My two big goals for my time in Paris are to reach fluency in French and to hold an exhibition in Paris. I’m happy to say I’m achieving one of them at least. After nearly four years living here, I’m finally showing some of my paintings and sculptures, even if what I’m holding is an exposition instead of an exhibition. Those French mess around with perfectly good words all the time.
It’s easy to talk about wanting to have an exhibition; I’ve been doing that almost since we arrived. The trouble is finding the combination of space to display work and a way of reaching enough people to make the whole thing buzz. Just before we left Australia I had an exhibition in Melbourne which was very successful, but that was supported by legions of generous friends still in Australia, and Paris is a bit far to come.
I’m usually a charge in kind of guy but I got nowhere with the holding an expo ambition until a couple of people suggested I approach the wine store Apogé, which has a lounge area with picture hanging space. Apogé is in the office district of Paris, and is unique in Paris in allowing the tasting of almost all of the wines they sell, using a clever argon gas system to prevent wine spoilage. I found the cave just after it was opened four years ago by its two friendly proprietors Sylvain and Christophe, and have been a faithful customer ever since. Once I approached them about hosting a little expo of my work, they were immediately supportive, and I ran out of excuses for not having one.
The first issue was choosing which work to exhibit. There’s room for four of my sculptures, seven paintings and two drawings, and I could have an expo of four times that quantity. So I looked for uniformity of framing and subject matter of the paintings. The sculptures are easy – they’re all naked people. The next problem, though, is deciding whether to show recent work or older stuff. My work has moved over the four years, towards a looser style that allows the paint to talk more. That sounds really wanky, doesn’t it? Good, I’m becoming an artist at last.
Having chosen the work to display, my next mystery was what to charge for it. For my Australian expo I was advised by my good friend and teacher Geoff Dupree, and his advice was spot-on. But that’s Melbourne, not Paris. Happily, a few months ago I started going to a life drawing class run by Maud du Jeu, a lovely lady who has been a professional sculptor and life drawing artist for many years. She came around and looked at my work, and recommended prices for it I think exactly as Geoff would specify if I was exhibiting in Melbourne. It remains to be seen if I sell anything, but the prices feel right.
Selling some work and freeing up some wall space chez Gawler would be most welcome, but for me the big thing is getting people to help me feel like a real artist by liking and maybe buying my stuff. That’s the hard bit, exposing your private work to an indifferent world with completely unknown consequences. I don’t paint and sculpt to please others; it’s all about what pleases me, and that never-achieved goal is what I’m chasing every moment I’m holding a brush or dragging my fingers through the clay. But the strange hypocrisy is that like every artist, I want other people to tell me my work is good. Having someone buy your work for a fair price is sure sign you’ve succeeded.
When I left Australia I was told by several people who knew what they were talking about that professional artists often sold only one or two pieces at an exhibition. Pretty depressing when that’s your life’s passion and your hoped-for source of income. I was thrilled to sell a bit more than half the pieces I offered at my Melbourne exhibition, but as I said, it was well supported by my friends. What will happen here in Paris?
I set the work up at Apogé and was very pleased to see it assembled and in public, instead of dotted around our house. All good so far, but next is the getting people to attend bit. Like every expo, we’re having a vernissage (an opening event) on Tuesday 8th December at 5.30pm and it would be great if we could get forty or fifty people to come.
How to do this is a mystery to me, but luckily I have friends in Paris and a very talented daughter who put together a ripper little video of the expo which is now up on my website. She produced the website as well, and has also produced the poster, the flyer and a clever email invitation to which the recipients can rsvp. When the flyer is printed, I’ll distribute it to our local patisserie, local bistro, and everyone else I can think off. The email invite is already flying around Paris, and I’ve been told I need to look at my facebook page often to follow up reaction to it.
So, with lots of help and encouragement, one of the big ambitions is under way. Now if I can sell something in Paris, I’ll feel like a real artist!