just chalked up this event to experience and hopefully others will read my post and not make the same mistake.Lynnette Shelleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11977466341624173046noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5636973144013531508.post-11140387741695602892013-04-05T00:47:38.477-04:002013-04-05T00:47:38.477-04:00What you've described is unacceptable and unpr...What you've described is unacceptable and unprofessional. It has all the hallmarks of a vanity gallery situation, regardless of the organizers calling it an 'art fair.' Google 'vanity galleries' so that you and your friend are informed about the warning signs. Stay away from vanity gallery arrangements, period. The are predatory situations and can even be damaging to your reputation because those who are legitimate gallerists and dealers know the difference if they read that you've participated in this kind of thing on your resume or bio. Art marketing and exhibiting is a numbers game, and if nothing has been invested in marketing it is a waste of your time and money. There are other more productive ways to exhibit and market your work, and it sounds like you are already doing nicely without this kind of hassle. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com