How Soon Is Now? opening Sunday, June 1, 2008, features an array of work by 36 artists from throughout the metropolitan area, all of whom have participated in the most recent incarnation of Artist in the Marketplace (AIM) at The Bronx Museum of the Arts, one of the most celebrated and competitive programs for emerging artists in the country. The title, a nod to the 1985 hit song by The Smiths, alludes to the immediacy of being in the moment and the current state of the art world today.

The program, now in its 28th year, anticipates new artistic directions, as it celebrates the vitality and promise of new voices. Photography and video predominate this year as a number of these up-and-coming artists look toward trends in art-making practices. A range of other media including installation, drawing and painting are also represented. A comprehensive catalog will accompany the exhibition, featuring essays by Erin Riley- Lopez, Assistant Curator at the Bronx Museum and the organizer of the exhibition, and Claire Barliant, Senior Editor for Modern Painters. Barliant’s essay will focus on the possibility of using the market as an artistic medium, and a way to challenge the status quo. An annual event, the Artist in the Marketplace exhibition marks the Museum’s ongoing commitment to support emerging artists by providing unique career development opportunities. Over the last three decades, the program has served over 1,000 participants, including many like Whitfield Lovell, Glenn Ligon and Polly Apfelbaum who have gone on to establish international reputations. AIM offers a cycle of two sessions a year and culminates in a group exhibition of participants from both terms at The Bronx Museum.

Artists: Negar Ahkami, Blanka Amezkua, Keliy Anderson-Staley, Daniel Bejar, Charles Beronio, Matthew Burcaw, Si Jae Byun, Brendan Carroll, Vidal Centeno, Margarida Correia, Rä di Martino, Jason Falchook, Michelle Frick, David Gilbert, Kyung Woo Han, Cosme Herrera, Catherine Kunkemueller, Luke Lamborn, Sujin Lee, Bill Lohre, Rebecca Loyche, Giuseppe Luciani, Brian Lund, Emcee C.M., Master of None, Kelli Miller, Laura Napier, Dulce Pinzon, Christy Powers, Risa Puno, Ronny Quevedo, Sa’dia Rehman, John Richey, Irys Schenker, Mark Stafford, Jeanne Verdoux, and Angie Waller.