Thanks to everyone who voted for AIR council – I’m very happy indeed to be on board.
I saw this ‘opportunity’ on twitter today via Lizzie Hughes: http://tinyurl.com/cma3vce
(@lizzieh)
So, the rough facts:
“BEARSPACE is at the centre of the rapidly growing art scene in South East London, providing a platform to show, encourage and promote emerging artists in London. Director Julia Alvarez curates independently, including the Wimbledon MA interim exhibition, Deptford X 10th Anniversary & Play, a survey of play in contemporary art.
Application:
Bearspace invites artists of all disciplines to apply for this unique opportunity, with a brief statement, c.v., and 3 images of work to be considered for selection, of which 1 to 3 pieces may be selected for exhibition. Applying is free of charge with a £200 charge if artist is successful, to cover costs including administration, gallery staff and PR over this period. Please note these costs have been highly subsidised by BEARSPACE to support emerging artists aside from our usual programme.”
Thoughts:
1) This always seemed like a good and credible space. I am confused by this.
2) Targeting emerging artists seems like the easiest and most cynical option – they might be naive and eager enough to find the cash.
3) They should be more honest and offer the space FOR HIRE rather than promoting this as a supported opportunity.
4) This may be heavily subsidised, as they say, however, the gallery should still offer support to help the artist fundraise the cost if they genuinely couldn’t find it themselves.
5) If it is so heavily subsidised (support in kind no doubt), why could they not find the last £200? Seems odd.
6) In some ways, having an open call and only charging the successful artist is fairer, but it’s not an amount that most people have spare, and it’s not cool.
7) How are artists expected to make new work and do it well if they have to pay for their wn time/production as well as the fee.
8) Surely a good and mixed programme would include emerging and more established artists anyway? Why is them supporting ’emerging artists aside from our usual programme’ such a special thing to do?
I just don’t like this one bit.
