(Keep in mind these are all ranging in size from 20x20cm to 30x40cm so they are smallish)Hi there, for anyone who didnt get a chance to see the exhibition I will add some pictures for you! The exhibition went ok... I think it was a fairly successful opening night. It was well organised, there was lots of free food and drink, everyone was in good spirits, the set up looked good, there was such a nice variety of work and we got alot of good feedback!
A few things I would think about for next time (as it was our first exhibition I think we did pretty well)...
1. If we had another exhibition at uni - organising a technition early on to set up the directional lighting, I think it would have been much more professional minus the fluros.
2. ADVERTISING and SIGNAGE - was our biggest fault. I think there were so many missed opportunities for people to see our work. Alot of people complained it was hard to find the place. Not to mention that anyone who didnt know about it, wouldnt know to come in.
I advertised in the courier mail, Brisbane News Magazine and the Artworkers Alliance news letter ( plus some more papers/mags that didnt get back to me). But it wasnt enough. I think we needed something to draw peoples attention... We also needed free postcards/posters at the event with the event details on them so that people could take them and show them to other people. We needed a few big signs - 1 on grey st just outside QCA courtyard, 1 on the southbank walk way leading up to the university and 1 on level 4 outside the room letting people know to come this way and come in. We needed up to date posters around the uni (we only had ones for the opening night). On the weekend there were TONNES of people at the southbank markets, people having a lazy weekend like looking at stuff... !!! NO one came to my sunday morning gallery watch... I handed out a few flyers to people at the markets and they went to the exhibition... but were upset that it was so hard to find.
3. Clientel. Whilst the opening was a great success... there were too many students and not enough people who are interested in buying art. We were very happy to show our work... but we also wanted to sell some. I also think the times would not suit the sort of person interested in purchasing art... if its open from 9am - 5pm then that is when people are working!!! we needed an extra weekend. I'm not sure how to attract potential buyers... but I also suppose there are tough financial times at the moment.
4. Pricing of work. This was a hard one... how can you put a price on your work? It was only a student exhibition. You want to be modest - BUT you dont want to sell yourself short. I think it is important to research art sales in Brisbane... have a look at some other exhibitions and art shops... compare prices! Think about the amount of time you spent on your work. Think about costs of printing, materials, framing, maintaining your computer and software (if you are a digital artist) etc etc etc... I think alot of people didnt give themselves enough credit... you dont need to sell your artwork for THOUSANDS or even hundreds... but selling works for $20/$50 is too cheap in my opinion. If they spent a few hours on their works its like working for $5 an hour... It also made other works with more reasonable prices look OVERpriced... Alot of people came and told me I was too steep or were trying to convince me to lower the price of my works... and I think this was unfair...
Anyway these are my 4 gripes about the exhibition... oh that and it would have been good if it was in a more open space...
But... I was really excited and happy to produce an amount of work and complete it and exhibit it! I got positive feedback and it seemed like everyone had a different favourite character. Dad bought one of my paintings because he was worried it would be sold! so I was lucky he wanted it so much... but I would have liked if some one not related to me bought one hehe.
I was really happy and interested by the variety of the collection of work.
(by the way all images copyright 2009)
A few things I would think about for next time (as it was our first exhibition I think we did pretty well)...
1. If we had another exhibition at uni - organising a technition early on to set up the directional lighting, I think it would have been much more professional minus the fluros.
2. ADVERTISING and SIGNAGE - was our biggest fault. I think there were so many missed opportunities for people to see our work. Alot of people complained it was hard to find the place. Not to mention that anyone who didnt know about it, wouldnt know to come in.
I advertised in the courier mail, Brisbane News Magazine and the Artworkers Alliance news letter ( plus some more papers/mags that didnt get back to me). But it wasnt enough. I think we needed something to draw peoples attention... We also needed free postcards/posters at the event with the event details on them so that people could take them and show them to other people. We needed a few big signs - 1 on grey st just outside QCA courtyard, 1 on the southbank walk way leading up to the university and 1 on level 4 outside the room letting people know to come this way and come in. We needed up to date posters around the uni (we only had ones for the opening night). On the weekend there were TONNES of people at the southbank markets, people having a lazy weekend like looking at stuff... !!! NO one came to my sunday morning gallery watch... I handed out a few flyers to people at the markets and they went to the exhibition... but were upset that it was so hard to find.
3. Clientel. Whilst the opening was a great success... there were too many students and not enough people who are interested in buying art. We were very happy to show our work... but we also wanted to sell some. I also think the times would not suit the sort of person interested in purchasing art... if its open from 9am - 5pm then that is when people are working!!! we needed an extra weekend. I'm not sure how to attract potential buyers... but I also suppose there are tough financial times at the moment.
4. Pricing of work. This was a hard one... how can you put a price on your work? It was only a student exhibition. You want to be modest - BUT you dont want to sell yourself short. I think it is important to research art sales in Brisbane... have a look at some other exhibitions and art shops... compare prices! Think about the amount of time you spent on your work. Think about costs of printing, materials, framing, maintaining your computer and software (if you are a digital artist) etc etc etc... I think alot of people didnt give themselves enough credit... you dont need to sell your artwork for THOUSANDS or even hundreds... but selling works for $20/$50 is too cheap in my opinion. If they spent a few hours on their works its like working for $5 an hour... It also made other works with more reasonable prices look OVERpriced... Alot of people came and told me I was too steep or were trying to convince me to lower the price of my works... and I think this was unfair...
Anyway these are my 4 gripes about the exhibition... oh that and it would have been good if it was in a more open space...
But... I was really excited and happy to produce an amount of work and complete it and exhibit it! I got positive feedback and it seemed like everyone had a different favourite character. Dad bought one of my paintings because he was worried it would be sold! so I was lucky he wanted it so much... but I would have liked if some one not related to me bought one hehe.
I was really happy and interested by the variety of the collection of work.
(by the way all images copyright 2009)
5 comments:
Hey Em,
great post - I wish I could have had a chance to see the exhibition in person. My fav one by far would have to be the bird man with the heart on his sleve - i really like the mood.
It's really good to hear your thougts on how it all went too. I have a friend who is thinking of exhibiting some stuff and things that u said could be improved make a lota sense.
Anyway, hope all's well and keep the good stuff comin.
Hey Emily!
I'm sad that I missed it!
The paintings came such a long way!
Like the pineapple one, I remember when you were panicking about it but it turned out really nice.
I really like them :D
The colours in the second bird one is really subtle and really cute!
Also, it's awesome to see all of your blog header painting. Still one of my favourites.
It looks like the exhibition was a success! Congratulations!
Talk soon :)
Makoto
Hey Emily, I still love the Pomeranians and Pineapple piece. It's a beautiful composition and puts a tropical flavour in my mouth. For a first-attempt animation student exhibition it was pretty amazing, but like you say, needs a more clientele with more money!
By the way, did you hear the story about Xin's portrait? It flew off the back of his uncle's trailer when they were taking it home!!! Luckily they found it and he's able to salvage it, but my God, what a heartbreaker.
oh no way!! Poor Xin... he seems to have so much bad luck! I hope he can fix it ok!
Great works Emily... i was privileged enough to have seen them when we there for breakfast at night :) Sad to hear you didn't sell any to the public
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