How to Get Art Gallery Representation and the Benefits of Quantity

CJ Miller invites Scottsdale, Arizona gallery owner and art blog educator Jason Horejs (pronounced Horsh) into his recording studio to challenge misconceptions about best artist practices. Jason’s recent blog titled, “Why Artists Should Focus On Quantity Over Quality,” caused an online stir. 

Jason unpacks the benefits of focusing on quantity over quality and shares his experience on how galleries work, how to approach galleries and create long-lasting relationships with them. 

According to Jason, some quality can only come through quantity. By focusing on output and striving to increase production we grow as artists. He notes a parallel between artists that are successful and prolific. The more work you put into the world, the larger your success. He declares that we should aim for both; quantity and quality. 

Multiple benefits come from shifting into a quantity mindset. An artist should review their current level of production and increase it by 25%. Artists may labor over artwork longer than they should according to Jason. CJ and Jason discuss Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000-hour rule. There is no substitute for being in the studio and creating.  

CJ shares the importance of following your intuition; quantity makes you better and better at following that conversation and listening to that impulse. 

He shares three key additional points; you deserve to be in a gallery, it’s a numbers game, and develop a consistent brand. 

Jason encourages artists to know that they are good enough to get into galleries. There are many different galleries and there is a place for your work. The key is to align it with collector interests and demands. Start the process of locating galleries immediately.  

What does a gallery consider when choosing an artist? An artist should focus on creating consistent and cohesive work. When a gallery sells a work they need to do marketing, promote your work, and sell it multiple times. If your work is completely different, that process has to be restarted each time. 

When you find a passion in a style, dive deep into it. Find a common thread in your work that ties it all together and demonstrate consistency in at least five of these areas: subject matter, color palette, style, thematic elements, medium, and presentation. 

Finally, once you start approaching galleries remember that it’s a number game; approach many, many galleries. You’ll go through many no’s before you get a yes’s. Use the mindset of approaching 100’s of galleries. 

Jason claims Nike’s tagline, “Just do it,” when creating art, and keep in mind the logistics of building a successful art business.