Copelouzos Family Art Museum – 35 x 35 Project

UPDATED ON 12/20/21 WITH LATEST – SEE BOTTOM OF TIMELINE FOR UPDATE

Scam or Not? Read On…

Scam might be a bit of a harsh word, but “uber-wealthy family asking for free art from emerging artists” is not far from reality. People need to know about this. I’ve given a bit of a timeline below for you to read and come to your own conclusion. Essentially the Copelouzos Family Art Museum in Athens Greece asked me to be a part of their 35 x 35 project. This project is simply a donation to their personal, private, family art collection.

After doing some research on them, I accepted the offer with a caveat. I would create what I felt was the correct response to their request. I have participated in donation-style exhibits before that have some similar elements to the 35 x 35 Project. Most notably is that these projects send the artist the canvas, publish the art(ist) in a book, and have a public exhibit. Many others scan and upload the artwork into digital databases and are accessible publicly going forward.

What differed from this project was the “… opportunity for us and the receivers of the book but also through the exhibition, to get acquainted with your work and begin a longtime fruitful communication/collaboration with you.” In other words, there was hope of future sales or commissions with this donation. As you might imagine, this never happens.

Is There a Public Component?

Also, there is no public component to the 35 x 35 Project. It is a “voluntary art project” and a “donation art project” where the art goes directly into the private collection of the Copelouzos Family Art Museum. The museum doesn’t even have a website, let alone a public component to it. In other words you probably can’t walk up to the ticket window and buy entry to the museum. It’s completely private. So while it is voluntary and a donation project, it might actually be emerging artists giving art to a very rich family in Greece so that they can add to their collection. This is especially true if the vast majority of artists who participate never hear from the museum ever again after their submission.

Other Artists Have Never Heard Back From the Copelouzos Family Art Museum

And that’s what happened, too. I contacted several artists who have participated in the past. While they said the book was decent (it used artist-submitted photos, so not all photos were up to snuff), 100% of all the artists who got back to me said that they never heard from the museum, the program, or any other collector or gallery otherwise again. In other words, they took the art and ran off with it.

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For context, I participated in the Imago Mundi Project, which is another voluntary, donation art project. Luciano Benetton created it as a means to show the diversity of art throughout the world. The aim is to collect contemporary art from every single country, exhibit these works in all the countries so as to reach as many people as possible, and to create a publicly accessible digital database for research (<– This link is the specific collection that I am in). My submission was called Incomplete and is in the Scotland Collection. It is a reference to Scottish Independence, and the book looks nice, too.

Art is in the Eye of the Beholder

But here’s the real kicker. The Copelouzos Museum says they are collecting contemporary art, but in reality they’re puffing their own chests. Because I created a piece of work that they invited me to send in, and then they rejected it. They said it is “…a negative criticism to the 35x35project…”. But anyone collecting contemporary art should know that this type of activism is extremely popular. In fact, the Imago Mundi Project accepted work exactly like this by Spanish artist Eugenio Merino (Pay Me, 2014). So their criticism is not just dangerous with regards to muting artistic voice, but it clearly states that they just wanted something pretty to add to their collection, not uncensored contemporary art.

There are other donation-style projects that are fundraisers for non-profit arts organizations. I gave a free piece of art specifically to help these organizations raise money for their stated non-profit mission. I didn’t get anything in return (except for a tax deduction, which I may have or not even used) but I knew there was a community benefit. In fact, one donation was to an organization I have never even visited in the Studio Channel Islands in California. So I’m not against “voluntary” or “donation” projects. If I do participate, however, there must be a community component or they accept what I give them. If you want something special, you buy it. The Copelouzos Family Art Museum decided they didn’t want it.

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If subscribing isn’t your thing, please buy a print. This link brings you to the artwork I submitted to the project, but there are many other works under my name. Thanks again!

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Timeline of Events

Here is the timeline of events. Please note that I have the email thread from the director of the program, so what I’m stating is true and I can prove it legally if need be.

• Jan of 2020: The Copelouzos Family Art Museum asked me to participate in the 35 x 35 project. They would send me a canvas and I would create a free piece of art and donate it to the family’s museum. They would hold an exhibit in Greece (I was invited) and I would get put into a published book. The deadline to submit the artwork was noted as “until the end of April“.

• Jan: I asked if there was a social component similar to that of the Imago Mundi Project. The museum told me that any work I created would be “included in the permanent Museum’s collection.” They hinted that this could be an opportunity to “begin a longtime fruitful communication with you.” Therefore, no social component.

• Jan – Feb: I accepted to participate. For about two weeks there was a back-and-forth discussion on where to send the canvas (their expense). I received the canvas late Jan or in early Feb.

• March: My contact at the museum asked me to send a photo of myself for the project. I hate selfies, so I sent a self-portrait that I often use. They didn’t like that, and asked for a proper head-shot. I also let them know that the artwork was still wet (painted thickly with oil) and needed careful handling when it arrived (something I also said to my Imago Mundi contact, and that person duly noted to handle the work with care). The museum told me to hold on to the work until April when the courier would pick it up.

• April 23: I sent in my self-portrait again as well as a description of the artwork. I stated: “This piece represents how artists are constantly being asked to provide artwork for free despite the high costs of creation. However, artists often have little-to-no choice on how to proceed. Therefore, this piece represents both how agreeing to participate dilutes the artist’s standing, while saying no continues to block access to collectors and markets.” Yes, it is worded strongly, but that should not have mattered to the recipient. They asked for an art donation, and that’s what I gave them. But I digress…

• April 23: My contact responded claiming that my text is “…somehow a negative criticism to the 35×35 art project…“. In this email I was also told that if I “do not feel well with the idea of offering/donating this 35×35 cm work, then you should decide not to participate.” My contact also stated that “Of course, you are free to express your opinion, even to protest wherever and however you like but if you disagree with the whole idea of this art project, you should express to us your disagreement and not participate. We respect everyone’s opinion, we do not expect that everyone share the same opinion with us.”  At this point I kind of knew they weren’t going to allow me to participate. I was a bit surprised they didn’t reject the work outright, however. It was up to me to withdraw, but of course…

• April 28: I responded stating that I would not withdraw. And I told them that I had changed the text to the following: “Created during the COVID-19 quarantine, this work reflects the struggles of artists to stay afloat during a time of work stoppages and a dwindling supply of art buyers and patrons. A dual criticism of the art market and the artist himself, it shows how the artist was woefully underprepared to engage in a market where surface funding stopped and left little support underneath.” So yes, I remained in the project and changed the description to fit their mood better. And BTW – that whole COVID-19 losing work thing is true. I lost my job during this period due to work closures. I told them that, too, stating that we were all in this together.

• April 28: My contact agreed that were in this COVID-19 thing together and asked me to send the rephrased text. Note: this is in response to the email I had already sent earlier that day with the rephrased text in it already. The contact simply didn’t open it, didn’t read it, or didn’t acknowledge it.

• April 28: I responded again with the re-worded text. This time I added the line at the end: “It also shows how the lack of availability of wealthy patrons deeply affects the market of art development, which is an essential, expensive process where ground-breaking art is developed.” Hey, if you aren’t going to read the first one I sent earlier in the day, this is what you get for giving me a second chance to respond.

• April 28 and 30: My contact sent two emails requesting an image of the artwork, of which I replied to. There was also an exchange about my head-shot, which I finally relented to and sent in something more proper.

• May 1 to May 5: Crickets. Nothing. I followed-up on May 5 and my contact never responded.

• May 10: The day I am writing this post. April 30 was the deadline, and they never asked for a pick-up or responded to my responses to their own requests. It is clear they rejected the artwork by silence.

• June 15: More than a month after I wrote my original post, and more than six weeks after they requested my profile photo and gave my statement to them (and six weeks after their deadline), the shipping company got in touch to send the artwork to Greece. What’s funny is that it was the shipping company that got in touch, not the museum. I was suspicious, so I sent an email to my contact at the museum and that person confirmed.

• June 17: DHL picked up the package off the front porch, at least I think so. I never saw them coming and I left it there as instructed.

So you’re probably wondering why I would send the artwork in. The answer is that I should. This only makes sense. They sent the canvas, and I accepted to participate in the program. Considering I wrote this post, it is only fair that I follow through with my original intentions. However, I will continue to update this as I learn more. This is because submission is supposed to mean an exhibit at the museum and well as publication in a book. I’ll be waiting to see if I get the book and proof that it was, in fact, exhibited as noted. The museum has yet to schedule an exhibit.

• July 2: I received a phone call from an associate of the family / museum. This associate asked me to not name him, but it is not the same person who I associated with during the submission process. This person stated we had had a conversation in the past, but that was not true (neither email nor phone call, unless one of the emails was attributed to my “normal” contact but was actually written by the person who called – and I wonder if they were, in fact, the same person all the time. I have no proof of this and it may not be true, but I wonder). In short, however, it was a productive conversation. I should stress that my contact wanted this conversation to be informal, and it was. The conversation was healthy, and we both provided our arguments. There was no animosity during the call, just some polite disagreement and clarification of miscommunication on both parts. This is the summary below. I could not record the conversation because recording is illegal in Maine without the other person’s permission.
  • The conversation revolved around a few things that were definitely not clear before. I was initially asked to remove the social media exposure regarding this blog post. But I instead said I would add something positive to my social media by the end of the call. Essentially, that meant I would update this post and spread the update. I did do this, in fact, but I would have done it anyway.
    • The museum stated that they used professional photos in the book. This is contrary to what one of my artist contacts had stated. It is unclear if they used artist photos in earlier editions and professional photos later on, or if my artist contact simply didn’t know the difference. My artist contact in this regard did say that the photos had varying quality, but my phone contact disputed that.
    • There have been no exhibitions of past 35 x 35 project submissions (previously from China, Russia, and a few other countries). However, the Copelouzos Family Art Museum never stated that the exhibit would happen at a specific time. They stated that a larger exhibit of all the participants will be held in the future, and not in 2020. I should note that I’ve been told this before by another museum that accepted a free piece of art from me in Brazil, and while I have had good relations with that museum, that exhibit has also not yet happened. So it is only talk until there is an exhibit.
    • He stated that the museum cannot be public because it is on the grounds of the family’s living estate. Of course, this confirms that this is a family asking for free art to add to their private collection.
    • Furthermore, the contact stated that it was difficult to buy all the art in the project. Also, the museum would never notice artists such as myself all the way from Greece, which I agreed. I also agree that donation-style projects do inherently expand an artist’s exposure. BUT art is not free, and there are enough artists who don’t make ends meet. This isn’t just part of the system, it is inherently unfair. Support your artist, because if you like art, it’s the right thing to do. One thing I want to make clear: They asked me to participate in this project.
    • They asked via email, and that email came not long after I was connected on LinkedIn via my first contact with the museum (who is oddly no longer connected to me). I never applied or requested to be a part. I was told twice (once by email and another on this phone conversation) that if I didn’t like the project then I should withdraw. Each time I declined to withdraw.
    • According to my phone contact, COVID-19 explained the silence in the months of May and June. But also miscommunication between shipping agents in Greece and in the US played a part. I can understand this to some extent. It may very well truthful and heartfelt. However, my email contact was always quick to respond before. Why would they not respond to multiple emails leading up to their own self-imposed deadline? It is a strange gap that may be partially explained, but definitely not completely so. My phone contact noted it was a small staff and a large project. Yeah, I can imagine that some parts of projects are more difficult to manage than other parts considering the same-sized staff. I’m still not sold 100% that this is what happened in May, but I can believe this being part of it.
    • I stated that my artist contacts from previous projects never heard from the museum again. My phone contact asked me if the artists had ever re-initiated contact with the museum after submission. It’s a fair point, and I don’t have an answer. I’ll try to get one if it’s possible. However, now I know what the museum looks for. And I may have a project for them to sponsor. I guess we’ll see how that goes. I’m honestly curious.
    • My contact specifically said, “Our goal is to support the artist.” That may be one of their intentions. They are very active in the Greek art scene, promoting various projects and events. I don’t think they are bad people. I just think they didn’t think this this out. They needed a social component, and they don’t have one. The contact asked me to send info about other donation projects with a social component. I plan to do so. Maybe this will spark a change.

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• Jan 2021: I finally received the book. It’s a good book, honestly. Heavy, well-put together, well-bound, and the images were not artist-images, or at least mine wasn’t. And yes, I did a comparison vs. what I had sent them. They then contacted me twice to get my thoughts, which was nice. I responded to the second email because I didn’t have time to respond to the first.

The book’s quality is good, but there still needs to be an impact for artists here. The book does nothing if all it does is sit on my studio entrance table for people to browse. Maybe it makes a potential buyer look at me differently. But are collectors really seeing artists if there are hundreds of artists in one book? What is the book’s impact? I’m not one for ego here. Yes, I’m appreciative that the book turned out better than I thought.

If that’s true, then that’s great, but improvement needs more than just the book. Artists in the project need to have public exposure. Artists deserve positive impact. We’ll see what happens on that end. Since the book is good, and since they are making a point of contacting artists to get their opinions, then I hope that there will be a next step.

• May 2021: Remember their response to other artists never having heard from the museum again after submission was if the artists themselves had reached out? Well, I actually did reach out. To be fair, I kind of knew what the response would be considering how I had written this post and how they felt about it. But I did it anyway just to test them. I reached out and asked if they were willing to participate in my project that I was going to further develop at a residency in Galway, Ireland.
• June 2021: They replied to my request stating that the “museum doesn’t run a program for financial support”. I replied to them stating that I wasn’t looking for a cash handout, but merely wondered if they had an interest in buying any pieces related to the project. I would have given them a fair price, of course. In my eyes their participation would have shown that they really had an interest in cultivating a relationship with their participating artists. Think about it, of any of the artists who participated, if they had agreed to participate with me then they would have blown my argument out of the water. It would have shown a genuine interest in supporting the artists rather than simply taking free art for their own private use. One good thing from that email was they stated they are in the process of developing a website of their projects. This is a step in the right direction, as it helps to put a public face on the collected works. Whether this happens in a good way we shall see.

• Dec 2021: We are now approaching the end of 2021 and I have yet to receive a response from the museum regarding my request for participation in the project I spent time developing at a residency in Galway, Ireland. That residency was in Nov, 2021, so they very clearly missed that opportunity. I am doing another residency in 2022, but since they rejected my request the first time I figure they will continue to reject or ignore me going forward. For transparency’s sake, I did receive a grant from the Maine Arts Commission for this residency. The Maine Arts Commission is a public, state agency that is partially funded by the National Endowment for the Arts. So yeah, my residency was not a scam – it was a legit project validated by this grant.

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What Can You Do?

• Share the shit out of this post. Not for my popularity’s sake, but to call these guys out. If they had a social component to this, then that’d be different. But there isn’t. Artists need to stop this kind of relationship. We deserve better. Share this so that we can change this project for the better. The more artists who know the more who will ask for change. If the Copelouzos Family Art Museum decides to start buying art for the project instead of asking for donations, or decides to respond and provide a social component, then I’ll fairly update this post.

• Support me on Patreon: Yes, I’m getting some value out of this in the end. By subscribing you’ll get updates on my progress and you’ll be supporting an out-of-work artist (due to the COVID-19 work stoppages). The minimum is $1/month, and you get rewards. (note: yes, Patreon says there are images on my page not suitable for minors: yes, I’ve attended nude drawing sessions like any other artist. No, they aren’t unsuitable. Yes, Patreon is stupid.).

• Buy a Print: If you don’t want to subscribe, then please buy a print. Doing so will not only help support me as an artist, but it will also spread the word that what this museum is doing isn’t cool. The more people who buy prints the more people who see this post.

• Remember to fight back. Yes, it sucks that artists often have to participate for free exposure. It’s part of the market and game. But it doesn’t mean we always have to do so. Stand up for yourself. Maybe you’ll get screwed over it, or maybe you won’t. Either way, you’ll own what you do, and as artists that is one of the most important things we can do.

Thank you!

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