Curating the Future: How to Recognize Real Talent in the Online Art Space. Editorial Vol 16recognize emerging artists
- Valentine H.Hyman
- Oct 22
- 2 min read
Editorial Vol 14 Recognize emerging artists
by Valentine H. Hyman – Founder & Curator, NNC Gallery London Project
When we talk about the art world today, we cannot ignore two forces that are reshaping our horizon: digital openness and the need for authentic curatorial filters.
In our selection of artists, winners of our Monthly Challenges, we can clearly see how these two elements intertwine.
On one hand, access to art — through virtual exhibitions, online platforms, and international communities — has expanded in ways that would have been unthinkable only a few years ago.An event such as the India Art Fair in New Delhi demonstrates how the global art scene is taking on new dimensions and creating unprecedented connections.
Artworks no longer inhabit only physical spaces; they live on screens, cross borders, and engage with audiences around the world.
On the other hand, this expansion brings a challenge: how can we identify true talent amid the constant flow of submissions, platforms, and digital projects?
This is where the role of the curator and collectives like ours becomes essential — not as arbiters, but as observers, selectors, and bridges. In this ocean of limitless visibility, what is often missing is someone who has the time, the tools, and the vision to search carefully and seriously. That is why our Monthly Challenge is not a generator of volume, but a laboratory of quality.
The winners of these months have shown more than technical ability. They have demonstrated the capacity to navigate between language and context, to use the web as a genuine extension of their practice, and to present themselves not as “available for exposure,” but as evolving artistic projects.
The fact that a work can be seen online does not automatically make it valuable; what matters is the work behind it — the network, meaning, and dialogue it builds with other gazes.
As collectors, curators, and art lovers, we must ask ourselves:
How does an artist use digital tools without letting the digital replace experience?
What is the relationship between the online showcase and the real studio practice?
Who dares to let visibility wait for the work, and who instead runs toward visibility?
In this moment, this tension — between what is visible now and what is still becoming — is what we want to cultivate. It is the tension we place at the heart of our curatorial vision.
I thank the artists who participate, the viewers who look with attention, and the collectors who ask “why” before “who.”
Together, we transform access into engagement, and visibility into presence.
Enjoy the reading,
Valentine H. Hyman
Founder & Curator, NNC Gallery London Project
TAG recognize emerging artists
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