Amalia Ulman
Photo via: @amaliaulman Instagram.

“Blank under blank” lists are almost always a source of contention, and Forbes‘s annual “30 Under 30” list is no exception. But this year’s “Art and Style” section seems to blatantly pander to a certain kind of young, hip creative class a bit more than in years past. Featuring Petra Cortright, Ryder Ripps, Amalia Ulman, and avant-garde design duo Eckhaus Latta (along with a coterie of up-and-coming fashion designers, bloggers, and models), it reads like who’s who of what you might call the “Young Internet Based Artist” (or YIBA, for short) genre.

Sculptor Athena Papadopoulos, multidisciplinary artist Ivan Cash, painter Eric Mack, ceramicist Natalie Herrera, illustrator Daniel Fishel, and fashion photographer Sophie Elgort also made this year’s cut.

Last year’s list, which was selected in part by Jeffrey Deitch, featured Kour Pour, Jacolby Satterwhite, and Jamian Juliano-Villani, among others. Previous art worlders to grace the list include the Haas Brothers, Oscar Murillo, Lucien Smith, Artsy CEO Carter Cleveland, and painter and actress Jemima Kirke. Judging by these heavyweight names, Forbes is clearly good at the guessing game of “who’s about to be increasingly important this year.”

Ryder Ripps.
Photo: Ryder Ripps.

The strange thing about this list is that there was no art world representative present on the selection panel, which boasted Sarah Jessica Parker, fashion designer and entrepreneur Sophia Amoruso, and One Kings Lane co-founder Alison Pincus. But clearly, one or more of the judges are surprisingly plugged in to the ultra-hip Internet-based art world that Cortright, Ulman, and Ripps dominate.

Fun fact: Parker was an executive producer and one-time guest judge on the late, great art world reality show Work of Art: The Next Great Artist, so our money’s on her for being the secret art world informant.