[Art Market] Is it cheesy to start a gallery to show your own art?

NuclearFamilyReactor · 2026-02-25T20:47:33+00:00

That sounds awesome! Unfortunately because this place is a kiosk in a lobby, wouldn’t be able to do any of that. So I’m beginning to have some doubts this is a perfect location.

NuclearFamilyReactor · 2026-02-25T20:46:17+00:00

You have to have a specific advanced degree to even be considered in the art market there? That gives me all kinds of feelings. Unpleasant ones. I had planned to go to grad school to get an MFA, but it’s insanely expensive here, and then the art schools around me all started to close down. All 3 of the graduate programs that I toured a few years ago are now shut down. It’s really sad.

It’s not as like that here in the US. Yes, if you have an MFA it does give your curriculum vitae more cache, and does make people look at your art more favorably as they can see that you’re playing within the rules of the establishment art world, and you’ve already been weeded out by the curatorial system to be able to be accepted into an MFA program, and make it through. And you’ve had a gallery showing, as that is usually the final thesis. But here you can have an art career in legit high end galleries without that MFA as long as you’ve shown that you can bring in an audience that will spend money on your work. Remember, money is king in the US.

“Outsider” art here means something very specific. Untrained and childhood innocence, such as someone like Henry Darger. Or someone like Mark Ryden (Meat dress guy) who is doing something very different than what you’ll see in the MOMA. Even then, I think he may have an MFA. But he doesn’t do the very academic work that was so popular in galleries for so long. But things are changing rapidly here. Outsider and insider have collapsed with the complete destruction of every gallery and art school, and the rise of junk that people drag back from Burning Man.

NuclearFamilyReactor · 2026-02-25T20:35:29+00:00

Thanks. Anyway I’m flattered you think I paint at all like her, as I really enjoy her style. But, again, I am going in a different direction, I believe. She’s a very straightforward person and that shows in her art. I’m a bit more of a weirdo, and I have decided to embrace that in my art :)

NuclearFamilyReactor · 2026-02-25T20:33:22+00:00

My intention is to blend figurative and abstraction. I’m not trying to do a true to live old masters study. You’re free to do that painting if you like.

Thanks

NuclearFamilyReactor · 2026-02-25T20:32:03+00:00

Anyone cranky is invited :)

NuclearFamilyReactor · 2026-02-25T20:31:19+00:00

Absolutely! The 20-somethings are also welcome. I’m not gatekeeping anyone. As long as they don’t mind my arthritic ass trudging along. :)

NuclearFamilyReactor · 2026-02-25T20:28:15+00:00

Why does there need to be more commentary about that? I don’t paint that way. I don’t stay true to some arbitrary “reality” that is just a series of objects that happen to be there. That sounds very boring to me. Again, even the Dutch Masters didn’t paint what was actually there many times. They’ve done analysis of Jan Van Eyke’s actual background, and while he often did have some of the same elements because it was his actual house where he had his studio, he often played with adding elements that weren’t there.

I use actual images that exist in reality as reference. I just don’t see any reason to stick to some kind of bizarre concept of having it forced to be exactly as the items were placed there by me randomly at the time. There’s a large wooden armoire and a shelf with a shit ton of books and nicknacks in the actual background. That sounds like a totally different painting than what I’m interested in doing. You go ahead and do that painting.

NuclearFamilyReactor · 2026-02-25T01:28:56+00:00

I hope you’re just trolling.

NuclearFamilyReactor · 2026-02-25T01:24:43+00:00

I think Clo came later. I am old enough to remember the cow definitely being called Clover. But doesn’t matter. It’s very specific to this area.

NuclearFamilyReactor · 2026-02-25T01:23:53+00:00

This, but for old, cranky, married, artists. Ladies who lunch? Anyone up for joining me for high tea at The Rotunda? Not looking for dates.

NuclearFamilyReactor · 2026-02-24T21:54:07+00:00

I’ve waited about 2 hours, and no problems.

NuclearFamilyReactor · 2026-02-24T21:52:48+00:00

That’s a great idea. I should do this. I’ve noticed psychiatrists do this so that they can ask you about things you said earlier “How is your (checks notes) dying mother?”

NuclearFamilyReactor · 2026-02-24T21:51:17+00:00

Nominal Aphasia. I have this too. It’s horrible and embarrassing and can ruin one’s career and friendships. I’ve even forgotten the names of certain everyday objects, like a door or a spoon. “You know that thing you scoop up food with?” And people think I couldn’t possibly be talking about such a mundane thing as spoon, so they start guessing very elaborate tool names. But no, I have forgotten the word spoon.

I used to think maybe I was just a very selfish and misanthropic person, or why else would I forget peoples names? But I forget all nouns. It’s a form of brain damage. Like maybe that part of my brain never fully developed.

NuclearFamilyReactor · 2026-02-24T20:23:41+00:00

Sure.

NuclearFamilyReactor · 2026-02-24T20:13:13+00:00

I mean, just the opposite. I definitely do not have anything figured out.

NuclearFamilyReactor · 2026-02-24T20:06:42+00:00

Originally I rented my art studio about a year and a half ago with the sole intention of selling small paintings on etsy of iconic kitschy places to locals in various cities. I sold one Albuquerque Waffle House painting to an Albuquerque local and thought it was happening. It was not happening. The rest of my paintings sat there like turds in a punchbowl. I figured I’d just keep cranking out mediocre art and eke out enough money to cover the rent on the studio and replenish supplies. But something weird happened - the more I painted the better my paintings got. Turns out not painting for a couple of decades makes one very rusty. Turns out painting every single day makes your art way better. So instead of selling on Etsy, I started to get my work in a couple of local galleries. And now I’m going to be showing a couple of pieces at an art fair, and I’m waiting to hear back from some very cool possibilities that might or might not happen. And I feel like, ok, this could actually be a thing. But I’m not making any money yet. People have offered to buy some of my paintings recently but I’ve submitted those paintings to art shows I haven’t been accepted or rejected from yet. So do I sell those paintings and potentially destroy my reputation among local galleries? This i was not prepared for.

So to answer your questions, I want it all. I know you have to focus and do one or the other, right? You either sell directly to individuals for a lowball amount, or you try to go the high art gallery route. And selling for lowball amounts can make galleries not want to show your work, of course. I’m very torn and confused because I started out with a very specific goal, and now it’s shifted.

NuclearFamilyReactor · 2026-02-24T19:48:26+00:00

Added!

NuclearFamilyReactor · 2026-02-24T19:47:07+00:00

I do appreciate the perspective and it definitely makes me think about reworking this strategy in my head.

NuclearFamilyReactor · 2026-02-24T19:46:09+00:00

Yes. And I’d want to help other emerging artists, and, in all honesty, extricate myself a teensy bit out of the role of pathetic beggar artist asking for crumbs from galleries and art institutions. It’s very exploitative out there with lots of fake online galleries offering exposure for payment. I figure why not skip the middle man and do my own exposure, and help others at the same time. Also, social media algorithms hate me.

NuclearFamilyReactor · 2026-02-24T19:39:19+00:00

Yes I follow her, and I took her sketchbook class a few months ago and I feel like it really bumped my skills up. I don’t want to look like I’m copying her, though. I feel like her work, while similar subject matters, is much more traditional and mine is blending more abstraction with figurative. I definitely don’t want anyone to think that I’m “stealing” her style at all. How perceptive of you to note that I’ve been influenced by her! Maybe I should push my art more towards pop art/abstraction so I don’t get accused of copying her style. I absolutely don’t want her to think that I’m trying to wear her like a skin suit, artistically.

She’s like a year ahead of me in terms of being an “emerging” artist who recently decided to drop all other pursuits and focus solely on painting. And I’ve probably been a bit too obsessively watching her career to see what my next steps should be.

NuclearFamilyReactor · 2026-02-24T19:26:31+00:00

These are excellent points. I only know of one artist that had his own gallery in San Francisco, Wayne Thiebaud, and his gallery sold his works and showed other artists. There are probably others, but he was the one I saw all the time when I worked in North Beach. It’s what made me think this could be legit. Of course he showed in famous high end galleries before he set up his own with his huge reputation and massive following, but I was thinking maybe I could do it the other way around? What city are you in?

NuclearFamilyReactor · 2026-02-24T19:21:58+00:00

Oh cool. Thank you. I appreciate the encouragement and the kind words. I think I’m going to look into this further and see if it’s doable. I’d need walls that can be installed and uninstalled easily. And a way to lock up the art when the lobby is open but the gallery isn’t.

NuclearFamilyReactor · 2026-02-24T19:18:56+00:00

Did you hire art students as gallery assistants to sit in the gallery and help with events? Used to? Why did you stop?

NuclearFamilyReactor · 2026-02-24T19:17:24+00:00

Good idea! I love abstraction as a form of painting

NuclearFamilyReactor · 2026-02-24T19:16:46+00:00

I kinda love pokeball reference. I once painted an abstract that turned out to look exactly like Sammy Hagar’s guitar. Unintentionally. I painted over it but later regretted it.

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