The Steve Brown Gallery

I'm in Jacksonville for a couple days with my family, and then heading back home to Cleveland. I've finally had a moment to let my thoughts settle with regards to my trip to Art Basel Miami, and I have a few things I'd like to share / ramble about.

The work was tremendous, as I expected it to be. Being able to stick my face inches away from original works from AJ Fosik, Chris Berens, Barry McGee, Seonna Hong, Mike Shine, Tim Biskup, Dan May, Brenden Daniellson, Lola, Gary Taxali, Jeff Soto, and so so SO many more...all these artists who don't show anywhere in Cleveland and whose work I only get to see online...it was a massive creative boost for me to spend my days surrounded by such incredible art. I'm grateful to the artists for creating it, and to the galleries who brought it out and displayed it for my benefit. Every time I blinked, the world created itself anew and it was staggering. I was slightly disappointed at not getting to see anything by Jim Houser, but I'll console myself with the fact that I bookmarked his most recent exhibit at the Jonathan Levine Gallery and it's currently set as my default home page when I open my browser. ;)

I got an opportunity to spend a bit of time with Brandt Peters and Kathie Olivas, and that was a pretty unexpected treat. They come up in conversation pretty frequently with Old Man Ryniak, and it was nice to actually get to meet them face to face and find out why he speaks so well of them. They're gracious folks, supremely knowledgeable, and uber-talented. If you have the opportunity to high-five and knock back a beer with them, I highly recommend it. Best of luck to the both of them with their careers, Circus Posterus, and all future endeavours. It's reassuring to see success bestowed upon people who deserve it, and they deserve (and have certainly earned) every bit of theirs. It was a nice little nudge from the universe, reminding me to work hard and be nice to people. Much appreciated.

Thanks to the generosity of Mike Franco at Wizard Sleeve Toys, I was given display space at the Multiversal Group Show. I had the opportunity to represent three gifted artists and dear friends: Sean Mahan, Stenvik Mostrom, and Julia Kuo. It was a thrill to be able to introduce their work to new eyes, spend an inordinate amount of time talking about them to new people, and place one of Sean's paintings in a stellar private collection. I'm honored beyond belief that these wonderful artists have placed their trust in me to handle and promote their work, and I look forward to many years of proving they made the right decision. Good things coming you guys, I promise!

My one disappointment in the event was regrettably sizable. After a full day of the Aqua & Scope fairs, we noticed that people wouldn't talk to us. At nearly every single booth with went to (with the notable exceptions of the Yves Laroche/Murphy Fine Arts booth, and the La Familia Gallery from Seattle...wonderful people, the lot of ya!) people were hunched over their laptops and didn't even acknowledge our presence. It was disheartening to see people representing such incredible talent, and too busy on their computers to take a few moments to talk about it. We began taking pictures (which I'll be posting soon) of what people were doing on their computers, and the results were slightly infuriating. Chatting on Facebook, checking Twitter, playing games....one exceedingly bored fellow was actually shopping online for cars while a dozen people stood in his booth.

It was unfortunate to see this very real representation of why so many artists are feeling disenfranchised by the gallery system. A great many artists feel as though the galleries simply stock their work, put out a few bottles of cheap wine, and then sit back and wait to take their 50% of whatever sells. And seeing how little effort these galleries were putting in to getting this artwork placed, I can absolutely understand the artists' frustration. It was absolutely maddening to me, and I wasn't the one who's career was being set to the side while my representation was looking for the after-party.

The plus side is that it was a fresh affirmation of my beliefs on artist management, and my goals for the Steve Brown Gallery moving forward. Seeing how desperately artists need someone who is absolutely looking out for them and their careers FIRST, and worried about making their cut second made me feel great about how I've taken that approach from Day One. I have always felt that my first duty is to the artist and their work. My second duty is to the collectors and the fans. If you take good care of the people who are trusting you with their work, who are trusting your opinions and tastes, who are trusting your ability to put forth a great event for them to either show with or to attend...if you take good care of these people it will insure your success. It's not the job of the artists to keep your gallery open. It's the job of the gallery to build a scene, to build careers, and to build collections.

It should never be difficult for people to experience or purchase art. And it shouldn't be a lifelong struggle for a talented and motivated artist to finally reach a point where they can make a living from their work.

I've got a lot of work ahead of me, but I feel tremendously confident. I have an incredible amount of talent to work with, and I'm grateful for all the opportunities that lay before me.

2010 is going to be an amazing year. I can't wait to share it with everyone. Thank you all for your talent, your kindness, your trust, and your hard work. I can promise I'll repay it, tenfold.

Much love,

Steve Brown