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Rejection Letter!
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This e-mail was in response to a query I made to Hana Coast Gallery, arguably, Maui's most prestigious art galley, for consideration of my artwork, which read, in part, "I turn to you with a dual purpose. Naturally, I'd like you to consider my work for your galleries. Perhaps more important, though, is I could sure use some counsel on positioning the work. I keep getting the message 'this' kind of art is a tough sell on Maui. If so, then where would be the best market?"
Aloha Russ:
I'm not certain how you ended up at the email contact for our "sister" galleries in California, but in any case it was just forwarded to me here at the Hana Coast Gallery.
As you suggested, I spent not merely "a few moments" but quite a bit of time clicking my way through your web site. It's damned good work, but not at all our cupp'a tea.
I've no doubt that you keep hearing that refrain from art dealers. It is the kind of art that is virtually impossible to "sell", except for venues that specialize in "spiritual-oriented art" (what ever THAT is).
Some of us deal in
"cultural" art, but most are trying to sell stuff that is primarily
"decorative" in nature. Your art doesn't fit in with either of those
areas very comfortably, much to your credit.
Your work is deeply primal and aboriginal and, as you so beautifully
stated, highly metaphorical. In other words, it does indeed require the
viewer to ascend to "different" levels, where what they are
seeing can coalesce with what is already stored away in their conscious
and unconscious memory.
What each viewer sees is
a VERY personal artistic
interpretation of the reality you are presenting . . . and therein lies
the rub.
Hand-in-glove with being a fine photographic artist you are also a
gifted writer. My feeling when I'd finished journeying through your web
pages was that your work will ultimately find its audience by means of
the Internet, rather than in commercial galleries.
I say that simply
because your work demands to be appreciated within the context of
language that can flesh-out the metaphors you are using. Oh sure, I
realize that the medium is the message. And the images will indeed
"speak" to the
viewer.
But you aren't creating
pretty little landscapes whose colors blend well with the drapes. You
have developed a brand new kind of art, one that is reflective of the
healing work that you've been called upon to do.
That's both a blessing and a curse. But then, too, you've already
discovered that. In the art world, anything that doesn't fit neatly
into an art
"ism" slot is considered to be outside the mainstream. Your work is
anything but mainstream, wouldn't you agree?
Unfortunately, with the rents and overheads in today's art marketplace,
galleries such as ours can't take that leap of faith that "outsider"
art requires in terms of both artist nurturing and sales
representation. What you are probably hearing from the art gallery
community is that your work doesn't fit comfortably within the
"standard" mix. As an artist who
is pioneering a new dimension in photography, that should be music to
your ears.
I'm not at all sure that what I've tried to say is helpful, but it is
honest and forthright. That's the most any of us can hope for, right?
So just keep on keeping on, and the best of good things for you and
yours.
Me ke aloha pumehana,
Patrick
Patrick
Robinson, managing director/curator
Hana
Coast Gallery