The art world is expanding its definition of what constitutes an "emerging artist," moving beyond the traditional image of a struggling twenty-something experimenting with unmarketable installations. At this year's Art Basel Paris, the Emergence section features 15 artists who represent a broader spectrum of practitioners, including those outside the mainstream art world regardless of age, with a clear focus on commercial viability.
The most striking example is Xiyadie, a self-taught Chinese papercut artist in his early sixties who explores homoerotic themes through delicate works. His gallerist, Mimi Chun of Blindspot Gallery, praises the fair organizers' inclusivity, stating, "I'm quite impressed by the fair organizers. I think [including Xiyadie] is a statement about supporting and being open-minded to artists from a diversity of practices and backgrounds."
Xiyadie's journey to recognition illustrates this new definition perfectly. Despite recent international acclaim at the Venice Biennale and The Drawing Center in New York, he didn't identify as an artist until his forties, previously seeing himself as a "migrant, blue-collar farmer." He didn't secure commercial gallery representation until 2018. Much of this stems from his experience as a gay man in rural China, where he grew up before moving to Beijing. His pseudonym, meaning "Siberian Butterfly," was adopted to protect his identity in the city's subcultural scene.
The works Chun brings to Paris tell Xiyadie's coming-out story, blending biography with fantasy through unseen historical papercuts from the 1980s and 90s, alongside four new, larger pieces set in bucolic environments that reveal his later-life utopian vision of people coexisting harmoniously with nature. His pieces are priced between $4,000 and $30,000, making them accessible in the current market climate.
Pauline Seguin, founder of Berlin's Heidi gallery, is presenting work by research-based American artist Kandis Williams, born in 1985. The exhibition includes a film, collages, and lenticular prints that shift according to viewing angles, exploring racial dynamics within the context of U.S. militarization. Seguin describes the works as "visually strong" and challenging for fairgoers, noting that the "emerging" label gives artists "some license to grow and experiment with a freedom that established artists don't have anymore."
Clément Delépine, the outgoing director of Art Basel Paris, extends this freedom concept to galleries as well. He points to successful precedents from the 1990s Liste fair, where now-prominent galleries like David Zwirner, Galerie Eva Presenhuber, and neugerriemschneider first participated. "Some of the galleries you now see in Emergence could become powerhouses in the next 20 years," he predicts.
A common thread among many featured artists is their institutional recognition coupled with nascent commercial presence. London's Ginny on Frederick gallery is showcasing an installation by Iran-born artist Arash Nassiri, born in 1986, which addresses urban displacement through dollhouse sculptures of empty Tehran shops with flickering neon signs in Farsi. Despite recent exhibitions at Berlin's respected KW Institute for Contemporary Art and upcoming commissions at London's Chisenhale Gallery and the Fondation d'entreprise Pernod Ricard in Paris, Nassiri is still establishing his commercial footprint.
Gallery founder Freddie Powell emphasizes the importance of visibility, noting that his new sculptural installation "needs a lot of eyes on it," which Art Basel's prominent first-floor balcony position in the Grand Palais can provide. Powell advocates for a more inclusive definition of emerging artists: "Hopefully we can strive for a more inclusive meaning, which is more about the moment for any particular artist, rather than referring to an art-school graduation date."
This shift toward emerging artists coincides with the broader art market's pivot toward lower-priced works. Nearly all Emergence galleries interviewed by the Financial Times have booths priced below $60,000. Established powerhouse galleries are responding by increasingly proposing co-representation arrangements with smaller galleries to secure promising artists. At Art Basel Paris, Hauser & Wirth's booth includes recently shared artists like painter George Rouy and collagist María Berrío.
Younger gallery representatives cautiously welcome this collaborative dynamic. Alex Vardaxoglou, who is presenting a vast new work by Tanoa Sasraku (born 1995) in the Emergence section, acknowledges the reality: "It is a reality that is on the up. But it's good that there are more big galleries contacting me, rather than going directly to the artists." Powell finds value in learning from larger organizations, noting that collaboration "can open doors, but [if not collaborative] it can also close them."
The question remains whether traditionally conservative French collectors will embrace these up-and-coming artists. Seguin observes that "France has this beautiful tradition of appreciation for the arts in general, though not so much for the cutting-edge. I will be very interested to see how they will react to [Kandis Williams's] work."
Delépine acknowledges that Paris was historically "perceived as more dusty, and with longer validation cycles [for new artists] than London or New York." However, he notes positive changes, with the Emergence section coinciding with "an interesting generation of artists coming of age, many of whom were foreigners who have made Paris their home. There is a new dynamism to the city." Art Basel Paris runs from October 24-26 at artbasel.com.
