Art Gallery Private Views are a good thing. Discuss.
We reckon that one of the achievements of the artinliverpool.com website and our regular newsletters is that there is now a sizable group of people who regularly attend private views. Barely a week goes by without a few viewings, there’s often 2 or 3 on a Thursday even in the Summer and we see mostly the same crowd of people at each one.
Of course, we never buy any artwork at these events but it helps spread the word, we get to know which galleries show what type of art at what sort of price and I for one am often asked for recommendations.
Some people dislike PVs, they’re busy, noisy, boozy you can’t really get to examine the art. But I like them partly for those same reasons but mainly because its the only time you can meet and talk to the artists and curators. As long as its a Liverpool gallery I know I’ll be able to re-visit for a proper look at the exhibition so am happy to socialise in the meantime.
I’m sure the number of PV groupies is growing here and I think it helps foster a sense of community within the arts. I hesitate to promote them as a ‘networking’ opportunity but of course they are.
In some cities, New Orleans for example, they have a sort of PV-crawl as most of the galleries are in the same part of town, there’s several viewings on the same night and basic transport is available to get from one to the other.
Maybe we could do a similar thing here, now who can we get to do the maps?
Speaking of Viewings, there’s plenty more this week. See you there…
