Your First Art Exhibition: Why You Don’t Need to Feel Ready

“Are you an artist?”

I ask people this surprisingly often in the gallery.

And you know what I hear all the time?

“Not really.”

“Maybe.”

“A little bit.”

Usually, this is coming from someone who makes art. Sometimes they’ve been making art for years. They might have already exhibited in group shows, sold work, or have a studio practice they’re completely committed to.

But ask them if they’re an artist and suddenly there’s hesitation.

Because somewhere along the way, we seem to have decided there’s a point at which you officially become an artist. Some invisible line you cross when you’re experienced enough, successful enough, confident enough or, perhaps, simply good enough.

And I think we do exactly the same thing with exhibitions.

“I’d love to have my own exhibition one day. I’m just not ready yet.”

But what does ready actually look like?

Maybe you never feel completely ready

I honestly can’t remember everything I was worried about before I booked my first exhibition.

I know there was probably some am I really good enough for this? going on. And definitely some how the hell do I actually do this?

What I do remember is eventually reaching a bit of a fuck it, just do it moment.

So I did.

I booked my first exhibition with my friend and fellow artist Dawn Rieniets, and I’m really glad I did it that way.

Having someone else beside me took some of the pressure off. We could bounce ideas off each other, divide up what needed to be done and navigate the whole experience together.

I’d already been exhibiting through an art group, so I had some understanding of how exhibitions worked and what would be expected of us.

But I certainly didn’t have everything figured out.

I also had a job.

And two young children.

Life didn’t suddenly clear the calendar and announce, Christina, you are now ready to have an exhibition.

We made room for it.

And I think that’s an important distinction.

There are always going to be things that can hold you back if you let them.

Some reasons for waiting are very real

I see artists talk themselves out of exhibitions all the time.

Two of the biggest concerns I hear are that they don’t have enough work and they can’t afford it.

Those are real considerations.

Exhibitions cost money. Depending on where and how you exhibit, you may need to consider gallery hire, framing, materials, transport, promotion, opening-night expenses and all the other little costs that have a habit of appearing along the way.

Putting yourself under financial pressure because you feel like you should have an exhibition isn’t something I’d recommend.

It’s also worth thinking about what you’ll charge for the work itself. If that’s something you’re still figuring out, I’ve written a separate guide on how to price your art without simply guessing.

Likewise, if you genuinely don’t have enough work for the space you’re considering, you need to think about whether you have enough time to create it.

Those are practical problems.

But I’m not ready is different.

Because when will you be?

What exactly needs to happen between now and this mysterious future date when you’ll finally decide you’re allowed to do it?

Another ten paintings?

Another year?

Another hundred Instagram followers?

Someone else telling you you’re good enough?

Sometimes “I’m not ready” isn’t a practical barrier at all.

Sometimes it’s a really good hiding place.

You don’t need someone else to declare you an artist

I see this from the other side now as a Gallery Director.

Artists come into Gallery Unbound and I can see that they’re ready to take that next step.

They have the work. They have ideas. They have something they want to say.

But they’ve already convinced themselves they can’t do it.

And unfortunately, there isn’t much I can do about that.

I can encourage someone. I can answer their questions. I can help them understand what is involved. I can look at their work and see the potential for an exhibition. And if you’re unsure about the practical side of approaching galleries, I’ve written more about how to get into an art gallery and what I actually look for when artists approach me.

But I can’t make them believe they’re an artist.

That bit has to come from them.

And maybe that’s actually one of the most important things you need before your first exhibition.

Not a massive Instagram following.

Not years and years of experience.

Not somebody handing you permission.

Belief in yourself as an artist.

Even if there’s still a little voice somewhere in the back of your head going, Are we sure about this?

Your first exhibition doesn’t have to be a solo exhibition

This is something I think we forget.

If the idea of filling an entire gallery with your work feels enormous, you don’t necessarily have to do it alone.

My first exhibition wasn’t mine alone.

Doing it with Dawn meant I had someone else going through the same experience. Someone to throw ideas at, problem-solve with and share the excitement and nerves with.

A duo exhibition, collaborative show or small group exhibition can be a brilliant step between participating in larger group shows and taking on an entire gallery by yourself.

If you’re starting to think about where you might exhibit, it’s also worth understanding how to choose the right art gallery for you and your work.

It still gives you the experience of developing a body of work, thinking about how artworks relate to each other, promoting an exhibition and seeing your work presented in a gallery environment.

And perhaps, after doing that, the idea of your own solo exhibition doesn’t feel quite so enormous anymore.

There is something very special about seeing your work on a gallery wall

You can work on a painting for weeks or months in your studio.

You can photograph it.

Put it on your website.

Post it on Instagram.

Show your friends.

None of those things are quite the same as walking into a gallery and seeing a body of work you’ve created hanging together on the walls.

Then someone walks in.

They stop in front of something you’ve made.

They look at it.

Maybe they move closer. Maybe they step backwards. Maybe they read about the work or ask you a question.

Maybe they interpret it completely differently from the way you intended.

They are spending time exploring something that previously existed only because you decided to create it.

That’s pretty bloody special.

And no, they don’t have to buy it for that experience to have value.

I wasn’t counting on sales when I had my first exhibition.

Sales are wonderful. Of course they are. But selling artwork isn’t the only reason to exhibit.

At its simplest, an exhibition is marketing and advertising in real life.

It’s an opportunity for people to encounter your work properly.

Not while scrolling.

Not squeezed onto a phone screen between a reel and an ad.

Right there in front of them.

Booking the exhibition is only the beginning

Now, I should probably admit that Dawn and I went pretty hard with our first exhibition.

The show was heavily focused on women, raising women up and challenging the patriarchy. We deliberately timed it across International Women’s Day and created an event around it.

We made goodie bags.

We had prizes.

We made merchandise and sold it ourselves at the opening.

We held two events during the exhibition.

We even sat in the gallery every day so someone coming through would always have one of us there — despite the fact that we absolutely didn’t need to because the Gallery Manager was perfectly capable and very supportive.

In hindsight, there may have been a few early warning signs that I was eventually going to open a gallery.

Not everyone needs to do all of that.

Actually, most artists probably shouldn’t.

But I do believe something my mum said to me throughout my childhood:

You get out of it what you put into it.

Booking an exhibition and hanging your work on the wall isn’t necessarily enough.

Tell people about it.

Invite them.

Talk about the work.

Share why you created it.

Create opportunities for people to connect with what you’re doing.

Think about what you want the exhibition to be beyond simply having your artwork hanging in a room.

You have created an opportunity for your work to be seen.

Use it.

And then something happens

When my first exhibition finished, I wasn’t sitting there thinking, Thank God that’s over.

I was raring to go.

I wanted to keep the momentum going.

I was excited about what might come next because what we’d just done felt big. It felt special.

Clearly my path eventually went considerably further than simply planning another exhibition.

But your next step doesn’t have to be opening an art gallery.

Maybe you make another body of work.

Maybe you apply for something you previously thought was beyond you.

Maybe you book another exhibition.

Maybe you simply start introducing yourself differently.

“Are you an artist?”

“Yes.”

And perhaps that’s one of the biggest things your first exhibition can give you.

Not permission to call yourself an artist.

You never needed that.

But the opportunity to finally believe it.

How do you know when you’re ready for your first art exhibition?

You probably won’t wake up one morning suddenly feeling ready.

A better question might be whether you have an idea you want to explore, enough time to create the work, a realistic understanding of the cost, and the willingness to commit to it.

And there’s another distinction worth making here.

Your work being exhibition-ready and you feeling ready to exhibit are not necessarily the same thing.

Your work does need to be ready to hang in a gallery. There are practical expectations around presentation, finishing and installation. You need to have enough work — or a realistic plan for creating it — and you need to understand what the gallery expects from you.

Those things can be worked out.

Ask questions. Talk to the gallery. Find out what’s expected of you. Give yourself enough time to create and prepare.

You don’t need to know exactly how everything will work before you begin. That’s part of the experience.

But if the only thing stopping you is wondering whether you’re a good enough artist to have an exhibition, maybe that’s not a sign that you need to wait.

Maybe that’s the exact reason you need to do it.

So, are you ready for your first art exhibition?

Maybe.

Maybe not.

There are practical things worth considering before booking an exhibition. Money matters. Time matters. Having enough work — or enough time to create it — matters.

But if those aren’t the things stopping you, it’s worth asking yourself what actually is.

Because I think ready is often an idea we create in our own minds.

It can become an excuse that stops us from grasping what we really want because staying where we are feels safer.

Sometimes we need to step into the uncomfortable.

Sometimes we need to take the risk.

And sometimes we need to say:

Fuck it. Just do it.

Maybe it’s time to have the exhibition.

If you’ve been thinking about putting on your own show, explore exhibiting with Gallery Unbound, see what’s involved and start the conversation.