Why Does It Seem Like All Art Galleries Carry The Same Types Of Art?

it depends on the gallery. galleries are in the business to make money and they have to have work they think will sell. and often its having the same thing. but there are lots of them. the far out stuff, won't be there. fantasy, dark etc won't be in the mainstream stuff (i have some though under the fantasy section).

as for a real place, unknown. i guess it would depend on the town. like a goth town would have dark art, but people with money usually don't go for those things, or they get them through connections.

often its easier to just come to a place like this and shop here. you won't get the snobs looking over your shoulder, or salespeople bugging you. and you can search stuff out easier. might even be cheaper too.


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

Comes down to - They are a business. They carry what their customers want. What sold in the past is what they continue to sell.

But there are thousands of galleries. Some specialize in more obscure themes.

.

the advantage to being online on a POD - there is no overhead. in a gallery you have wall space, wasted space, and foot traffic. you don't have what they want, they won't shop there. if they have that one weird image, they may not go back depending on the town. the niche stuff you find at art shows,or specialty shows.


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

I'd suggest trying and finding someone who deals with Frank Frazetta originals. While pulply it does fit the description of what you're looking for. In fact pulp originals or pulp inspired originals may be what you're looking for. It's certainly out there.

Google- ( art gallery specializing in Monet) or whatever you are looking for.

Also, yes, they are a business with the primary goal of making money; but I don't see this type of "sameness" in other areas of the art world. For example, if you look at fashion, there's all types of fashion businesses catering to different people...there's even a company called "Angelic Pretty" in LA that caters to Japanese "lolita fashion", which isn't common at all here, but they still manage to make money. I guess I went into starting an art collection expecting the same variation in art galleries that you see in fashion companies. I was mistaken.

You're interested in a niche. Galleries are interested in trends and names that are broader and more widely appealing. It's just a fact. It's hard to keep the doors open unless you appeal to a majority of buyers, although I would imagine there are specialty galleries for some of the great comic book illustrators and artists of the 60s - 80s.

You'd be better served, I think, to look for a particular artist you like. Search POD sites like this one using keywords that interest you, and then you may find an artist that you can either buy prints or originals from. In my genre (3d rendering), most of the high quality fantasy/goth work I see is done for movies or video games and not for fine art.

You also might find a way to check out the artists at conventions like DragonCon or ComicCon. Some great stuff there, some really talented young artists.

Good luck to you! It's out there, but it's not mainstream, so I think you'll have to go searching for it.

This month's Art in America lists thousands of galleries. Hi-Fructose magazine has a lot of ads from out of the main stream galleries. Or you simply go direct to the artist in a place like this.

Hi-Fructose is one of the few art magazines that I do like, perhaps I should give it more than a casual skim; and I have searched for galleries mainly on Artsy and Artnet (and of course Google).

Sounds like a shopping trip to LA is in order.

to google or not to google that seems to be the question

Years ago, I knew a couple they open an art gallery specialize in Erotic Art in Toronto, they put all their money into it but with so few interests it closed less then a year.One really needed to have a deep pocket and well connected with wealthy clients to run a commercial gallery.

i'm flipping through Hi-Fructose - I can see what you mean. Not a single splatter paint abstract in the book. Mostly high concept realistic stuff.

Funny I was in a juried show this summer and the person selecting the artwork was a curator from a museum. All the best in show awards went to abstracts.

You know, you may want to look into fetish/erotica/dark fantasy discussion forums and boards. Maybe Reddit, for example. I would think that people who are part of that community might have some resources or ideas about artists or galleries that may have something you like.

Well, actually you are really incorrect in your premise, formed in the way of the question. "Why Does It Seem Like All Art Galleries Carry The Same Types Of Art?"

I can point you to at least 10 or 15 art galleries within 50 miles of me that with the rare exception of an occasional overlapping, none of them have the same types of art. In fact, not even close.

As Ed said, an art gallery will offer what the market wants to buy.

The question of finding it hard to find "erotic art" is one that is easy to explain and should be easy to understand, most people consider erotic art as pornography, or at least soft porn and they do not want to be looked at as if they are the local porn shop.

I know that is an opinion you do not want to hear, but that is the way it is.

I owned three art galleries in California for many of the 41 years I have been in the art business. I have sold good number of nudes and some of what other people would be considered in one of the categories above. But it was done discreetly.

The idea that you are going to find a lot of brick and mortar galleries offering up a lot of erotic art, is simply not realistic.

it really depends where you live and what is popular. if lolita is a thing in that area, they will have that. if cute things with eyes are in that area, that's what they will have and so on. deviant art has quite a bit of fantasy and dark art as well. though in an anime-ish kind of way.

what you want to find is probably online, probably a person that lives near you and was rejected from the gallery or they never tried. if that's the art you want, then that's the angle you have to go at.

---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

I will answer your question WITH a question:

Why does it seem like all grocery stores carry the same types of food?

Although the ones in Chinatown carry some different stuff.

Floyd, It is interesting that you owned three art galleries. Maybe, to a more trained eye like yours, there is a lot of variation in art galleries. I know that they can't be literally the same type of art (pop art, photorealistic art, dada, etc.), but it seems to an untrained eye like mine that these galleries all appeal to a very popular, *common* taste, as if they're all trying to sell to the same customer. If that makes sense. Unlike other industries, such as food and fashion, which aren't afraid to sell to a niche customer.

To me, there is a definite difference between art and pornography, but I understand what you're saying - most people aren't really mature enough to make the distinction in public.

Big risk factor - try some exotic food and if you don't like it no big deal, just avoid it in the future. Make a fashion mistake and it gets buried at the bottom of the dresser draw. Buy some art for the living room and you are going to be living with it for a long time.

So the gallery goes with what they know.

all stores focus on one type for the most part. while grocery stores do have different kinds of food and such, they are still catered to a certain taste. like as said, the chinese store will have chinese based stuff, and you won't really find that in the other one. same with fashion, you won't find granny panties at old navy. you create and sell what is sold in that area. you may simply live in the wrong area. you probably need to find a more mixed area.

erotic stuff - is porn for most people. people still have issues with statues that don't have the fig leaf attached. many are confused. and yes considering the "exposure" on the net, you would think people would get used to it. but its still a thing that bothers some, and if that store is marked as a porn store, they won't get customers.

if your town likes vanilla for the most part, then most of your ice cream will be vanilla, if not all of it. why get something that will sit for a long time, just so they can let it sit there?


now the question is - did you ask the gallery this question? maybe they will stock it up if enough people ask for it. or maybe they know people that you can go to instead?


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

Mike, part of the issue is definitely my current area (Charlotte, NC...) I have looked at all of the galleries in my area and they're all very..."vanilla". But then again, I've visited the websites of several galleries in New York (the area that I'll be moving to within a few months). Maybe the problem is that I've been looking at galleries that are so mainstream that they can afford so much advertising as to be found easily, while the galleries that aren't mainstream don't advertise as much - and are therefore harder to find if you're not local? Just a guess.

Good point about asking. A gallery might have certain things on the wall but more artists in a binder for those who ask.

I did ask, once, if the Elder Gallery (a gallery in the Charlotte area) had any fantasy art, but they didn't - perhaps asking may work at other galleries, though.

I wonder what these "discrete" sales are like - maybe that's where all the good stuff is!

I have zero connections though and am just starting out, so I doubt they'll be accessible to me, but I still wonder...

i'd ask them all. they might have some basement of the dark arts... or something. you can ask them if they know anyone that does have that kind of thing. i would imagine it would not be an upbeat gallery though. i can see more of a hookah den or something like that, that also dabbles in selling art. i'd find local forums and see if anyone is into the occult or that kind of art.

the area your in is for tourists.

NY you might have a better chance, mostly because of the diversity of the people living there.

find the odd ones online. that's the easiest place. someone will mention them in a forum some place.


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

Also you mention 'realistic'. Do you mean it needs to be a painting? As in original?

The more realistic the longer it takes, and therefore the higher the price. To the artist that goes into the commission-by-collector-only category, not an art gallery because who knows how long it's going to take to sell? There are bills to pay between sales.

If you want an original fantasy, dark gothic or erotic done in a realistic style, it's going to cost.

Wait, what is "commission-by-collector-only"? Do you have to already be one of their collectors?

I feel so new.

On another note, one unexpected website where I've recently found a few artists that I like is Etsy...which is supposed to be for crafts, but some artists are there, too.

If you're a gallery owner, you carry what sells. Bottom line, simple as that.

"Unlike other industries, such as food and fashion,"

Compared to food and fashion, the art business is minuscule.

Back when I was running at full speed, the industry statistic was 70% of the people never step into a fine art gallery at all or with any serious intentions or means of buying.

Compared to 100% of the people do eat and probably 100% do wear cloths. I have no idea what that percentage is now, but I would guess that it is not a lot different.

If you are going to survive, you simply have to sell what the largest segment of the market wants. Your chances of surviving by trying to find some specialized niche market is going to be directly related to the size of the niche. And as pointed out already, those that take that risk, oft time fail.

etsy is sort of like a fancy garage sale or street fair. hand made stuff and the like.

http://mikesavad.com/art/all/all/all/fantasy+-+magical if your looking for the odd stuff, check my things out. they are realistic, but i only sell them on POD.


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

The longer something takes, the less time the artist has to do other things. The collector pays a part of the final price up front so the artist doesn't go cold and hungry while they're working. You could ask anyone here if they'd do it, and for the right price they probably will.

There is perhaps a feeling among people that "Ah this work is so excellent and meets my criteria for perfection that this artist must be making millions of dollars every day!"

Er, nope.

The work that you like the most has probably been done for a purpose, like a magazine article/cover, and the artist was paid up front. Though I don't presume to know what exactly you do like, I follow a fantasy group on Facebook, which is not 'dark' as such, but well done regardless. Mostly digital though.

The way to know about art is to get into art. You pick up a pencil and start drawing, and see how long it takes and what goes into it. Remember the very best has taken years of practice and success, and that's factored into the price

Don't overlook New Orleans if you want that voodoo, witchcraft kind of dark art.

But I will not be held responsible if the the witch in any painting you may buy there, jumps out of the painting in the middle of the night and chokes you to death with a chicken claw or a dead snake.

Neime Baile

I sell that type of art - check out my work.

However when I was in a gallery I was the onloy one selling it- why? Because people that like that stuff tend to be young people with no money - it's simple as that.People like abstract because they own big lofts and they want something colourful that matches their decor.

Most people don't buy art for the effort that went into it - they buy it because it matches their decor or because of the energy they feel in it.

---Shawn Dall
ShawnDall.com

I don't know about American galleries but there is beinArt which has some amazing Surrealist and Dark Surrealist/Fantasy art -
http://beinart.org/

I"m also a fan of the Surrealism, Gothic and Fantasy genres.

Good to know people are turning to faa for more of their art needs!

just hope those that turn to here, buy from here. and don't just use it as a free resource.... seems to be the theme as of late.


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

You will probably find what you are looking for right here on FAA. We have some amazing artists that do produce the kind of art you are describing. A few right here in this thread.

Good luck.

Online is probably your best bet.
I wouldn't be looking for galleries per se, but for shows or featured artists... those will be more specific than hoping for an entire gallery of the niche you're interested in.

In the offline world I'd try Denver, Santa Fe and maybe San Fran. I know for sure I've seen all those topics in galleries in Denver when I used to roam around on Santa Fe during First Fridays.

Neime,

Just want to say hello. I offer something different.....in a very different way.....

http://david-bridburg.artistwebsites.com/art/all/all/all/the+bridburg+series+i+2014

Dave

Yea, each gallery is doing their own thing.

If everything you see in galleries is not what you want....... keep looking!

It should be noted that each and every artist is a gallery of their own work at all times that it is available to see on line or in public. Public and private galleries are the galleries are the owner's personal qualified and managed choice in the same way. Each private gallery must strive for excellence in art and artists as do the public galleries. If you look more carefully you will see erotic art in most public art galleries.

Though my full collection of artwork isn't erotic or dark art, I do dabble in those subjects from time to time.
If you are looking for “erotic” with a bit of humor playing with juxtaposition humor: Take a look at the last three photos in my Digital Photography collection. These have sold several times.

Or check out my Dark Art collection or Gravestones collection?
Who knows, something I have in my portfolio might be what you’re looking for?

You can check my art out if you'd like, i have some dark paintings for sale.

Neime if you like fantasy I think you will like Mystic Sparrow's work, have a look

http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/mystic-sparrow.html

may want to give it a peek:

https://www.sfsite.com/depts/artdept1.htm

FYI I have been in the gallery framing business for the last 45 + years. The percentage of the population expected to come into a frame shop today is less than 5%. I imagine art galleries are not too different.

a gallery might be different. people expect to buy art at a gallery. but it usually comes at a high price. until recently, i had no idea that framers sold art.


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

it depends on where the gallery is and what events are around it.

Here in hamilton we have a monthly art crawl every second friday along the james st gallery run - and in september we have supercrawl where the whole street is shut off and there are bands etc. as well. Those galleries tend to do well. Lots of windowshoppers too mind you, but still.. I always sold SOMETHING during supercrawl.. although this year I've retired from it just so I can enjoy it :)

Oh my gawd David, that low?? Glad that I got out when I did. lol

That 70% figure is the one we were told in a PPFA convention/trade show by who ever the keynote speaker was. That was years and years ago.

5%? Wow! Makes you wonder how some of these small market business even survive.

I had three stores in basically the same market.

One was 75/25 framing to gallery ratio. One was about half and half and the other was 75% gallery, 25% framing.

Try as I might I could never get the traffic flow (actual walk in body count) to the mostly gallery anywhere close to the one that was mostly framing. Billing was higher at the gallery because we sold mostly hither end prints and originals.

David R and Floyd,

Back in the 1980s I worked my way through school in a hardware store. The store was the oldest surviving store
in West Hartford center. Family owned. I was there 5.5 years.

At the center of the store were the picture hooks. The store had a front door and a back door. The thing that sold by
volume the most were picture hooks. So the family put them where the customers would have to travel through the store.

Recently the last family member who wanted to own that store, third generation, died of cancer. His widow sold the store
to another family owned hardware store group. I was in this other store last week. They are renovating the store in West Hartford,
I mentioned keeping the picture hooks where they are. I got a few smiles.

Dave

Are people hanging canvasses now without the frame?

Makes you wonder.

I was in a favorite restaurant this evening looking at art my friend the owner had bought.
She had on the walls art by an artist named "Jarman" of food in different reflective settings.
The canvasses were bought in a gallery, but FAA could have printed them for all I know.

Dave

Harry Jarman

http://www.harryjarman.com/

This artist is based in NYC...

http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/carolyn-weltman.html

is this the type of art you are seeking?

has Neime come back yet? these lines of questioning as of late, makes me think we are under a social experiment, or a part of a homework assignment.


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

I visited five art galleries on Saturday. They all had different types of art. All within a mile radius of each other.