ARTISTS TALKING

No matter how pure the creative process may remain in the studio, selling work is essential to the financial sustainability of many artists. How the work moves from the studio into homes and collections can be achieved through a series of interactions usually facilitated by commercial galleries who act as the shop windows of art and design.

Being taken on by a gallery can be an excellent solution for artists who want to be able to devote themselves entirely to studio practice. But commercial galleries don't always seem very approachable. Some even like to give the impression it is a privilege for an artist to be let in. And it tends to be the gallery that chooses an artist, rather than the other way round.

Getting on

If getting taken on by a particular commercial gallery is your aspiration, using personal contacts to get an introduction and being seen at the gallery's private views may be more realistic than arriving with a portfolio.

You can also try inviting gallery directors to see your work in art fairs, exhibitions or in your studio. It is also important to target the right level of a gallery and one that exhibits work similar to your own.

Although it takes a lot of hard work to get noticed, many artists confirm that once fixed up, an arrangement with a commercial gallery pays off. Not only do they get regular exhibitions, they also get exposure at UK and international art fairs. Another plus is that dealers are skilled at getting media coverage and nurturing collectors.

Scott Myles, who is with Glasgow's Modern Institute, confirms the arrangement allows him to focus on his practice, rather than on doing admin.

Some galleries go further, offering studios and regular salaries to artists. Ultimately though this beneficence is paid for and full representation will cost 50% of all your sales.

Fairs

Art and design fairs are where you can see the art world in action. Although fairs exist across the UK, the largest tend to be held in London.

Lucy McNeill, Director of the London Air Fair said: "We have witnessed an enormous growth in interest in art and collecting since the fair began 15 years ago. Now, sales are estimated at £12 million, and visitor attendance of 38,000 in five days".

Fresh Art, held annually also in London, offers an opportunity for new talent to reach art buyers, dealers, galleries and curators direct. Artists, recent graduates and studio groups apply to a selection panel for the opportunity to take a paid-for stand.

Chris Noraika of One in the Other confirms that dealers like him "want to see emerging artists without having to go round every degree show in the country". He feels that the difficulty for artists who are not working with galleries is keeping a dialogue with current practice and positioning their work.

Abigail Durrant won the Fresh Artist of the Year award in 2001. She found it gave her the confidence and focus to approach galleries and potential buyers as well ideas on how best to promote her work in future.

Jessika Worrall who first showed there as a new graduate feels it has been "incredibly valuable. I met and exchanged information with artists, made contact with galleries that are now showing my work at fairs and exhibitions across England and in New York". She was also able to use the money made from sales one year to finance participating next time round.

Open studios

Many artists and makers prefer to keep their overheads down by selling work direct from the studio or workshop, particularly in areas where there is a tourist economy or a penchant for small-scale collecting. Along with other designers and galleries, Kate Maestri benefits from studios in London's OXO Tower Wharf that provide a showcase for her stained glass.

Recognising that the art-interested public is curious to see artists at work and have a glimpse of their lifestyle has resulted in many studio buildings or groups organising open studios or open house events. These have come to be a valuable part of the art scene, visited not only by the art interested public, but also by curators and arts organisers.

The Hidden Art open studios event held annually across four London boroughs is a good example of a strategic approach to developing private collectors and it has become a platform for buyers from large companies. Overall, some £280,000 sales are made each time

Although selling artwork is not always the predominant function of open studios, there is compelling evidence that works are sold and that the potential for sales is considerable.

Emerging galleries

New galleries continue to emerge out of artists' initiatives. This includes galleries within studio groups and informally programmed spaces. They are widely recognised by curators and exhibition organisers as a way of identifying up-and-coming artists and new trends. In this way, they have been described as 'stepping stones', enabling artists to move up and gain a reputation in the art world.

City Racing in London began by showing work from the artists involved but built a reputation for showcasing innovative work. It gave Sarah Lucas her first solo show, introducing her to Charles Saatchi who subsequently purchased work and included her in the yBa show.

Operating on low or a not-for-profit budget, these spaces can take greater risks with the artists they show. Although they don't begin as commercial galleries, they often find themselves selling work as the artists they are involved with establish careers.

Matt's Gallery is an early example of a space set up in an artist's studio to provide an alternative to the traditional commercial gallery system by acting as a point of contact for artists exhibited there.

Glasgow-based Transmission was set up in 1982 because artists there wanted a space to show their work to the public and to other artists. From these small beginnings, it has grown to command an international reputation.

Scott Myles confirms its role in his career development: "Sonia Rosso saw my work at Transmission, where they regularly present members' slides to visiting artists and curators". This led to her adopting Myles for her gallery in Italy.

Curatorial organisations

Organisations that initiate and curate site-specific artists' projects and exhibitions play a considerable part in the recognition systems by which artists gain a reputation in the art world.

Describing itself as an arts organisation that develops new strategies with visual artists for different contexts, Locus+ has established an international reputation for projects that place the artist at the centre of production. It has commissioned 50 projects, 20 publications and 9 artists' multiples since 1993, working with artists including Ian Breakwell, Dorothy Cross, Damien Hirst, Anya Gallaccio, Cathy de Monchaux and Richard Wilson.

London-based e2 was founded in 1997 to facilitate digital art projects developed with individual artists and distributed by the internet or CD-Rom. In 2000, it presented Tomoko Takahashi's 'Word Perhect', for which she was nominated for the Turner Prize.

Peer presents three or four projects annually. It favours proposals that might present practical or curatorial problems to institutions or commercial galleries, like Ceal Floyer's single minimal piece Massive Reduction, or Mike Nelson's 2600 square foot The Delivery and the Patience installation at the 2001 Venice Biennale.

Independent curators play an increasingly important role in the art world. For example, the curatorial partnership smith + fowle commissions projects that place enquiry, experimentation and exchange at the heart of art practice.

Recent commissions have included Richard Wentworth at Winchester Cathedral, Keith Wilson at Whitby Abbey, muf's Three Art Projects For Social Exchange at Kent Institute of Art and Design, and the touring exhibition Shelf Life that presents artists and collectives from Europe, Africa and the Americas.

Artist-run curatorial organisations include Vane, set up in 1997 to create exhibition opportunities for artists based in and around Newcastle upon Tyne. Its initial intention of providing an annual open-submission event in non-gallery spaces in the city gave way in 2002 to a programme of projects selected by invited curators and artists.

Vane's projects have consistently attracted the attention of curators and exhibition organisers, helping the artists involved to gain recognition within the art world regionally and nationally.

Mainstream galleries

The notion that artist-led activity defines the 'cutting-edge' of contemporary practice has had an impact on mainstream galleries, many of whom have adapted their ways of operating to better respond to contemporary practice.

Significantly, this has contributed to a shifting of emphasis between London and the English regions, aided and abetted by the growth of new 'flagship' galleries in Walsall, Salford and Gateshead.

Although London remains the centre for the art market, it can be argued that the more radical gallery practice is tending to take place elsewhere. And whereas previously artists wished to position themselves in the capital, they now have genuine incentives to be elsewhere.

BALTIC in Gateshead describes itself as an 'art factory', the aim being to move from the "passive mode of housing art, to a more active mode of producing (art works and meanings)' within an international cultural economy which is increasingly competitive". Exhibitions in the galleries are mounted alongside a rolling programme of residencies by major artists from the UK and internationally.

Ikon Gallery has taken this a step further by appointing a dedicated curator for off-site commissions that aim to challenge institutional frameworks for artists and target new spaces and audiences for contemporary art.

Because they take place outside the gallery programme, Ikon's projects are limited neither by scale nor duration. Katherine Grosse's painting on the façade of Birmingham Central Library, a 30 metre spray-painted mural, is remarkable for its ambition and impact on thousands of passers-by.

In a similar vein, Preston's Harris Museum and Art Gallery commissioned a series of interventions by Keith Wilson that highlighted a rare opportunity for artists to enjoy carte blanche in response to site. His installation of redundant library shelving was paired by the modest and contentious proposal to make a puddle outside the museum.

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