soiree henzo Will Pay You To Show Your Art
The most-recent soiree henzo exhibition, THE MOST-IMPORTANT THING WE HAVE IS EACH OTHER, featured dozens of works of original art and attracted hundreds of people…on a Monday!!
By soiree henzo
Photos: Jaime Marrero @jaimemarrero
Shattering a 100-year norm in the emerging art world, soiree henzo is paying 100 artists $10 each to participate in the event-based community’s upcoming art exhibition, “soiree henzo 100.”
That’s $1,000 directly into the pockets of artists BEFORE the exhibition even opens on Thursday July 13th, 2023 in New York.
To be clear: Money paid TO the artist, not the other way around! This is a real change.
Feeling strongly the long-existing norm of charging upfront fees to emerging artists shouldn’t exist, jake henzo and the soiree henzo team are rallying against art hanging and other upfront costs. They believe it’s an inherently incentived-misaligned practice and are determined to flip the script.
(Most excitingly: after producing 15 events, they see a viable way of keeping the script flipped indefinitely.)
Typically, an emerging artist will pay between $50 - $300+ for the “opportunity” to display an artwork in a traditional gallery group exhibitions or to take over wall space; often, the charge increases based on size of the piece. This is commonplace. Business practices like this clearly bar emerging artists in lower socio-economic brackets and self-funded artists from even entering the scene… getting their foot in the gallery-door.
Personally encountering this practice, Founder and Chief Soiree Lover, jake henzo recalls a moment early in his artist career when he was approached by a downtown Manhattan gallery for participation in their upcoming group exhibition:
“I remember being elated when I had the gallery reach out on Instagram. They had been around for awhile, had impressive names of artists on their website, and the gallery was not too far from my East Village apartment. It felt perfect. I even called my brother.”
Later, jake received a follow-up email with the terms of the agreement to find the gallery wanted $250 for his participation. One painting.
“Overall, it felt like a scam the moment I saw the terms. At the time I could have spent that $250 and been okay. Imagine if I was in a position where I couldn’t have spent that $250 but somehow I found a way to”
jake alludes to how the costly hanging fees may be forcing some artists to make real sacrifices simply to display their art. He continues,
“To me it feels like [art] hanging fees are the artworld equivalent of banking overdraft fees. It just doesn’t make sense and it’s genuinely upsetting; it impacts my friends.”
Even worse, the soiree team expresses frustration beyond just the monetary, transactional cost to artists. This business model also creates a scenario where a gallery or event organizer doesn’t have much of a reason to do additional work after curating the artworks. The soiree henzo team sees a clear incentive misalignment. Why put in extra effort and provide additional support to participating artists after receiving the money upfront? These institutions are already laughing to the bank, with some galleries netting $20k+ UPFRONT before an exhibition even opens.
“The idea of upfront fees charged to amateur artists paired with a higher commision-rate given to artists upon sale sounds great – in-theory. However, when breaking it down a bit, it’s a lazy practice and high-risk for artists who may not have a collector base or high likelihood of selling. Art sales are emotional and sporadic. And beyond blue-chip galleries, most of these places don’t even have extensive collector relations. The soiree team and myself feel upfront predictable income is much-better. Sure, it’s only $10, but it’s real. You can spend it and it’s real value, immediately.”
Moving into uncharted territory, soiree henzo is challenging the rest of the art world and the team believes “soiree henzo 100” will be a historic gathering forcing other establishments to change (or lose out on the hottest new artistic talents).
“No artist will pay $50 to $300 dollars to display a work which might sell, when they can display the same work and RECEIVE $10. We feel like it's a no-brainer and it's hard to believe hanging fees and charging other upfront costs to artists has been the norm essentially for the last 100 years.”
Beyond jake’s and the rest of the team’s position against unfair practices like art hanging fees, they’re also updating the day-of-event experience for soiree henzo 100 to better-fulfill their mission of getting artists and creators paid.
For the upcoming open-submission soiree henzo exhibition, the majority of artwork on display will also be available on a “Shop the soiree” online webstore. Attendees will be able to purchase the art directly via QR codes linking to the online shop.
“This was a clear thing we needed to do. I’m unsure why this isn’t the normal shopping experience for gallery go-ers and collectors.”
Overall lots is going on in the soiree henzo universe and the team has expanded from a solo-operation to a small, passionate team of soiree-love-generators.
What started as an artist gathering in an East Village apartment back in Summer 2022, and then blooming into a staple on Ave B, has clearly evolved-greatly since the start. When asked about his love for the soiree henzo community and the recent foundation of the team… Founder and Chief Soiree Lover, jake henzo said, “Three-letters W-O-W”
The soiree henzo team is excited for you to experience what is looking to be the most-fair and highly-anticipated independent art event in NYC art history.
soiree henzo 100. NEW YORK. THURSDAY JULY 13th.
soiree henzo will be selecting the 100 best works on June 20th.
Open submission (worldwide entry). 100 visual artists selected. 1 piece per artist. $10 paid upfront TO THE ARTIST upon delivery of the selected artwork. Split commision upon sale.
soiree henzo needs your help to change the course of art history – we got this!
[Submit for a chance to be part of history.]
For MEDIA INQUIRIES / requests for interviews email: jakehenzo@soireehenzo.com
