I've always been on the fence about limited edition works. I've seen people have limited editions of 1000, or 2500 and I wonder is that REALLY limited edition? I mean, I suppose if you're a wildly popular artist, perhaps 2500 prints would sell very quickly. But usually limited editions fetch a higher price, so depending on what the price was, perhaps it would take years to sell 2500 prints.
When I started my business I was making things by hand. Greeting cards and other small gift things, mostly, and here and there I did some photography. When I started doing the collages, I didn't think anything of having them limited. To me, I wanted my artwork to be accessible by as many people as possible, and while not cheap, I wanted it to be fairly affordable. So all my location collages are open edition. Now that I've decided to start pursuing art fairs outside of the state, this is a problem.
A lot of the prestigious art fairs require that most of your booth be originals, and if not originals, limited editions. Now, I've seen people take open edition work and make it limited edition by treating it in a particular manner, like a special type or size of print. This is what I'd like to do with my artwork but I have NO idea what to do.
I was considering having it mounted to acrylic block. This, I found, is not only incredibly expensive, it's only done in the UK, or so it seems by my research. Somewhat silly to spend tons of money just to have displays in a booth because truly, that's all they'd be. I have a feeling people would still purchase the matted prints over any big fancy limited edition piece I had. My next thought was to have them framed in lightboxes. The neon light collages would glow awesomely in a lit-up frame. However, that's also expensive and I'd have to have electricity in my booth. Then there's the other option: ignore the art fair directions. Well, I just don't want to push my luck.
So, I'm still stuck and I'm open to any ideas anyone has. The applications for next year for a few out of state shows will be coming up in a few months and I'd like to have a better idea of what the heck I'm doing if I'm going to be applying!
1 comment:
Print the collages on canvas and stretch them around bars, print some cool border that will be the edges, and limit that edition. The 2200 prints on canvas very easily, canvas paper is not that much more than regular printer paper, and stretcher bars are super cheap. People eat canvas prints right up; it's the newest thing. It can't be that much more work than cutting mats and framing, and it might even be cheaper but you can charge way more because it's "limited edition". Oh, and hand sign each one with a paint marker in the corner.
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