The gallery wall reveal in Portland made me question everything about how I present art

I was at a small group show in Portland last month, and the artist next to me hung their pieces with zero frames, just raw edges pinned up. Everyone was crowding around their work, talking about authenticity, while my polished pieces with matting and glass sat almost ignored. That moment got me thinking about how much we rely on presentation to hide nervousness about the actual art. Has anyone else noticed that showing work too clean can come off as selling out, or is that just a weird indie gallery thing?

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irisg5712d ago

Ugh, that's such a familiar gut punch! My buddy had the exact same thing happen at a show in Brooklyn, went home and ripped everything out of its frames that night.