On The Matter of Public Space

Caroline Picard's article talks about the difference between a "professional" gallery space and a gallery created in one's house or apartment. She also talks about the need for both.

I agree that an apartment galleries need to happen. There are so many hurdles that need to be jumped when trying to set up an exhibition at a formal gallery. And even when the exhibit is finally installed and open to the public, there is no guarantee of success. People may show up but they may only be the "hot shot" art collectors that spend their Saturday nights looking at art and maybe buying a piece or two for an outrageous price. But Picard argues for the more intimate and casual apartment gallery. Friends will likely show up and, more importantly, a stranger or two that would never have considered entering a formal gallery.

You get a different mix of people in an apartment gallery, it is a less formal space and so it opens up possibilities for different buyers or exposure. I think this is important because there seems to be a gap between a formal gallery and artists. Not to mention that there is also a huge gap between the gallery and potential buyers. High end classy people frequent galleries. But this should not be the case, a gallery is for whoever wants to go and view the art and possibly purchase a piece. I think this is part of Picard's argument, the apartment gallery is trying to bridge the gap between the average Joe and the Art World.

As the article goes on Picard writes about how apartment galleries are actually illegal in certain places and how trying to stay within the law is just a confusing maze of time wasting. Why isn't there a way to make apartment galleries legal and encouraged? Why must there be so much red tape that artists just fall down and give up? Yes there are people willing to help artists find loop holes and are willing to turn a blind eye, but why must this happen at all? Yes there needs to be regulations on apartment galleries, for safety obviously, but other than that, what's the big deal? Why can't someone use their own space to effectively show their hard work? I don't understand why this is such a problem. True there are very successful apartment galleries, but what about places like the Green Lantern? Shouldn't they get a chance? I certainly think so.