A vanity gallery is an
art gallery
An art gallery is a room or a building in which visual art is displayed. In Western cultures from the mid-15th century, a gallery was any long, narrow covered passage along a wall, first used in the sense of a place for art in the 1590s. The l ...
that charges artists fees to exhibit their work and makes most of its money from artists rather than from sales to the public. Some vanity galleries charge a lump sum to arrange an exhibition, while others ask artists to pay regular membership fees and then promise to organize an exhibition with a certain period.
There is debate as to whether galleries that ask artists to contribute to expenses, e.g. by arranging for announcements of the exhibition themselves, fall into the same category.
Derivation
Vanity galleries are an offshoot of
cooperative galleries (also called artist-run initiatives), galleries which are operated by artists who pool their resources to pay for exhibits and publicity. Unlike
cooperative galleries, which carefully jury their members, vanity galleries will exhibit anyone who pays. In 1981, ''
Village Voice
''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the cre ...
'' reporter Lisa Gubernick posed as an artist and "within 20 minutes" of contacting the Keane Mason Woman Art Gallery was handed a contract for "$720 for 16 feet of wall". Occasionally a vanity gallery will appear to have a selection process. This is because "if every participant is promised a one- or two-person show every two years, the number of artists on the membership roster cannot exceed the available time slots for shows."
Commercial art galleries derive their profit from sales of artwork and therefore take great care to select art and artists that they believe will sell and will enhance their gallery's reputation. They spend time and money cultivating collectors. If the artwork sells, the gallery makes a profit, and the artist is then paid.{{fact, date=September 2021
Vanity galleries have no incentive to sell art, as they have already been paid by the artist. Vanity galleries are not selective because they do not have to be. Many professional artists recommend that new artists avoid exhibiting work in them, primarily because professional critics and reviewers tend to avoid them.
Vanity Galleries
' by Lenny Campello, 10 August 2004.
See also
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Vanity press
A vanity press or vanity publisher, sometimes also subsidy publisher, is a publishing house where anyone can pay to have a book published.. The term "vanity press" is often used pejoratively, implying that an author who uses such a service is pub ...
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Vanity label
A vanity label (see related topic on vanity press) is an informal name sometimes given to a record label
A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometime ...
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Vanity award
References
Types of art museums and galleries
Contemporary art galleries
Confidence tricks
Deception