The 140 painters exhibited by the HangArt gallery in Old Montreal will be able to begin collecting their 1,400 works on Wednesday, the day the definitive closure of the gallery was announced. After its branches in Vancouver, Toronto and Victoriaville, the HangArt of Quebec and Montreal in turn left behind dissatisfied painters, who felt wronged. A look at these galleries, closed in series.
“I will restore all the works down to the last one,” retorts Hervé Garcia, from HangArt, to questions from Duty on the branches of the gallery he owns, with Julie Plouffe.
In Montreal, since 2019, HangArt has changed addresses three times. In Vancouver, the gallery on Granville Street, proudly opened in 2020, stopped updating its Facebook page in December 2021. In Toronto, the HangArt gallery on Queen Street, launched in January 2022, quietly closed in February 2023. gallery in Quebec, open in the summer of 2022 on rue Saint-Jean, is at the start of the year driven by the closure of the one in Montreal.
The duty collected testimonies from several painters from each of these cities. They paid for exposure and lose the investment. We owe them money for sold paintings. Some do not know how to recover their works, moved from one city to another due to closures.
Like Kyla Yager, who studied fine arts at York University. She says she was so happy, in January 2023, to sign a one-year contract with HangArt in Toronto to exhibit five of her paintings.
“It cost me $1,107.40,” she explains, supporting the invoice. This is how the HangArt commercial gallery works: artists pay each month ($30 per canvas) or for the entire year ($25 per canvas) to have their paintings exhibited there. According to this business model, the 1,000 original paintings on Rue Saint-Paul would provide at least $25,000 in revenue per month.
Less than a month after the start of M’s contractme Yager, the Toronto gallery, announces its temporary closure due to a heating problem. “I was promised a reopening in March,” adds Mme Yager, then in July. That didn’t happen. I was told that my works were being transferred to Montreal during repairs. »
His paintings are now sealed on rue Saint-Paul. “I don’t know how to get them back. I’m wasting my money, and I have to find the time, drive from Toronto, pay for gas, find a way to bring my paintings back. »
The watercolorist Javid Tabatabaei wrote spontaneously to Duty. “HangArt in Vancouver sold one of my paintings, but they never gave me the money. I followed up several times, I never heard back. »
The appearance of success
Even today, on the “Franchises” page of its website, HangArt announces galleries in Toronto and Vancouver, “territories in the process of opening” in Gatineau, Mont-Tremblant, Saint-Sauveur, Ottawa and Whistler , also an “ongoing” franchise in West Palm Beach. Among the branch addresses is one on Notre-Dame Street, in Victoriaville.
Victoriaville? François Thibeau, alias Frank Tibo, pop art painter, is at the origin of this branch. “The history of the franchise is a failure from start to finish. The gallery was never opened. »
Mr. Thibeau refused to explain the links that unite him with HangArt. “As an artist, I was treated well. It was okay, I sold some paintings. » As a franchisee, did he lose money? Silence. “I distanced myself. I’ll settle my affairs just with him. »
Pay for the expertise
On the HangArt website, potential franchisees are encouraged to have an amount of $50,000. “Entry fees are set at $35,000,” it reads. “Ahead of your opening, you will have intensive training provided at headquarters and in the gallery in order to combine theory and practice,” announces the site.
“I wasn’t lucky enough to be entitled to that,” replies painter Sophie Couture, who bought not a franchise, but shares in HangArt Québec a few months ago. “I quickly had to make arrangements on my own, especially since we had to close. Hervé and Julie are of no help, I don’t even have answers to my questions. »
Mme Couture has reached an agreement to leave the Quebec premises at the end of the month. She manages the restitution of the paintings alone. “The delivery of the paintings is going very well, three quarters of the works have already been collected, we will finish at the end of the week,” she said.
“The gallery that sells so many paintings”
Hervé Garcia, for his part, believes that HangArt is a unique concept. “In exchange for a small subscription, emerging artists can […] enjoy a presentation of their work like established artists. »
“Success did not take long and galleries opened in Vancouver, Toronto and Quebec, as well as a franchise in Victoriaville,” he continues by email. All the artists applaud HangArt and all want to be part of the big gallery family that sells so many paintings. »
“From zero, we came close to a million dollars: sales of works, subscriptions, magazine, shows… We too were creative to ensure the growth and visibility of our artists… Again, how wonderful we were,” adds Mr. Garcia.
Coming out of the coronavirus pandemic, “our operating costs are no longer covered by falling sales”. “ [La] Closure of Vancouver and Toronto is necessary for us to stay afloat. »
“At the beginning of November, three groups of buyers came forward. Unfortunately, the holiday season dispersed potential investors and negotiations were postponed until the first days of January. Impossible, despite my insistence, to finalize before December 31. ” 1er January, the owner changes the locks. The latter says he never received rent.
A “fast deal”
Sam Simeone, who has been exhibiting work at the gallery since last year, was among the intended buyers, as Mr. Garcia confirmed. “Hervé told me that the gallery brought in $500,000 a year, that he would sell it for $50,000, which is already weird,” said Mr. Simeone.
“I was interested. On December 26, he wanted to make a fast deal. I told him that I absolutely had to see the papers from his accountants, the lease, everything. He told me yes. I did not receive anything. It was unthinkable for me in these conditions to make a transaction, quick or not. »
Montreal artists have asked lawyer Marc Vaillancourt to represent them for future procedures, from the restitution of works to that of the amounts owed. They hope to finance legal fees through a GoFundMe fundraiser.
Willful blindness
“I was completely blinded by my desire and my hunger to be in a gallery,” explains artist Kyla Yager. I ignored all the warning signs that were going off. »
“My professors at university told me so much that it was important for an artist to be in a gallery… they didn’t tell me how to recognize a professional gallery. I thought that was the norm, paying to have your works on consignment. I learned,” she says philosophically.
At the time this text was submitted, no personal or business bankruptcy applications were registered with the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy in the name of Hervé Garcia, Julie Plouffe or HangArt Saint-Denis, the first incarnation of the gallery. A bankruptcy trustee is copied on correspondence sent to certain artists.
“You can be assured that there will be bankruptcy. Today, HangArt is dead and, with it, a tool for emerging artists that appealed to so many clients from many countries,” says Hervé Garcia.
“We too lost everything,” he continues. Fifteen years of committed life, our savings, our retirement plan, our reputation. We would like to thank the customers and artists who have positively marked our lives. To all those for whom we gave everything… to whom we owe absolutely nothing and who, under the influence of the group, vomit on us, I wish them good luck for the rest of their careers now that they have killed HangArt . »