{{Short description|Art gallery that charges artists fees to exhibit their work}} A '''vanity gallery''' is an art gallery that charges artists fees to exhibit their work and makes most of its money from artists rather than from sales to the public. Some vanity galleries charge a lump sum to arrange an exhibition, while others ask artists to pay regular membership fees and then promise to organize an exhibition with a certain period.<ref name="Gulrich">{{cite book| title=187 Tips for Artists: How to Create a Successful Art Career - and Have Fun in the Process!| author=Kathy Gulrich| page=57| publisher=smART Business Coaching| isbn=0-9746533-0-6| year=2003}}</ref> There is debate as to whether galleries that ask artists to contribute to expenses, e.g. by arranging for announcements of the exhibition themselves, fall into the same category.<ref>{{cite web| title=Vanity Galleries, Artist Co-ops, Slides, Announcements, Juried Shows, Advertising... Just how much do I have to pay to be an artist?| author=Sylvia White| url=http://www.artspan.com/newsletter/artsMart_Newsletter03.htm| publisher=artspan.com| access-date=2007-06-05}}</ref>
==Derivation== Vanity galleries are an offshoot of cooperative galleries (also called artist-run initiatives), galleries which are operated by artists who pool their resources to pay for exhibits and publicity. Unlike cooperative galleries, which carefully jury their members, vanity galleries will exhibit anyone who pays.<ref>{{cite book | last =Michels | first =Caroll | title =How to Survive and Prosper as an Artist: Selling Yourself without Selling Your Soul | publisher =Henry Holt and Company | year =2001 | pages =[https://archive.org/details/howtosurvivepros00mich_0/page/112 112] | isbn =-0-8050-6800-7 | url-access =registration | url =https://archive.org/details/howtosurvivepros00mich_0/page/112 }}</ref> In 1981, ''Village Voice'' reporter Lisa Gubernick posed as an artist and "within 20 minutes" of contacting the Keane Mason Woman Art Gallery was handed a contract for "$720 for 16 feet of wall".<ref>{{Cite news | last =Gubernick | first =Lisa | author-link =Lisa Gubernick | title =I Was an Artist for the Village Voice | newspaper =Village Voice | pages =71 | date =October 7–13, 1981 }}</ref> Occasionally a vanity gallery will appear to have a selection process. This is because "if every participant is promised a one- or two-person show every two years, the number of artists on the membership roster cannot exceed the available time slots for shows."<ref>Debora Melz (1995), "Vanities: Caveat Exhibitor" in ''Getting Exposure: The Artist's Guide to Exhibiting the Work''. Art Calendar Publishing, Inc., p. 182. {{ISBN|0-945388-04-7}}.</ref>
Commercial art galleries derive their profit from sales of artwork and therefore take great care to select art and artists that they believe will sell and will enhance their gallery's reputation. They spend time and money cultivating collectors. If the artwork sells, the gallery makes a profit, and the artist is then paid.{{fact|date=September 2021}}
By contrast, vanity galleries have no incentive to sell art, as they have already been paid by the artist. Vanity galleries are not selective because they do not have to be. Many professional artists recommend that new or emerging artists avoid exhibiting their work in them, primarily due to their financially predatory behavior as well as the fact that professional critics and reviewers tend to ignore them.<ref name="Gulrich"/><ref>''[http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/08/10/191830.php Vanity Galleries]'' by Lenny Campello, 10 August 2004.</ref>
==See also== *Vanity press *Vanity label *Vanity award
== References == <references/>
Category:Types of art museums and galleries Category:Contemporary art galleries Category:Confidence tricks Category:Deception