In an era dominated by internet culture, acronyms such as #FOMO have not only entered our contemporary vernacular, they have also embedded themselves in our collective conscious. Although primarily bandied about by Gen Y, the term is nonetheless cross-generational having permeated mass media and the English language to the point that it was officially entered into the Oxford Dictionary in 2013 and is now broadly used and understood.

#FOMO presents the work of four emerging and mid-career artists, all of whom have cultivated a strong reputation within the art-world as ‘one to watch’ and developed a cult following by a group of collectors who view their works as highly covetable. Underlying the concept of #FOMO is the psychological phenomenon which causes individuals to experience an inherent desire to possess objects (in this instance contemporary artworks) of beauty and cultural significance. In our capitalist, consumer-driven society, why when we look at an artwork we appreciate, do we feel a frenzied rush of desire? Why must we own, possess and consume? What prompts our ‘fear of missing out’?

The concept of #FOMO, fed by contemporary media and marketing ploys, continues to self-generate and grow – a never ending cycle – fed on dramatized and attention-grabbing headlines such as ‘Top four emerging artists to watch right now…’ Happily complicit in this cultural phenomenon we continue to play the game and yet underlying it all there still exists a desire to connect with something bigger, something meaningful, something outside of ourselves. That intangible thing we call art.

Rhianna Walcott
Curator