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Planning an Exhibition
Planning an Exhibition
At this point, 25 years into it's life, a fully grown business who has lived and loved, the gallery knows what it's about, and knows what it's doing. Planning an exhibition is now fairly simple.
But right now we're going to talk about Theme.
I've come up with a fair few themes for exhibitions in a retail gallery environment. And many of them have been implemented, and have gone well. Every show goes well, so I think my point is a little blunted, but I'm still happy that my ideas have turned into shows that haven't bombed.
I think the key to this, and I apply this philosophy to most things in my life, is to keep it loose. Maybe even a bit vague. Like conversations with strangers, keep it flexible, keep it open ended, and most importantly, keep it loosey goosey.
The Abstract Exhibition. That's the entire idea. We have an exhibition of only abstract artwork. This is vague, but that gives us options. Abstract can mean many things. The above image, Helios 4, by Waller Hewett (only £6,575, I might add), is one example. Sally Burch, further down this page, is another. Cambridge's own Charlotte Cornish is yet another. Diane Griffin, Martha Winter, they're even more examples of other styles. They're also artists we've had success with.
The Story of Art Exhibition. At time of writing, enjoying it's second run, or as I'm trying to make everyone call it, Chapter II. Again, the brief is loose. Artwork that either carries a focus on narrative and storytelling (yes, that's ALL artwork), or is of a medium making use of books. We have a variety. Some traditional painting of interior scenes. Some paintings of books. Some sculptures made of books. Some sculptures that are simply displayed next to books. Vague, flexible, whatever you want to call it.
Wild At Heart. Now this one, I'm really quite proud of. It could be animals. It could be people. It could be the land, the sea, the sky, the landscape, forest, trees, outer space, the city. As long as you can hand-wave your way into describing the subject as Wild at Heart, you're clear. And still, the name conjurs an image of a well put together and consistent theming.
Bright and Beautiful. Another banger. Is it Bright? It's in the show. Is it Beautiful? It's in the show. Is it not Bright, but could be argued to be Beautiful? It's in the show. Is it not strictly Beautiful in a conventional sense, but undeniably Bright? Guess what. It's in the show.
I guess it's like lego. Taking artists that fit together, and building an exhibition out of them. All the pieces will fit together well enough, but if you put them together in a way that is on-theme, people will be more receptive.
Keep an eye out if we ever have shows with these titles:
Looking Forward
Looking Back
Looking Up
Piece of Mind
Peace of Mind
A Sense of Self
A Sense of Place
Green and Pleasant
Here and Now
Now and Then
The Good, The Bad, and the Byard (This'll never fly but it'll go down well at the xmas party)
Through the Looking Glass (Copyright safe? Art that shows 'Another World' Again, vague)
Happily Ever After
Heart and Soul (General love theme, maybe around Feb - maybe a mini show?)
Actually let's explore the idea of a mini show. A Byard Mid-season special. dedicate half the gallery to a mini theme? Might be too much work for us.
AI and how I feel about it
AI and how I feel about it
Well I aint exactly thrilled about it. I run into examples of Google's Gemini being just wrong most of the rare occasions I've used it. I don't find myself using all the AI stuff built into my phone. I think that my career is pretty strongly linked to humanity and its efforts, or like - ok so if an artist is pouring their heart and soul into their work for years then one day they just get AI to write an accompanying few paragraphs, what's the good in that? I suppose this is about a particular example of someone I very much admire for their artistry and multidisciplinary work that's so closely linked to their human experience, then they just get a robot to write it for them? Come on, you're so articulate and I've been a big fan for years. I think I just feel a little deflated by it. Maybe even disappointed.
Then I'm like - remember when all phones had calculators, and everyone had a phone in school? I basically never have to do maths any more, and I knew I wouldn't have to back when I was being made to. Imagine how it must have been when computers first came into the mainstream.
Imagine it's the 30's. You're in school. You write things down on slate, using chalk. Then you wipe it clean, and you've had to learn things without always referring back to your own notes. Then paper becomes the main thing in school. There's people who are like 'back in MY DAY we had to REMEMBER things, now you can just read all your notes on this fancy new paper!'. I try to remind myself that AI is a tool, like paper, computers, calculators and torches and compasses and maps on phones. When TomTom became a thing it took ages for people to trust it. Oh no, I'll stick to good old paper, thanks. London cab drivers just knowing the city inside and out. Sure feels like progress to be able to punch it into maps and away you go.
I may well come around to the whole thing, but for now I don't love the idea of it being used anywhere near my part of the art world.
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