No artist wants to end up having a horror story of an experience with a gallery, so it is important that certain measures are taken to avoid this possibility.
Today on the show we are back with another art world horror story, this time with New York-based stencil artist and muralist, Logan Hicks. Logan joins us to share not just one but two nightmares he recently endured. He also dishes out some sage advice about what artists can do to ensure that they don’t go through something similar.
First, we hear about how Salt Bae breached a contract he had with Logan and ended up using the artist’s work for the marketing surrounding several of his restaurants.
“It was a total of about $35 000 worth of my work that Station 16 destroyed.” — @LoganHicksNY [0:08:48]
Next up, Logan talks about how the Station 16 gallery destroyed $35 000 worth of his paintings and is now refusing to compensate him. We hear about how Logan is fighting back against the Montreal-based gallery by using a combination of a lawsuit and a social media campaign, both of which are still underway.
“The first defense line is having a contract and a firm understanding. The second defense line is having a good attorney.” — @LoganHicksNY [0:39:38]
The main point Logan makes on today’s show is that if you want to be a professional artist, then certain business practices need to be understood and implemented in order for you to stand any chance of crossing the finish line intact.
Logan is far from small fry, so if these things can happen to an artist as accomplished as him, they can happen to you too. Tune in to hear the value of contracts, copyrighting, and lawyering up, on today’s show.
“It’s not finished by any stretch but it couldn’t be more clear that we are absolutely in the right. It’s just a question of how many hoops we need to jump through before we actually get compensated.” — @LoganHicksNY [0:40:35]
Key Points From This Logan Hicks Episode:
- Logan’s first horror story involving Salt Bae stealing his designs.
- A summary of Logan’s second horror story where Station 16 destroyed his artworks.
- The poor response Station 16 gave when confronted and how Logan is fighting back.
- Logan’s strategy of using social media to put pressure on Station 16.
- How Logan found out that dozens of artists have had the same experience with Station 16.
- The value of clarifying the terms of a relationship with a gallery before entering into it.
- Other simple measures to take for artists to protect themselves from bad galleries.
- Examples of galleries that Logan has worked with who treated him fairly.
- A checklist of red flags that point toward bad gallery practices.
- Learning that being a successful artist requires understanding the business of art.
- Bad weather on the East Coast and how Logan nearly lost his art collection.
- How helpful a simple consignment form can be for avoiding unpleasant situations.
- The amount of money you can get paid out if you copyright your mural and somebody uses it in their photoshoot.
“The situation with Salt Bae was a little more complicated simply because we did everything right. We had a contract with huge paragraphs and passages and big fancy words and everything else saying that they couldn’t use my art for this, that, and the other thing, and they still did. And it goes back to what I was saying earlier. If someone wants to fuck you they are going to fuck you.” — @LoganHicksNY [0:39:19]
Links Mentioned in Today’s Logan Hicks Episode:
- Logan Hicks — https://workhorsevisuals.com/new/
- Logan Hicks on Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/loganhicksny/?hl=en
- Logan Hicks on Twitter – https://twitter.com/loganhicksny
- Station 16 Gallery — https://www.station16editions.com/
- Salt Bae — https://www.instagram.com/nusr_et/
- Taglialatella Galleries — https://www.taglialatellagalleries.com/
- GGA Gallery — https://ggagallery.com/
- 123Klan — https://www.123klan.com/
- Not Real Art — https://www.notrealart.com/
- Scott “Sourdough” Power — https://www.notarealartist.com/