5 Artists on the Verge of a Breakthrough Whose Work You Can See in and Around New York This May

Ahead of Frieze Week, here are five artists to have on your radar.

Zoe McGuire, Waterway (2023). Courtesy of Gaa Gallery, New York.

With spring in the air and the weather warming up, it’s the perfect time to step out and visit some galleries, view new art, and discover the latest artists to follow. For our April list of artists that we plan on watching, all of which we discovered through the Artnet Gallery Network, each has an exhibition currently on view in either New York City or the Tri-State area—offering the perfect opportunity to take advantage of the spring art season.

The Artnet Gallery Network is the ideal place to find galleries and exhibitions around the world to visit. Having thousands of artists and artworks searchable with a single click from your own computer, regardless of if you are looking for something specific or wanting to find something new, the Artnet Gallery Network is the perfect place to start your search.

And keep an eye out for our roundup of artists to watch again next month to gain some inspiration and help you move forward on your art collecting journey.

Seffa Klein at SFA Advisory, New York

Seffa Klein, WEB (Because 4, 5, 6) (2023). Courtesy of SFA Advisory, New York.

Seffa Klein, WEB (Because 4, 5, 6) (2023). Courtesy of SFA Advisory, New York.

Living and working between Phoenix, Arizona, and Los Angeles, California, Seffa Klein (b. 1996) is known for her mesmeric, abstract works that engage with themes of the metaphysical and nature of existence. The granddaughter of seminal Nouveau Réalisme artist Yves Klein, Seffa Klein is the subject of her first solo show, “WEBs: Where Everything Belongs,” at SFA Advisory in New York. Comprised of eight paintings and six works on paper, the exhibition explores the “unseen or unknowable in our universe.” The paintings are uniquely multimedia, with materials such as plaster, bismuth, and glass-woven canvases that work together to signify a “unified ontology,” accessed through elemental and compositional synthesis.

Daniel Rich at Weber Fine Art, Greenwich

Daniel Rich, Study for 909 3rd Ave, #17 (2022). Courtesy of Weber Fine Art, Greenwich.

Daniel Rich, Study for 909 3rd Ave, #17 (2022). Courtesy of Weber Fine Art, Greenwich.

Berlin-based artist Daniel Rich (b. 1977) has a practice rooted in both contemporary urban spaces and art historical traditions such as geometric abstraction and color field painting. Rich received his BFA from the Atlanta College of Art, his MFA from Tufts University and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and has completed several prestigious fellowships and residencies, including with the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture and the New York Foundation for the Arts. On view with Weber Fine Art in Greenwich, Connecticut, Rich’s current solo show of recent works features his signature meticulous, technicolor paintings of built environments. Devoid of figuration, the bright works invite questions about the parallels, and conversely disjoints, between architectural spaces and lived experiences.

Luisa Rabbia at Peter Blum, New York

Luisa Rabbia, Bird of Prey (2022). Courtesy of Peter Blum, New York.

Luisa Rabbia, Bird of Prey (2022). Courtesy of Peter Blum, New York.

Originally hailing from Turin, Italy, and currently based in Brooklyn, New York, artist Louisa Rabbia has a practice centered on the dichotomous relationships between humans and nature, the cosmos, and the spiritual. Using facets of the human body as a starting point, Rabbia’s is able to engage simultaneously with microcosms and macrocosms. The artist’s solo exhibition, “Inferno,” at Peter Blum gallery in New York presents her newest series that makes visual allusions to Sandro Botticelli’s Map of Hell (1480–1495)—one of the drawings commissioned to illustrate The Divine Comedy by Dane Alighieri. Rabbia’s work imagines the setting for hell as a landscape within the body, and in place of religious references connects the works to individual, earthly human experience.

Zoe McGuire at Gaa Gallery, New York

Zoe McGuire, Pink Star (2023). Courtesy of Gaa Gallery, New York.

Zoe McGuire (b. 1996) draws inspiration for her work from a range of art historical movements, such as the Transcendental Painting Group and Art Nouveau, creating otherworldly compositions that seem to radiate light. Gaa Gallery in New York is presently showing “Cambium,” McGuire’s solo show of recent works. The title of the show and the works featured within refer to an anatomical layer of a tree’s trunk that generates bark as well as wood. Employing elements of scientific study in combination with aesthetic compositional approaches, the works push the boundaries of abstraction as well as the meaning of nature-based art.

Ye Cheng at Latitude Gallery, New York

Ye Cheng, Angoisse La Redousse 8 (2022). Courtesy of Latitude Gallery, New York.

Ye Cheng, Angoisse La Redousse 8 (2022). Courtesy of Latitude Gallery, New York.

New York-based artist Ye Cheng frequently explores themes of identity, heritage, and globalization through her work. As a first-generation Chinese-American artist, she taps her personal experiences for inspiration as well as explores larger, shared experiences around immigration and its effects on culture and community. Ye Cheng’s exhibition “Vista Flux” at Latitude Gallery in New York features the artist’s most recent work, which is part of her ongoing series “Angoisse La Redousse,” which she began in 2020. The series investigates the dichotomous relationship between the “anguish” of experiencing the harsh external world and the solace of “redoubt” through visual means such as contrasting organic and geometric forms, degrees of opacity, and variations of line.

Explore and discover more new artists to watch with the Artnet Gallery Network.


Follow Artnet News on Facebook:


Want to stay ahead of the art world? Subscribe to our newsletter to get the breaking news, eye-opening interviews, and incisive critical takes that drive the conversation forward.