Spring 2020: News and Transitions

Last fall, with new constraints on my capacity to spend the whole summer on Nantucket, coupled with a growing desire to focus more on my art practice, I decided that it was time to search for an employee and business partner for my Nantucket gallery. This person was to be tasked with overseeing much of my business operations throughout the year and manage the day-to-day obligations of the gallery on Nantucket. In January, just as I was about to start the search, my landlord Edwin (the chef/owner of Oran Mor, who purchased 2 South Beach Street in 2019) informed me that he is expanding his restaurant into my space and thus not renewing my lease when it was up in March. In other years this news could have been devastating, but as I was already anticipating a change, it actually led me to see the next steps with greater clarity.

The clear solution to maintain continuity while freeing up space for my artistic endeavors outside of Nantucket was to partner with another gallery. After much consideration, I decided that Quidley & Company on Main Street was best suited for this role. They have taken me on as the first and only photographer they represent and have offered me exciting opportunities to exhibit. An important aspect of this partnership is that Quidley & Company has generously left me free to maintain independent professional relationships and autonomy while availing editions for exhibition and sale in their galleries (they also have locations in Naples and Westport).

I opened Michael Gaillard Studio in 2014 with the hope that it would enable me to provide for my family while sustaining my art practice. Now that I’ll have more freedom, I will be able to embrace the Nantucket practice for what it is, while also being able to focus on other aspects of my practice. The subtle, unique beauty of Nantucket as rendered in my landscapes has great value as an aesthetic record. It also is a very satisfying way for me to sustain myself. With this new arrangement, I’ll be able to continue to make my Nantucket work without feeling a burden to hybridize or stray from the content that established my career on Nantucket in the first place, and from which I derive great pleasure.

Every year, the Nantucket gallery took five months or more of near-undivided attention—planning and preparing the exhibitions, hiring and training employees, improving operational systems and business strategy, planning openings and marketing campaigns, engaging with the public, overseeing all aspects of the production process, installing works, and even manning the gallery myself— it was demanding and all-consuming. On top of all those responsibilities, I had to make the art that would both meet my creative standards while maintaining appeal to my audience—two responsibilities that don’t always align. Now, with the support and stewardship of a partner, I’ll have the time to engage in a broader spectrum of interests while not compromising what I’ve created on Nantucket while increasing the amount of time I can spend making art.

I have known for some time now that, for me to be fulfilled and appropriately challenged as an artist, I needed to go deeper with my art practice. As our country’s circumstances have become more dire, my awareness of them has become more vivid. In order to participate in a conversation beyond aesthetics, I want to make work that responds to our moment and the challenges we face. I am concerned for what our country is becoming and feel deep anxiety for the world that my children will inherit. The best way I can channel this energy is to observe, question and document this moment in history as it unfolds. There are moments throughout our landscape where the grand American narrative and the specific realities facing people and communities within our country intersect, overlap, and contradict. I hope the images I produce can serve as symbolic distillations of this deeply fractured and precarious moment in American history. You can see the growing series of images here: The America Experiment. In addition, while I’ve been in isolation in Rhode Island, I’ve added another project to my website, Isolation Record. You’ll certainly hear more about this work as it evolves.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this letter during these difficult times. I look forward to seeing you when we emerge. I hope you and your family are well and safe.

All my best,

Michael