Hopefully this blog post will act as a cautionary tale to any artists out there, intending to lending their work to an exhibition. Some years ago, when exhibiting in a show organised by Charlie Levine and Minnie Weisz, I made what I soon realised to be one of the most basic errors of exhibiting artwork.
Even if the
institution or curator that you are working with sounds professional, never
just presume that they are. Check with them beforehand that they have people
that know how to handle artwork, will have insurance that covers your work
whilst it is in their possession (and if they don't, which may be a bit of a
warning sign, take out your own insurance), and that they are using transporters
who know how to handle artwork - not just the transporter who collects it from
you, but also the transport agent who is returning the work to you.
Obviously, for
any artist just starting out you're more likely to be dealing with smaller and
less experienced people and venues, but even so, you've put a lot of hard work
into what you're exhibiting so don't under value it. Do everything you can to
ensure that you are compensated should it get damaged or stolen (which is a lot
more likely to happen when dealing with new, small venues or spaces where the
exhibition of art is not their main activity).
So, back to my
big art blunder. About six years ago I was asked by Charlie Levine (then
curating for a gallery called Trove in Birmingham) and the photographer, MinnieWeisz, to take part in the group exhibition, The Event 2011, that they were
both curating at the magnificent Curzon Street Station building in Birmingham. The
piece that they wanted from me was my sculpture, 'The City'. As this was my
favourite piece (although my giant model kit sculpture, 'And When I'm a Man',
seems to get slightly more internet coverage), and the sculpture that has
influenced the main direction of my sculptural work since its creation it in
1999, I was happy have it exhibited to the public.
Don't get me
wrong it was a fantastic exhibition and it, and my piece, were both featured on
BBC2's arts program, The Culture Show - but I failed to ask Charlie or Minnie
if they had insurance to cover the artworks in the show.
After the exhibition
came down my sculpture was transported to Minnie's studio in London where I
went to collect it. The day that I went to pick up my sculpture was the day
before I had to head out to Miami for Art Basel, so what I saw when I got
to Minnie's studio kinda put a downer on what should have been a fun time in
Miami. Minnie wasn't at her studio when I arrived to pick up the sculpture -
she'd left an assistant there, to not explain what had happened. Apparently Charlie,
rather than use an art transport company to deliver my sculpture to London, had
used her dad's furniture removal company to do it, as they were passing that
way anyway. I don't know exactly what happened to my work as Charlie and Minnie
refused to tell me, but when I got to Minnie's studio I was greeted with the
sight of 'The City', smashed to pieces. From the degree of damage I can only surmise
that if it wasn't done deliberately then it was probably dropped from a
considerable height - most likely off the back of a lorry.
Initially
Minnie told me that it would be covered by Michael Levine's (Charlie's dad's) company's
insurance - which was a small consolation as it would at least allow me time
off work (I was then working at the Victoria and Albert Museum) to build a new
version of the sculpture. However, Minnie later contacted me to say that as
Michael's company was a furniture removal company and not an art transportation
company, it wasn't covered for any damage that they did to artwork.
So there you
have it! Hopefully this cautionary tale will help others avoid the same
mistake that I made.
