AWAD is delighted to share a blog post by Abigail Ogilvy Ryan of Abigail Ogilvy Gallery. Abigail is a member of the AWAD Global chapter. Her gallery is located in Boston, MA.
We are so excited to be exhibiting our 4th edition of Fresh Faces, a show that features student artists from the Northeast region of the United States. Launched in 2019, Fresh Faces was created as a way to provide exhibition opportunity for current students and recent graduates outside of their university galleries. There are 27 artists on view who submitted their work through an open call and then were selected by my team for inclusion in the show. For many of these artists it is the first time exhibiting in a commercial gallery, others have shown with galleries before and are increasing their exposure as an artist. When we came up with the idea for the show it was one of our interns who coined the title “Fresh Faces.” You likely will have never heard of these artists before, but what I absolutely love is that many of them go on to show with other galleries or even continue to show with us in Boston and at art fairs – it really kickstarts their careers. For our collectors it’s an opportunity to discover and support an early-career artist while finding an excellent piece of art at a more accessible price point.
The show is both energizing and fun! The opening night is always packed with friends and family members of the artists. In most cases the sales are among the first for the artists, validating them as an artist in the contemporary art market and empowering them to push their careers forward. I also see it as an opportunity to mentor each cohort of artists – we make sure we have contracts in place (a practice they should consider continuing to have clear communication with their future dealers), we discuss how and when payments happen, we guide them through questions about pricing their work. My team and I always offer ourselves as future references should they have any questions navigating the art market even after the show ends. We hear from so many young artists that they do not have access to gallerists – so it feels great to close that gap in a small way.
We’re honored to have the opportunity to work with these talented artists and I hope you can experience the show, whether virtually or in person!
For more information on the gallery please visit – www.abigailogilvy.com. You can follow the gallery on instagram.
