Q&A with KLIMT02: a Starter's Guide For (Soon To Be) Graduated Jewellery Designers. Part 2
With these series of questions and responses Annabel Goris aims to make a crib sheet for (soon to be) graduated jewellery designers. It are practical questions asked from a students point of view to different profiles. The questions are focused on artistic work, education, retail and contacts and learned lessons. By asking different profiles, you’ll get more insights that could come in handy as a starter. And hopefully they can guide you in making the right decisions and encourage you to JUST DO IT.
The second questionnaire is the one for the gallerists. The different galleries are situated across the world. There is a diversity in nationality and background but all of them have the same goal: to share and educate their passion for Contemporary Jewellery.
Part 2 resulted in a combination of variated answers by gallerists, refreshing to read.
Illustrations: Ester Vilaplana Miret
1. How do you think schools could best prepare their students for life after graduation?
In an artist’s life, the time right after graduation is the most important one.
At that time ideas are fresh, genuine and possibly groundbreaking, but concurrently that energy has to be centered on something that is the relation with professionals that are not just their teacher anymore.
We don’t think there’s a formula to follow for preparing the students.
We do think though that it would be cool for schools to send galleries their students’ thesis, to encourage them to go visit galleries and talk with their owners and share point of views, to learn what is like to run a gallery, what is like to sell the work of artists and dealing with clients.
The contemporary jewelry world is inhabited by great minds and incredible professionals, but one must be careful. Students (and artists in general) must be aware of that they should not trust everybody. Our advice is: look deep into the work of the person you are in contact with and do not sell out your work and never, never pay someone to exhibit your work.
2. How can you find your fitting selling platform/audience?
I started my gallery step by step, after having worked since the age of 18 in the design retail business. I never took anything for granted and I decided to open my space here in Venice because I knew people would have appreciate my efforts. I studied urban planning so I knew the territory I was going to settle into.
Venice is a destination that attracts many people all year long and I am lucky enough to have many different kinds of clients because I have the freedom to witness to what people from all over the world think and feel toward the many aspects of contemporary jewelry.
Also, it’s an everyday commitment.
Our gallery is open every day because clients need to know you are always there for them, that you can accomodate their wishes and that they can trust you.
Of course a big part of our job is to go to jewelry fairs and events, meet with the artists, see what they are up to, exchange thoughts and lay the groundwork for collaborations.
3. Tips on how to start and maintain a good contact with a gallery?
First of all, it’s important for artists to acknowledge that running a gallery is not easy (at all!).
To start a good contact with a gallery is actually easy: follow the work it’s doing and get its philosophy. If you like what you see, take your chances and send an email, you’ll never know what can happen.
To maintain the contact with the gallery, dialoguing with the person that is protecting and presenting your work is vital.
Relationships are important if galleries (like ours) are not just a container of objects or the emanation of the gallerist’s ego but a place where to experiment and to put contemporary jewelry to test.
4. How to define your line as a gallery? And do you think an artist should have a clear style/statement? Do you approach the artist or they approach you?
Art galleries are places where things are exhibited and sold.
For this reason, according to our dear friend Lewis Baltz, we can argue that at the end of the day, art galleries are like stores.
For this reason I’d like to define my gallery using the name of a cult store founded by Judy Blame in the mid-’80: “House of Beauty and Culture”.
OHMYBLUE is, in fact, a free space where like-minded artis come together.
We look into the poetics of artists and we run when we hear statements. Artist find things, it’s not just about inspiration. Most of the time it’s about being pierced by a vision. Then the rest is hard work.
To answer to your last question: we do use to approach artists but this does not mean we don’t like being approached.
read more on: https://klimt02.net/forum/articles/starters-guide-soon-be-graduated-jewellery-designers-part-2-annabel-goris