When exhibitions, galleries and editors herald a new emerging artist, what are the few criteria triggered from this ambiguous label? Presumably an art graduate, 18-30 years old, with a little critical acclaim beyond the veneration of their tutors and peers. Does it refer to beckoning recognition or the infancy of artistic prowess? How do you know when you’ve ‘made it’ and why should you care how you’re labelled?
The National Association for the Visual Arts (NAVA) defines an emerging artist as one that “will have practised as a professional artist continually for less than 5 years.” If the emerging artist chooses to apply for grants and subsidies from the Australia Council Young and Emerging Artists Initiative, then they must be “in the early stages of their careers,” although “some grants have age specifications.”
