now operates as a dealer with a stable
of artists, and also works as a consultant
for art buyers and collectors, introducing them to work by artists she doesn’t
represent.
Nicole Katz had a gallery in Los Angeles,
Eighth Veil, which she opened after stints
working in galleries in New York City, but
she closed the space recently to take over
her family’s printing and publishing business. Katz still represents several of the
gallery artists privately, however.
How private dealers work with artists
and the ways they structure their businesses varies greatly. “Each business is
unique,” Bateman notes. “There’s no cook-ie-cutter aspect to the art world.” (Both
Reed and Guice still prefer to be known as
“gallerists,” and the term “private dealer”
is loosely defined.) But regardless of a
dealer’s particular modus operandi, photographers who work with them exclusively or in tandem with their other gallery
representation see several benefits.
PDN recently spoke with art dealers
who operate outside of the traditional
gallery system, and some of the photographers they represent to find out how
private art dealers work for and with
photographers.
Low overhead and
no exhibition Costs
At the top of the list of benefits for art
dealers who operate without a gallery space is the lower overhead costs.
Renting or owning a gallery space and
paying to create and publicize several
exhibitions per year is expensive. When
dealers operate without a gallery, they
face less financial pressure. That can
benefit the artists they represent financially as well.
Tom Chambers, a photographer who
works with Reed, says there is “an opportunity for a better price break” for the
artist on the sale of works. Galleries traditionally split sales with the artist 50-50,
but “some of these [private dealers] are
doing a 60-40 price break in favor of the
artist,” Chambers says.
Photographers also face less financial
risk because they “don’t have to stock a
gallery with a ton of prints,” Chambers
notes. “That’s a big advantage because
that’s expensive for the artist.”
Christoph Gielen, an artist represent-
ed by Katz and another private dealer in
Europe, Beatrix Birken, says working with
“agents” rather than galleries has advan-
tages. “You do not have to deal with the
level of commitment that you do with a
