One of the problems that a gallery owner faces is that they get inundated with artists asking to be seen yet there are only so many days in the year and only so much wall space to utilize. If you consider the average gallery may do twelve shows a year that does not leave much leeway to host a large volume of artists.
There is a hell of a lot of work that goes into showing a new artist. A gallery must, out of necessity, show that artist for at least a months period of time if they wish to have the work seen and the buyers become interested.
There are so many variables to a gallery that artists never consider. Invitations, press releases, arrangement of the art, shipping of the pieces both to the gallery and then back out to the various buyers. Even food and refreshments have to be considered. With all that a gallery has to do to be ready to show an artist, its a wonder anyone gets a show at all.
It is a simple fact that the number of galleries is decreasing yearly. As the art world changes so does how a gallery operates. Those that change with it are still around. Those that didn't are gone.
So consider for a moment a totally new approach to the operation of a gallery. What if a gallery converts its space into wall size video screens that show the art just as you'd see it in real life, but as an image projection instead.
It is a fact that virtual galleries are popping up all over the internet. But the drawbacks to an internet based gallery is that the work is only as big as the screen in which you view it. It cannot be seen in its full size. Nor can the artist be given an opening where he/she is introduced to potential buyers.
But what if the concept of the virtual gallery came into the physical gallery itself? Imagine for a moment coming a gallery opening where five artists are being debuted instead of just one. But that the art on the walls rotates every 5 minutes to show a different piece of art from a different artist. Or say you have one particularly prolific artist who can now show 50 pieces of art instead of 20 because your walls can change the art being viewed.
The benefits of displaying the art in its full size is not lost. Other than not being able to touch that art, you are getting the same benefits as you would from the piece actually being physically present in front of you.
The gallery can reduce costs by eliminating the expense of the art being shipped in. They eliminate the cost of insuring the work while in transit and on their property. They expand the amount of inventory they can show because at the flip of a switch they can change the art being displayed.
Say you have a client who missed an artists show because they were out of the country. They come a week later and at the click of a mouse and some keystrokes you are able to transform your gallery back into the space it was during the show. In essence, a private show for that one buyer.
With the advent of hologram technology, in the near future, such a gallery could easily convert to projectors that show all sides of a specific piece of art. But even if that technology is not present yet it does exist to create 3 dimensional images that allow a person to see all sides of a piece of art.
Yes there is a cost to convert a studio over to the necessary technology, But consider the savings in the long term if a gallery could host virtual art shows. Think of the variations a gallery could create to show work in a much more dramatic fashion than they could previously do.
I see the art show of the future being much more interactive. I see a room with blank walls, that perhaps ripple with pastel colors while the room fills with people. Then the lights fade, the room grows dark and the art itself makes an appearance by slowly emerging from the darkness. Accompanying it is a music score which matches the motif of the art. And there before the eyes of those attending is a complete gallery show. Perhaps information for each piece flashes up next to it. Perhaps the artists voice itself is heard talking about various pieces. The possibilities become limited only to the limits of the creativity of the gallery.
Consider further that more and more people already have some pretty high tech equipment in their own homes. The buyer of the future may never need to leave home. What if Mr. Buyer, who is one of your best clients has a particular love for works similar to the style of Monet. In the future you will be able to show him those works directly in his own home. But if you do not have the technology in your gallery to do so, then your pretty much out of luck. This is proven by the increasing numbers of art work being purchased online already. People can and do buy virtually.
There will always be galleries which show real work. But as technology grows that segment of the art world is inevitably going to shrink. Artists will find ways of working with technology to have their work seen in other venues both online and off and "the gallery" may become as antiquated as an antique camera. "Oh how quaint. You have a real gallery" is something that no gallery owner wants to hear.
Start considering these things now because at the rate of speed technology is changing and the art world is adapting, those who ignore it will be gone.
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