What were you doing at age 4? Dribbling paint on a piece of paper isn’t that far-fetched an answer, but what if those dribbles were on display at Agora Gallery in Manhattan and had collectors throwing down $24,000 for a single canvas? For Aelita Andre, a Melbourne native, this isn’t just a dream—it’s a reality. Art critiques from around the world have called Aelita “Pee Wee Picasso” and “Jackson Pollock Reborn.” Those are large shoes to fill, especially for someone still under 3 feet tall. Some viewers claim that her artistic merits are being exaggerated just to create a point and that her works are truly nothing more than an expensive showcase of kindergarten gibberish. But are we not the same artistic community who applauded Marcel Duchamp when he put a urinal on display as art and encouraged Damien Hirst in all of his bizarre endeavors? If we are willing to accept Kazimir Malevich and Suprematism as art, then how can we honestly disregard Aelita’s work simply because of her age? No matter what side of the argument you stand on, there is one thing that we can all agree on: this little one will be an artist to look out for in the future.
