How did one artist transition from traditional gallery shows to online selling?

One established artist would traditionally spend six to nine months preparing for a big gallery show with all the elaborate setup - velvet ropes, guest lists, opening nights, bartenders, performance art. His last pre-pandemic show sold a little over six figures Canadian, but at a 50/50 gallery split, and he didn’t maintain collector information (though he did sell 27% to his own collector list before the show). During the pandemic, he ran two ‘basement sales’ over a 15-day period and sold 62 pieces for a little over $30,000 Canadian. While this was old inventory at lower prices, he kept 100% of the revenue with no gallery split, gained 62 new customers whose information he now owns, and did it all without leaving his house. This demonstrates the power of direct selling and maintaining customer relationships.

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Asked by general teaching point · Answered by Patrick Shanahan · art-marketing-podcast · 2021-07-22