JJ: I think the real value of college for me was the opportunity to explore the discipline required to get somewhere; to actually make something you believe is worthwhile and would represent an original contribution. When I moved to New York, much later on, I quickly realized that you had to support yourself as an artist because the dream of having that immediate hit of a one-person show� JW: (Laughs) JJ: I guess it does happen for some people but it didn�t happen for me. JW: Yeah, I�ve found it doesn�t happen for a lot of people, but everyone has the same dream. JJ: But you want to work, you want to keep on working so you find a way to support that. For me I did a number of different kinds of jobs. I worked in a gallery for a year and it was a valuable experience. I was the art handler, hung the shows and learned a lot about presentation. I also learned about the business; what happens in the back room, how sales are made and so forth. JW: That�s very interesting in terms of your eventually establishing your own gallery. From that perspective it sounds like on-the-job training. JJ: Yes, l learned a lot that year. The gallery director ran it like a small dictatorship. Everyone had their defined role and you weren�t expected to expand beyond that. For instance, my role was �Art Handler� but once, I wrote a press release because the people in the office didn�t really know anything about the artist that was being presented. I felt like I had a much better handle on some of the artist�s concepts so I wrote the press release. When the gallery director found out she got very angry and sort of sent me to my room which was the beginning of a rather unhappy period for me. |
