Westport - January/February 2022

Page 26

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left: Idris Habib, Globetrotter M (2017), oil pastel on 100 percent cotton map fabric (exhibit planned for February) right: Dominik Schmitt, Dog (2018), acrylic and oil on canvas

HAPPY CAMPERS

I

f you know the art world at all, you may be aware that artists have their share of challenges breaking into the biz, but, surprisingly, some of their struggles are with the very galleries they populate. “Unfortunately, there are some elements of this industry that are unethical and artists are often taken advantage of,” asserts Melanie Prapopoulos, founder of The Contemporary Art Modern Project. Prapopoulos started her art career in 2000, while living in Greece and exhibiting in the U.S. “It was remarkable how many galleries asked me to pay to exhibit when I was just starting out,” she remembers. Emerging artists may be contacted by galleries who promise the world, then don’t deliver, and Prapopoulos explains that sometimes a gallery will buy an

left: Founder Melanie Prapopoulos above: The showing of Nicaraguan artist Franck de las Mercedes

artist’s work, mark it up significantly, then take an egregious cut that leaves the artist with barely any profit. Other galleries may “lose” an artist’s work and never return it or return the piece in damaged condition. Some galleries, she adds, don’t ever pay up for works sold. “Being an artist, I know the business, and I also know I don’t produce art just for the money, so it’s terrible knowing that many artists feel the same way and are being underrepresented, overcharged and mistreated,” she says. With the weight of this injustice on her mind, Prapopoulos decided to take action. During the early Covid lockdowns, she amicably ended her previous art venture and decided to open The CAMP Gallery, using her late father Constantine’s initials (CA) and

ALL IMAGES COURTESY OF CAMP GALLERY

NEW CAMP GALLERY OPENS IN WESTPORT WITH ARTISTS’ INTERESTS AT HEART b y m a l i a m c k i n n o n f r a m e

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