How Peter Halley Built a Career Without Picking Just One Gallery
I will be speaking with David Graff tomorrow at 1 pm EST on Substack Live. David is a Canadian artist known for his luminous gilded paintings that combine gold, silver, and bronze leaf with expressive abstraction. But what makes David especially unique — and why I think this conversation is a must-watch — is the way he’s built his career entirely through gallery relationships.
He’s represented by multiple galleries, not just one, and his entire livelihood as an artist flows through those partnerships. In a time when many artists feel pressure to constantly self-promote online, David’s story is a powerful reminder that strong, trust-based relationships with galleries still matter — and can sustain a full-time practice.
If you’ve ever wondered how to approach a gallery, what makes a relationship last, or whether the gallery model still works today, this interview is for you.
Rethinking Gallery Representation: The Case of Peter Halley
In today’s art economy, many artists are bypassing traditional galleries altogether, building careers through social media, online sales, or direct-to-collector strategies. But as platforms shift to pay-to-play models, visibility comes at a cost, and alternative ways of reaching collectors are gaining traction. Artist-run spaces, cooperatives, and even commercial artist agencies are re-emerging as viable models—offering artists more flexibility, autonomy, and reach.
Within this evolving landscape, co-representation by multiple galleries1 has become a notable strategy—especially for artists looking to balance institutional access, international markets, and artistic control. Though it may seem like a new trend, co-representation is a time-tested model that has quietly supported many mid- and late-career artists for decades.
Peter Halley offers a particularly illuminating case. A leading figure in contemporary abstraction, Halley has long practiced non-exclusive, multi-gallery representation, exhibiting with major galleries across the U.S. and Europe without binding himself to a single dealer. Rather than selling directly to collectors, he often sells works in advance directly to galleries, a reversal of the usual dealer-artist-collector pipeline. This system allows him to maintain creative control, plan long-term, and engage strategically with different art markets.