Abstract

This article presents part of the results of a research on the contemporary art system in the south of Spain, entitled “Analysis of the emerging art market in Andalusia and development of new models for the valorisation of works of art,” conducted with the Grant of the Campus of International Excellence CEI BioTic-University of Granada in 2013-2014 and the funding of the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme FP7/2007-2013/ under REA grant agreement n°612213 (Research project: “GLobal cOntemporary art market: the intrinsiC and sociologicAL components of FINancial and artistic valuE of ARTtworks—GLOCALFINEART—”). Both research projects had a twofold objective: 1) to design a database of emerging Andalusian artists and exhibition contexts and 2) to analyze the impact of intrinsic and sociological factors on the development of the emerging artists’ careers, through the case study of the market in Andalusia. The artistic career of an emerging artist, which starts to operate at a local level and hopes to reach the international arena, has to go through certain known critical phases and depends on the interaction with well-defined institutions and personalities. The analysis of the Andalusian art system aims to define in detail the institutions and personalities that affect the career of a local emerging artist. Such knowledge can be achieved through interviews, and by collecting data on the artists on a more automatic/quantitative approach. This information has to be selected and categorized. Qualitative may be turned into quantitative variables, creating a well-structured database that can be analysed by quantitative methodologies.