I am applying for a group show that two artist friends have rejected for offering too low a fee … am I doing myself a disservice? The two artists in question tend to work site-specifically and I understand that the ’exhibition fee’ offered would not cover the cost of producing new or site-specific work, however it still makes me wonder. I have not yet made the work that I would like to show there … but that is not quite the same thing as I intend to make the work in any case and am excited by the possibility of having somewhere to show it … and having a deadline is a definite incentive to get on.
Am I being too generous … too positive … naive? I still see opportunities to show in a wider context. A show/exhibition is not a hermetic thing in and of itself. So even if the financial renumeration isn’t great so long as it is in line with recommendations it is okay by me, and there are a myriad of other ’returns’ on my participation.
I have to declare something of a vested interest in this particular application/opportunity. I co-wrote the funding application on behalf of the Uppsala Artists’ Club and in collaboration with the arts officer from the local council. We based the artists’ fee on the artists’ union recommendation. There is a relatively simple matrix for calculating fees based on the number of participants in the show, the type of venue, and the duration. So it would be rather inappropriate for me to complain about the fee, and rather rude not to make a serious application … and I am genuinely interested in exhibiting there!
There is no guarantee that I will be selected – but I will be genuinely pleased if I am. Speaking with another artist friend last week I confessed that I have an unhelpful and unpleasant tendency to diminish the status of an exhibition or institution if I become a part of it. This really is something that I have to be mindful of … and stop doing. I want to become better at recognising achievements … and maybe even celebrating them!
The works that were in the salon show have (literally) just been returned. It was great to be in that show and to have exhibited in the museum – a museum show was on my wish-list. So now I can wish for something else!
