In 2005, I lost my first artist, who simply left the gallery on her own accord. I naively thought that the artists that I started to represent, I would represent forever.
And why wouldn’t I?
I like my artists and their work, and I am a true believer in painstaking career-building over time. I know some people move faster in their careers, but I waited 14 years before I ventured out on my own, and I’m willing to wait the same amount of time for my artists. When I commit to taking someone on, I am there to see it through. I don’t see any other way.
Of course, artists have left the gallery over the years…some by choice, others by mutual decision. When it was my choice alone, I didn’t feel that I could take them any further, and they would be better off with someone who could.
But when an artist leaves the earth, that’s a different matter.
I’ve lost family and friends as we all have. Some have been artists. Stephen Aldrich was the first gallery artist of mine to move on in this way.
Our first show together was in 2005, but we had met several years prior at Craig Krull. At that time, he would make these meticulous collages from 19th-century woodcut and steel engraving prints. He partnered with a photographer who would then photograph the collages, the photograph being the final piece.
How funny it was to me that he would go through all the trouble to make the collages only to have them presented as photographs! Where were the collages!
Here’s a point for you…if you are making something with your hands, show that thing you are making. Of course, there are exceptions to this. The big-name exception is Frederick Sommer.
And who do you think Stephen studied with? Yes, Frederick Sommer. So it’s no surprise that Stephen not only did collage but then had his collages photographed, just like Sommer did.
My suggestion to you is to show the thing you are making. Photographers tend to want to make prints and edition them. It’s time to think like a painter and sculptor and create something unique that only can be sold once. Stephen eventually did. Could you imagine if he didn’t, and we were left to wonder what these collages looked like in person?!
Stephen passed away quietly in his home in Prescott, Arizona, on September 13th.
Since then, I’ve had it on my notepad to write about Stephen and tell you about his passing. I wasn’t sure why I waited this long until I started writing to you today.
I just wasn’t ready to let him go yet.
But I am reassured now that he and Fred are reunited, cutting collages together just like they once did.
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Michael Foley opened his gallery in the fall of 2004 after fourteen years of working with notable photography galleries, including Fraenkel Gallery, Howard Greenberg Gallery, and Yancey Richardson Gallery.
In 2002, Foley continued his interest in educating and working with artists by serving on the School of Visual Arts and International Center of Photography faculty. He currently teaches and lectures on contemporary photography issues at the undergraduate and graduate levels.
In 2020, he founded The Photo Community, which offers classes and commentary on contemporary photography.
Foley lives and works on the Lower East Side of Manhattan with his wife, Maya.