There is a lot of art out there in the world. It can be hard to keep up.
That’s why, in our fall 2021 Artnet Intelligence Report, we asked experts on four continents to select the artists whose work they are most excited to see evolve in the coming decade. Many couldn’t pick just one.
Some of the names below may be unfamiliar. A few might be recognizable, but our experts feel they are poised to ascend to the next level in the coming years. Altogether, the lineup offers a snapshot of talents on the rise at a moment when the mainstream art world is working to address the historical exclusion of many creators from beyond the West.
See their selections below. And for more takes on the future of the art industry, download the Artnet Intelligence Report.
Ed Tang, cofounder of advisory firm Art-Bureau, Hong Kong and New York
Justin Caguiat, Thousand year old laughter (2019). Courtesy of the artist, Modern Art, London, and Greene Naftali Gallery.
I find myself increasingly looking at artists of Asian descent—whether they are working in Asia or overseas. I don’t see them as Asian artists per se, but as global citizens making work that reflects the diversity of our times. I am very excited to follow a younger generation of artists such as Julien Nguyen, Sasha Gordon, Justin Caguiat, Hun Kyu Kim, Han Bing, Cui Jie, and many more.
Destinee Ross-Sutton, curator and founder, Ross-Sutton Gallery, New York
Khari Turner, Rogue Waves (2020). Courtesy of the artist and Guy Hepner.
Khari Turner, who recently had his first New York solo show. Nigerian artist Johnson Eziefula, who just turned 24 and is taking Black portraiture to another level. Ugandan artist Stacey Gillian Abe is only getting better and better.
Pamela Echeverría, founder, Labor, Mexico City
Claudia Gutiérrez Marfull, A LITTLE IS GAINED BY SPINNING, BUT EVEN LESS BY STARING (2015-16). Courtesy of the artist and Labor.
A young Chilean artist, Claudia Gutiérrez Marfull, whose practice is textile-based. She lives in Santiago, but will soon transfer to Switzerland to study at the FHNW Academy of Art and Design in Basel. I am also excited to see how the career of American Artist—who is experimenting with topics related to race, visibility, knowledge production, and surveillance capitalism—will take off.
Aaron Cezar, director, Delfina Foundation, London
Shezad Dawood, The Terrarium, (2020). (ft. parts of Anthropocene Island TAB17 by ecoLogicStudio & excerpts from Shifter by Graham Fitkin) commissioned for Kai Art Center and Creative Folkestone Triennial 2021. Courtesy of UBIK Productions.
Here is a snapshot: Abbas Akhavan, Gala Porras-Kim, Paul Maheke, Gary Zhexi Zhang, Ali Cherri, Farah Al Qasimi, Geumhyung Jeong, Jasleen Kaur, Shezad Dawood (so much more to come), Jake Grewal, Dala Nasser, Precious Okoyomon.
Troy Carter, collector, talent manager, and co-founder of Q&A, Los Angeles
Sasha Gordon, Temporary, (2018). Courtesy of the artist and Matthew Brown Gallery.
I’m currently obsessed with Sasha Gordon’s work. Ludovic Nkoth and Patrick Alston are also very exciting.
Allan Schwartzman, art advisor and founder, Schwartzman & Associates, New York
Julien Nguyen, The Courtier (2021). © Julien Nguyen, courtesy of Matthew Marks Gallery.
Over the past year and a half, I have been introduced to many more young painters whose work excites me than in recent decades. Top of the list for me is Julien Nguyen. It is no simple feat to be innovative in a medium that has died a thousand deaths; I eagerly await the next works this artist creates.
Mandla Sibeko, director of FNB JoburgArtFair, Johannesburg
Sthenjwa Luthuli, Untold Stories (2020). Courtesy of the artist and Unit London.
I’m keeping an eye on the artistic scene in Durban, South Africa, which has seen some exciting artists such as Sthenjwa Luthuli and Luyanda Zindela come up in recent years.
Brooke Lampley, Sotheby’s chairman and worldwide head of sales for global fine art, New York
Leonora Carrington, Self Portrait (1936-1938). Metropolitan Museum of Arts, New York, © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2019
I’m excited about the continued market reappraisal of female artists. Expect big prices to continue for artists like Barbara Hepworth, Cecily Brown, Frida Kahlo, Grace Hartigan, Leonor Fini, Leonora Carrington, Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Sonia Delaunay, and many others as the market continues to correct this historic inequity.
Jill Bokor, executive director of Salon Art + Design, New York
Installation view, “Chris Schank: Unhomely” at Friedman Benda.
The designers whose work I am most excited about are Chris Schank, Marcin Russak, and Serban Ionesco. All are brilliant and could not be more different from each other in terms of form, of palate, and of materiality.
Tokini Peterside, founder and director of Art X Lagos, Lagos
Tunji Adeniyi-Jones, Midnight Jaunt (2021). Courtesy of Nicelle Beauchene Gallery and Platform.
I believe the 2020s will see greater breakthroughs for artists of African heritage. There is an urgency and vitality in the work of artists such as Tunji Adeniyi-Jones (U.K.), Modupeola Fadugba (Nigeria), Sungi Mlengeya (Tanzania), and Peter Uka (Nigeria), that is exactly what the art world needs now, and I am particularly excited to see their rise over the coming years.
A version of this article appeared in the fall 2021 Artnet Intelligence Report, available exclusively to Artnet News Pro members. To read more about the tech tools poised to revolutionize the art world, which galleries throw the best parties, and how much money NFTs are making for auction houses, download the full report here.
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