We have seen the next Picasso, Pollack and Matisse — and they’re all too young to drink. Just imagine what they’ll create once they finish high school!
For the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s “P.S. Art 2010,” Caroline Kennedy and the other members of a selection panel culled 800 entries by New York City schoolkids. The 55 pieces they chose — by artists ages 5 to 20 — are being displayed at the museum’s Uris Education Center through Aug. 8. (After that, it decamps downtown to the Tweed Courthouse, 52 Chambers St., for another three months.)
Here are just a few of the young artists we expect to see more of in the future.
SONIA
LYAKHOVICH
Age: 5
Possible muses: Picasso (his Blue and Pink periods), Oskar Kokoschka — and Sonia’s art teacher, Lisa Pines
Sonia says: “When people see this, they’re going to look at the black lines and think about the hair over my face. This is my hair on a bad hair day. I looked at my face very closely in the mirror when I drew this.”
CHRISTIAN
ARELLANO
Age: 8
Artistic influences: China’s Xin Dynasty meets “Wallace & Gromit”
Christian says: “[My work] is about the history of the emperor of China. He made all these clay warriors to protect his tomb. I want viewers to think that maybe they can construct the same thing.”
MIGUEL BUSTOS
Age: 9
Likely influences: Henri Rousseau, Peter Max, Central Park
Miguel says: “You learn to draw new paintings from your thoughts . . . I want people to think of the significance of the painting. It’s important to me that the viewer knows how I feel and what my paintings mean.”
MARIYA
EVSEVICH
Age: 17
Possible muses: Diane Arbus, Cindy Sherman
Mariya says: “Art gives me a creative outlet, helps relieve stress and relaxes me . . . For my piece, I had to give directions to my friend who was the model. I had a vision in my head, but getting him to pose the way I wanted was difficult. Luckily, he was very patient.”