| This study explores the social and material conditions of artist emergence and development in contemporary culture with focus on 23 regional and international artists based in Southern California. Research includes interviews with multi-cultural and intergenerational emerging, mid-career, and established artists, and contributors including: an art critic, gallerists, auction house director and staff, art historian, collector, and arts management program administrator who offer valuable insight to the study. The project brings together interdisciplinary fields of discourse and examines how the art market, traditional and new media genres, and personal and professional support structures affect an artist's path in today's economic and socio-political environment. Findings reveal how choices made impact an artist's career, as past influences, existing conditions, and emerging trends inform these contributions to our culture in the midst of global change.;Information and media-driven technologies are at the fore of a cultural shift that is occurring in the art world. This virtual environment may influence an artist's career success and survival, whilst the effects of these conditions impact the economic structure of the art market and theoretical issues of art's value and mediation in our culture. Artists are becoming entrepreneurs and taking control of their own careers, which consequently, circumvents the gallery system.;Significant factors that inform their decisions include: demographic and psychographic variables, childhood background, academic and professional experience, medium and methodology, business acumen, peer and community support structures, online media and social networking, gallery and institutional systems, and the economic viability of the art market. The study provides a revealing glimpse into the relationship of subjects to their work and process, and offers insight into the mechanisms of artist emergence in contemporary culture. The transcripts found in areas of the text and in the appendices present a rich archive of oral history from those who continue to make their way in the world through their work. This project serves as a reference to artists, practitioners, and those in the field who seek information and insight into the realities of artist emergence. |
