Van der Plas Gallery
I was contacted by this gallery via Instagram. It is a brick and mortar site. I got suspicious because my art doesn’t look anything like what they have displayed in the past. The charge large fees up front per piece
● 1 painting/drawing/print, up to 14” x 11” $150 ● 1 painting/drawing/print, up to 24” x 18” $200 ● 1 painting/drawing/print, up to 40” x 30” $250
And of course there are other fees and 50% commission
I didn’t take Adriaan Van der Plas up on the invitation
16 comments
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Anonymous
Same thing just happened to me. This is horrible! I honestly want to respond to them with an email and give them a piece of my mind, or even call them out on social media. But truthfully i am too intimidated. Has anyone in this thread held them accountable for this predatory BS?
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Anonymous
Artist hunters set to prey on the inexperienced desperately seeking an audience for their images. Dreaming of cash payback and recognition. That space is down up tighter than a fishes endhole by arti swarmed and backscratchers with a 3 yr degree in fine art curation. Ultimately forget these vanity galleries. They pray on so many artists who have and will lose money over the years producing work. Ie the cost of quality materials, frames (as taught in art school- as professional practise) the accumulated intellectual property ref: skills and knowledge. Take care, don’t sell your self out. Join a friendly and supportive artist cooperative that organise curated shows for less set up cost. The work can be well presented with respect in a space that help educate the public about how to appreciate and enjoy art while paying a fair price for a print or catalogue. Maybe the audience may pay a tip for viewing if they cannot afford to buy. Thus helping the artists fund more shows.
These vanity galleries ( like Spotify is to music) sell art wallpaper. When they actual make sales. It’s non-descript office, board / waiting room, hotel room, lobby, hallway, non intrusive eye candy splattered across Instagram. Advice : work hard ant your art practise, seek out trusted critical feedback Make sure you have tried to develop a personal voice that shows exploration of intent and consideration for art frameworks. As for the rest playing the splatter paint game for designers in home decor mags perhaps on pre-primed cheap canvas knock your self out producing the same image in 50 ways and fool yourself that selling candy wrappers for $800 to 2k is an art career. Your hollow work will line dumpsters in 20 yrs time. – The Art Professor. -
Anonymous
I too was contacted through IG- total bullshit! Don’t let galleries like these take advantage of artists! With the “administrative fees” they charge, and with the number of artists included per show, they are making at least $10k per show. They are preying on desperate artists. Shameful!!!
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Anonymous
I too just got contacted. Not sure what to think, but the show is 1 week and the cost to me, the artist would be well over $500.
Very American! -
Anonymous
I also just got approached by them and asked to exhibit it would be 385 for one artwork , the original wouldn’t be exhibited as I’m overseas . I would have liked to exhibit in new York as I’m in Australia . I didn’t notice the fees and have made another large painting in excitement of the exhibition. It’s tirned out to be my best painting so even if I don’t exhibit with them something good came out of it . Would love to hear if anyone has had any success with them
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Anonymous
I have never seen Administrative charges like this gallery has.
Outrageous!
They charge an artist showing 24×18 work $300. Each piece
14×11 work $150. Each Piece
Shame Shame -
Anonymous
So, I actually took them up on offer last summer when they reached out via Instagram to include some of my work in an upcoming show. Same thing, ridiculously expensive charges to show, but I was a little more inexperienced so I took a chance on it. To their credit, the pieces did end up in a legitimate show, there’s even a virtual exhibit they put up on artland.com (https://www.artland.com/exhibitions/quo-vadis-55d075, if you want to check it out) that looks pretty professionally done. And, while it’s not like the pieces sold, they were just 2 in a sea of various works, if the cost to show is too much you could always be a lil stinker like myself and make a partial payment, then ignore any of their messages asking for the rest of it and abandon the pieces with them. That way you don’t spend a lot of AND your work still shows in the online exhibit (if you look at the virtual one I’m at the back of the first floor, two panels kinda low on the wall, Scarlett Weissman “dePhase” and “dePhase II”)
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Anonymous
I was also just contacted to post my work .Very costly.I would have to charge 1250 for a 12×12. Art piece as they charge 150 plus framing plus cost to ship there and back and there 50 percent commission.so I might net 500 out of the 1250. They would make more.
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Anonymous
Thanks for the reviews, I was also contacted by the gallery. but I am interested to know if anyone here has experience in actually dealing with the galley i.e displaying work in the gallery or selling work with the gallery? I appreciate your concerns and honesty, but if nobody here has gone forward with a submission and has first hand experience then these reviews leave little to go by. I am still undecided but I haven’t ye found any negative reviews from various sites other than here, I’m still unsure whether to right Van Der Plas off as simply a vanity gallery.
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Anonymous
My friend just showed with them. He got his paint in ngs back and they did not ship it right. Some damage to frames. None of the materials he sent with painting. Basically just stuck painting in box, no bubble wrap. They also changed date of show and didnt tell him. He found out on the invite.
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Anonymous
I have been contacted the same way.
And as I was in a rush, I declined for this time but I suggested passing by….
Never had answer to my email to get infos for next exhibitions…. Not good…. -
Anonymous
Yes often unsolicted messages/emails from galleries like that with big fees usually mean they are just vanity galleries and not in the best interests of you or your art, only for profit. Thank you for the heads up on this gallery.
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Anonymous
Yeah. Me you and the fence post this is a vanity gallery supported by family money, not a client list.
While you certainly can’t blame a gallery for trying selling wall space for a space that doesn’t do art fairs, has passive pass thru traffic And a limited understanding of social media as a sales tool is a challenge at best
There’s a lack and poverty culture here. Avoid.
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Anonymous
Absolutely. Vanity galleries, the art sponges of the industry just as Spotify is to music.
They seek the blandness of visual imagery and applaud eye candy cursory glances from their audiences and claim they improve your profile. Laughable.
They support very little that reflects culture of our time in any meaningful way.
Future generations can judge this period As ‘ The random wallpaper art movement of the late 29th 21stC. – Or ‘Does it come in any other colours’ movement.
Fodder for waiting rooms, lobbies, hallways and other spaces in need of corporate eye candy. Wow it is even tax deductible.
I recommend seeking out a friendly nurturing artist cooperative to curate shows and help raise the standard displaying work and expectations of future generations so they don’t think paint is made of pixels and scalable to fit on t shirts bed covers and toilet rolls. 😂 Hope I didn’t waste my life in art education to see vanity galleries as the new norm. The elitist shit h—- ds art club pro- circuit etc is bad enough.
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Blair
Same. Predatory and unethical TO THE EXTREME.