Galerie Michael Janssen refused to return my artwork and eventually destroyed it never paying me a cent.
My experience with Gallerie Michael Janssen (Michael, Dane, and Nina) started off great. They were very supportive, and I produced hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of sculptures for them. They took all my work to Germany with the agreement that what they did not sell they would return to me. I never saw any money. After years of trying to work something out with them and being ignored and disrespected. I asked them for a small portion of what they owed me. They continued to avoid the conversation. Today I’ve decided to let it go. Now I know without a doubt the type of people they are, and I feel sad for them. They have to live with themselves.
My part in this is that I did not protect myself. I did not have a written contract, and I trusted that they would do the right thing. I am not asking for career or legal advice I am only stating my experience. I think it’s important to name names. Most artists don’t do this because they are scared it will make them look bad. I believe more artist should speak out and name names because we all know this is common practice for many (not all) galleries.
Galerie Michael Janssen Galerie Michael Janssen Galerie Michael Janssen Singapore Dane Reinacher
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Art Platform NYC http://www.artplatformnyc.com is a very good international art scam. It formerly went by Art Approach NYC and is now opening a branch in Washington DC, http://www.artplatformdc.com They have a rather professional website, with lots of talented artists and art shows around the world. They contact you by email to say they have been following your work and would like to represent you. They offer various packages, differing in price range and the amount of work they will do to represent you. They offer exhibitions, presence on their website and copies of, high-resolution, coffee-table size art books with your work, to be sold on Amazon, at B&N, and given to gallery directors and curators. The books never materialize. They especially target artists outside of the US because they can then (and do) make multiple charges to credit cards for which there is no legal recourse as the US (they are based in NYC) has no jurisdiction for credit card fraud that is not perpetrated here. They have a very good grifter as a front person, named Juliette Townsend. She is knowledgeable, charming, and very clever. She is the person to hook the artist. Then over the course of months the artists receive emails that are in broken english from various people with one name (supposedly part of the organization, who break appointments, make excuses for things not moving forward as planned and discussed, and promises for better services. When the books don’t materialize and you finally realize you have been scammed, it is often too late to do anything. I have been in touch with over 50 artists from their website who have had the same experience. Legal pursuit has proved fruitless. Some of the artists, those that used credit cards that were charged multiple times, have had some success in getting the money returned by the credit card companies. Others have not been so lucky. Some of us have made reports at http://www.ripoffreports.com which is a great site! All these galleries should be listed there for the benefit of other artists. The reports take minutes to make, come up on line within a half hour, and climb in google rather rapidly, so that within days, they start to show up right under the organization that has been reported, when you google that organization. This warns off other artists so they cannot continue to operate quite as effectively. Art Platform NYC actually shut down it’s website for a week and rearranged everything on it when the reports started to come up.
from Artnews –
The artist claims the gallery chopped off 10 inches from his painting.
UPDATE: The attorney for the plaintiff informed artnet News that Grunert paid the judgment in full following the court order.
A judge ordered Manhattan dealer Tanja Grunert and her eponymous gallery to pay an artist the sum of $500 a day after failing to comply with an order handed down in earlier this year.
The judge in the case, Lewis A. Kaplan, ruled in an order filed on December 8 in US District Court, Southern District of New York, that Grunert is in contempt of court:
“Ms. Grunert shall pay to plaintiff in addition to all other sums owed by her, the sum of $500 per day for each day following the date of this order during which she has not fully and completely answered the interrogatories that she was directed by the Order to answer.”
In 2013, Brooklyn-based artist Joseph Marino Statkun, known as Jomar Statkun, originally sued Grunert and the gallery for “damages for violation of the Visual Artists Rights Act (VARA) of 1990.” According to the suit, a copy of which was obtained by artnet News, the complaint centers on a painting Statkun created, titled Tubal Cain at Beggar’s Creek. The original dimensions of the work were 60 inches by 72 inches.
The painting was sold for $16,000 in August 11 2010, according to the complaint. Two years later, Statkun claims he learned from a former employee of the gallery that “approximately 10 inches were cropped from Tubal Cain at Beggar’s Creek, without Plaintiff’s knowledge or consent,” according to court papers. A copy of the invoice is attached to the suit, noting the new dimensions of the painting as 50 inches by 72 inches.
In addition to the VARA violation, the artist made claims for violation of the New York Arts and Cultural Affairs Law, breach of contract, fraud, and defamation. He was asking for statutory damages in the amount of $150,000.
However the judge, deciding on a motion for default judgment, awarded $3,500 plus attorney’s fees, noting that “the dimunition in the size of the canvas was less than enormous. It had the effect of permitting the sale, at a substantial price, of a canvas that had not sold for an extended period.” Kaplan wrote that while the court did not want to “trivialize” the violation of Statkun’s rights, it saw “no reason to provide the artist with a windfall at the expense of the gallery.”
Any experience here?
artifact gallery
artifactnyc.net
they recommend this awful site:
http://www.arterynyc.com/arterist
This is the content of the email I received
ARTIFACT covers essential exhibition expenses related to the following:
1. Exhibition room (3.7×5.5 m / 12’x18′), it’s maintenance and attendance during a three-week solo exhibition;
2. Gallery assistance in co-ordination of the exhibition, installation and de-installation;
3. Art storage for artwork kept on consignment;
4. Opening reception, including wine and a bartender for a 2-hour reception;
5. Printing of color invitations to the opening reception;
6. Distribution of invitations;
7. Our sales commission is 40%.
8. $100,000.00 (one hundred thousand USD) insurance for artwork on consignment.
ARTIFACT occupies a prime ground floor space in a prime art destination of Manhattan (see our space on http://vimeo.com/78958772). Overall, the gallery spends over $30,000.00 USD to make exhibitions of artists like you possible. To further promote your solo show in a competitive New York art market with over 400 galleries, you may consider marketing options which require additional funding:
1. Exhibition Catalog: Full production (graphic design, printing, delivery to the gallery) of a 24 page color catalog (11″ x 8″ / 28 x 20 cm ) featuring 12 artworks of the artist and related information; distribution of the catalogs to the select list of art critics and curators. $15 per book (100 to 500 books). Please note that there are over 300 names only in our list of the International Association of Art Critics.
2. Catalog Essay written by a a professional New York based art critic – $1200;
3. Advertising in ARTERY – one of the world’s most comprehensive online art publications http://www.arterynyc.com/. ARTERY is a marketing choice of major art museums and institutions, including MoMA, The Brooklyn Museum, The New Museum, The Andy Warhol Museum, Rochester Contemporary Art Center, International Center of Photography, The Drawing Center, Parrish Art Museum, New York Foundation For the Arts, The Jewish Museum, Walker Art Center, Dia: Beacon, Toledo Museum of Art, San Francisco MoMA, Queen Sofia Spanish Institute, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Everson Museum of Art, Neuberger Museum of Art, Japan Society, Denver Art Museum, De Cordova Museum and many others. ($1500.) ARTERY features banners of important art galleries and some of the most exclusive brands, such as Mercedes Benz and Woldorf Astoria. Our publication collaborates with the writers of the highest caliber, such as the legendary Anthony Haden-Guest (Observer, Esquire, GQ), art critic Peter Frank (LA Times) and art writer Alexandra Peers (The Wall Street Journal, New York Observer, New York Magazine).
ARTERY is a marketing venue of choice for the elite galleries and luxury brands (Mercedes Benz, Woldorf Astoria) and select artists. Advertising includes one full year artist’s profile in ARTERY Register http://www.arterynyc.com/arterist/ ($1500).
4. Public Relations:
A. Extensive multimedia campaign and requests to include the artist’s name and work in the editorial content in print and online media, including the following publications:
General
The NY Times, The Wall Street Journal, Newsday, Metro New York, AM-NY, Time Out New York, New York magazine, The Village Voice, The L Magazine, The New York Observer, The Daily News, The New York Post, Daily Candy, Metromix, Newark Star Ledger, Westchester Journal News, Asbury Park Press, Connecticut Post, The Onion, Chelsea Clinton News, The Westsider, West Side Spirit, IN New York, Huffington Post, Avenue, Examiner.com, What’s Up NYC, Paper Magazine, Lucid Culture, NY1, WNBC TV’s Weekend Today in New York, WNBC TV’s LXTV, WABC-TV, WCBS-TV, NYC-TV, WNYW-TV’s, The Bloomberg News.
Art & Culture
Artnet, Artforum, ARTNews, The Art Newspaper, Artinfo, Culturekiosque, Modern Painters, Art in America, ARTNewsletter, VERY Magazine, Manhattan Arts International, Art Journal, ArtsJournal, Tar, Culture Vulture, ArtDaily, ArtNews, Index, Surface, Salon.com, Slate Magazine, CityArts, Playbill, CITYist, The Brooklyn Rail, Artcat, C-Monster.
B. Securing a minimum of one review about Artist’s work in the media;
C. Requests for participation of the Artist in exhibitions at selected museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim Museum, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the New Museum.
D. Compiling and distribution of press-packages (press-release, invitation, catalog) among collectors, critics, and curators. $4000 (A, B, C, D all together)
You may select any combination which meets your goals and budget. When artists are unable to cover related expenses, we look for sponsorship. However, it takes a long time and is uncertain. Meanwhile, scheduling is time sensitive.
For gallery updates you may visit our Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/artifactnyc?bookmark_t=page
Redux Contemporary Art Center, Charleston, SC
I applied to their call for exhibition proposals through Slideroom in June 2015 and paid a $40 entry fee with my submission. Artists were supposed to be notified of jury results by July 31, 2015. After hearing nothing from them, I emailed Redux in September 2015 regarding the status of my application and Stacy Huggins, the director responded informing me that jurying was still in progress and they would have results “very soon.” Again, I waited and I heard nothing from them. I wrote back to Stacy at Redux in December of 2015 and asked for a refund of my $40 application fee and she never responded. It is now December 2016 and I have still not received notification regarding my application. It appears that they have removed their call for proposals from Slideroom. Also note that Slideroom has no responsibility to applicants who apply to opportunities and pay fees via their site and get scammed. Redux? Forget it. I have messaged with several artists who said this used to be a well run organization but things have gone downhill in recent years.
This gallery based in Montreal under the name of STATION 16 GALLERY, returned this Klor piece totally damaged, rotten with Knocks, it is so damaged that we can simply trash it. It was delivered in a rusty truck barely wrapped…
https://www.123klan.com/blogs/news/shame-on-station16-gallery
Galería Gaudí in Madrid -they offered to exhibit 5 works in Singapore for €1,400 with 40% commission. Work was to be exhibited in a hotel, (which I hear is fairly common in Singapore) but unlikely to attract uninvited guests
Reader Submitted;
Contemporary Art Projects USA
Website: http://contemporaryartprojectsusa.com/
Below is the fee break-down that this agent will charge you. Remember, on top of it, the artists are responsible for shipping the work to and from the amenity. AND they will charge a 30% commission on sold work. They probably make money on artist fees alone. There is no incentive for them to sell your work. When you receive a message from this agent wanting to promote you work, do not bother your time message back.
FEES:
$1,900 One Piece: space, hanging and curating process
Size: Maximum 40” x 40” (Wide x Height)
Photography must be on Aluminum or Plexiglas or with proper framing
Art Paint or Photography must be a maximum of 40” x 40”
Installations are not accepted
Light is not added. $100.00/light
$2,800 Two Pieces: space, hanging and curating process
Size: 2 of Maximum 40” height x 40” width. One in top of other.
102 cm height x 102cm width.
One Piece with a Maximum 75” height x 40” width.
Photography must be on Aluminum, Plexiglas or Museum Style Frame.
Installation is permitted at this Price Level at a maximum width of 40” (102cm) and 75” (102cm) height.
Light is not included at this price
$3,800 Two Pieces: space, lighting and curating process
Size: 2 of Maximum 40” (102cm) x 75” (190cm). Side by Side. Maximum of 80” inches in width.
Photography must be on Aluminum or Plexiglas
Installation is permitted at this price level at a maximum 75” (80” width x 75” in height)
Reader submitted – any feedback or experience from others?
Gallery DeBoer located in Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada. Total scammer the owner Ron De Boer is. Artists beware. He takes his 50% commission fails to call artists when their work sells, charges over the top delivery fees for a 10 minute delivery, intentionally hides work in the galleries storage area ( in hopes it will be lost or the artist will forget the work is there) and frequently adds random fees to artists without consent or permission. I was charged an additional $100 for them to copy and paste my bio to their website. They claim it’s a standard fee for three seconds of work. Numerous artists have been ripped off with hidden fees and a total lack of professionalism. The worst part is the gallery seems to enjoy taking advantage of its artists. They feel they are justified in their slimy way of doing business with hard working artists.