An Artist’s Secret Weapon Against Unethical Business

by Sean Madden

                I need to start this post by saying that MOST of the magazine editors, publishers, and gallery owners I’ve dealt with have been awesome.  By and large, they’ve been extremely professional and have done everything they could to promote my art to the public, and pay me on time. They’ve been great to me, in spite of the fact that the art business is tough (especially these days), and it’d be easy for a gallery owner to be late or forgetful about payment.
                That being said, I want to address what artists should do about the 1% out there who make it tough for artists. There have been times when I’ve had to get quite aggressive on the phone to get my work shipped back appropriately from a gallery. I’ve had to get very nasty with some magazine editors about payment. I’ve also had to argue about payment because my work was damaged due to poor treatment, and poor placement on the part of gallery and club owners.
                 Again—these kinds of issues are few and far between, but they are angering. There are people in the art business who feel that the standards of professionalism commonplace in the business world don’t apply to them. They may treat the gallery as a party house, where only the “cool elite” of the clique get consideration.
               Through my trials and tribulations, I’ve discovered a few secret weapons that worked VERY well for me, and they’ll work for you:

              Recently, my work was accepted for a group exhibit in a very prestigious gallery in LA. I’ll not say the name here, as I’m above mudslinging. The owner was very pompously dismissive with me on the phone. He just couldn’t be bothered with the likes of me (should’ve been my first clue). He referred me on to his out-of-state artist representative. After emailing the out-of-state rep, she eventually got back to me, and we agreed on which piece I would send.  When she sent me the contract, she told me to “ONLY COMMUNICATE WITH HER,” as the owner was not to be bothered by the out-of-state artists for questions or concerns. She was very explicit in her email that she was the point person—not the owner.
           This all seemed simple enough. I looked over the contract, signed it, and shipped my work.  A week later, I sent a follow-up email to see if my work arrived safely.  I received no response. I sent another email a few days after this, and when I did get a response she said she was unsure if it had arrived. “Unsure?” This was a little unsettling, to say the least. I needed a better answer than “unsure.” When I pushed to get a better answer, I got no response.
           A MONTH later, I still had no idea if my work had arrived, if it was hanging on a wall, or if it was in a show. I had no idea what the name of the show was, or the dates. I’d been treated essentially as though I didn’t exist.  I’d been completely ignored. Additionally, I was told I couldn’t communicate with the gallery owner, only the out-of-state rep, but she was being unresponsive. I was worried about my work, and angry about the dismissive, rude way I’d been treated. What to do? Hmmmm.
            I contacted the Better Business Bureau (BBB) for the LA area and filed a claim against the gallery. A day later, I received a phone call from the gallery owner himself. Gone was the dismissive, pompous tone. This guy was ANGRY. Even after I explained my dilemma to him, and told him that his out-of-state rep had been seriously irresponsible, he didn’t take responsibility for happened. He tried to blame me for it. I forcefully put the responsibility back on him (now I was angry) as an adult business owner who should’ve treated his artists more respectfully, and he reluctantly apologized. My work was returned, safe and sound (with LOTS of bubble wrap) a week later.
            I’ve also used the BBB successfully with a few forgetful magazine editors in the past. In one case the editor got email bravery and cussed me out in the email. Wonderful for me, as this email, once printed out, serves as evidence in my favor. The bottom line is, if I provide a service that I am contracted to do for a business, and I am mistreated by that business, I will file a claim after my efforts to resolve the matter on my own are ignored—whether they like it or not.
           While I’m recommending this, I want to also say that it should only be used as a last resort. Even if later retracted, reports stay open in the BBB files for a few years. I usually get very direct with people if they haven’t paid me, then I threaten them with legal action, then I contact the BBB. In any case, make sure you save any incriminating emails from the unethical business.


Sean Madden is an artist from Buffalo’s North Park neighborhood. He currently resides in Rochester, where he works as a school counselor during the day.  His insanely surrealistic artwork has been published in Canada, the UK, Australia, and throughout he US. Currently, he has work going into the next Scream movie. To see his work: www.clownvomit.org

To see an online sample of his new book, with a forward by Marcus Wise, visit here.