Young artists: an ascending generation

Western contemporary artists born in the eighties, under 35 years old, all living in the USA or the UK and prized by the most important and prestigious cultural institutions around the globe. They are, among others, Tauba Auberbach, Lucien Smith, Axel Israel, Oscar Murillo, David Ostrowski, Jacob Kassay, Israel Lund, Dan Rees and Parker Ito.

The key of their success is the combination of a great amount of talent with, more importantly, having a solid network from the start of their careers and being in the right place in the right time.

Slightly different is the case of young artists in Asia. Born after 1970 –such as Wang Guangle, Chou Xiaofei and Liu Wei– and after 1980 as well –such as Hao Liang, Zhou Song and Peng Si–, with the changing tendency of art auctions from old resources to new ones, the contemporary art category has grown especially since 2012. Nevertheless, it was only until 2014 when young artists, instead of best-selling or highest-priced, became a hot spot.

Over the last two years, the non-stop promotion from auctions houses and exhibition platforms plus the lack of supply of old resources has lead the young artists market to the top. According to the primary artwork fair Art Beijing, more than 1,000 pieces were sold last year, 25% more than 2013. In fact, for the first time Sotheby’s Hong Kong selected works by young artists for their autumn’s evening auction last year.

But despite the obvious similarities, the gap between Western and Eastern artists born after the 80s is undeniable. According to market expert Li Suqiao, the price of Chinese young artists’ artworks is one tenth of their Western equivalent. While Western’s most valuable young artist, Tauba Auberbach (born in 1981) accumulates a total turnover of $7.29 million, Hao Liang’s (born in 1983) –the most expensive Chinese artist– is merely $1.85 million.

When it comes to China, an increasingly number of young collectors, who live the same environment of those young artists, are more likely to pay lower prices when acquiring an artwork. On the contrary, Western markets follow trends and invest great amounts of money on their young artists on the pursuit of social status and probably of a certain gambling pleasure.

Even though the role young artists play in the art history is not clear yet, considering the current price levels on the Asian market no bubble problems can be overseen in the immediate future. But the same cannot be said when it comes to Western artists; the higher the investment, the higher the risks taken.

*Information based on Artprice’s report The Art Market in 2014.