5 Up-and-Coming Artists Whose Work You Won’t Want to Miss This August

Check out these can't-miss shows, from Portland to Hong Kong.

Tenzig Rigdol, Here You Go! (2019). Courtesy of Rossi & Rossi.

And just like that we’re in August. As summer heads into its crescendo, you might be wondering what became to all those plans to check out the emerging talent on view in gallery shows over the past few months. Well, don’t toss out the summer goals just yet. We’ve rounded up five up-and-coming artists whose work you can still see through Labor Day, in shows from Seoul to Vienna. Now, get out there! 

 

Berta Fischer at James Fuentes 

Berta Fischer, Ubix (2017). Courtesy of James Fuentes.

Berta Fischer, Ubix (2017). Courtesy of James Fuentes.

Berta Fischer’s delicate, bright-hued sculptures have an effortless, almost dance-like, grace. Working with synthetic materials like plastic and acrylic glass, Fischer sculpts her materials into organic and complex shapes that shift in color when viewed at different angles or as the light changes throughout the day. These sculptures can seem otherworldly in their radiance, calling to mind phosphorescent sea creatures, beautiful and serene, and yet just slightly menacing.

“Berta Fischer” is on view through September 15, 2019, at James Fuentes, 55 Delancey Street #D, New York.

 

April Bey in “Dear Lucy” at Upfor Gallery

 April Bey, Speak Truth to Power (2019). Courtesy of Upfor Gallery. April Bey, Speak Truth to Power (2019). Courtesy of Upfor Gallery.


April Bey, Speak Truth to Power (2019). Courtesy of Upfor Gallery.

This lively exhibition takes a look at artists exploring traditionally women’s crafts as a conduit for radical inquiry, and includes the work of such pioneering artists as Wendy Red Star and Faith Wilding. Such is good company for April Bey, a Los Angeles-based, Bahamian-born artist whose interdisciplinary practice critiques pop culture feminism, social media, constructs of race, and the like. Bey often overlays provocative and consciousness-raising texts atop images of famous black women (Nina Simone, seen above, is a recurring figure). Bey’s works, which include elements of painting and collage, are rich in texture incorporating, painting, glitter, fabrics and papers the artist has accrued on her extensive travels.

“Dear Lucy” is on view through August 31, 2019, at Upfor Gallery, 929 NW Flanders Street, Portland, Oregon.

 

Tenzing Rigdol in “Dialogue” at Rossi & Rossi

Tenzing Rigdol, The Storm in the Fragrant Land (2019). Courtesy of Rossi & Rossi.

Tenzing Rigdol, The Storm in the Fragrant Land (2019). Courtesy of Rossi & Rossi.

In traditional Buddhist paintings gridlines are used to ensure accurate depictions of sacred figures and diagrams, though, typically, these are not visible in the complete work. For this new exhibition of works, Tibetan-born artist Tenzing Rigdol uses these lines as a means deconstruct the deities he creates, weaving the lines in and out of their shapes.

Ridgol’s mother worked as a carpet weaver in the Nepalese tradition, and the artist himself began designing carpets before the age of 10. There is an effortlessness to his ability to create these shapes that seem to fluctuate between coming together and falling apart, and a playfulness as he depicts imaginary deities and scenes that blend ancient and contemporary, Eastern and Western, indiscriminately.

“Dialogue” is on view through September 21, 2019, at Rossi & Rossi, Unit 3C, Yally Industrial Building, 6 Yip Fat Street, Wong Chuk Hang, Hong Kong.

 

Gabriel Rico in “The Stone, The Branch, and The Golden Geometry” at Perrotin

Gabriel Rico, Installation view of The Stone, The Branch, and The Golden Geometry (2019). Courtesy of Perrotin.

Gabriel Rico, installation view of “The Stone, The Branch, and The Golden Geometry,” 2019. Courtesy of Perrotin.

In his recent work, Gabriel Rico mines the so-called Age of Reason, a period of time in the 18th century when European philosophy espoused mankind’s mastery over nature. The era inspired a tide of mathematical equations that attempted to quantify, and thereby conquer, the natural world, and these ideas serve as a jumping off point for Rico’s contemporary artistic considerations. He arranges taxidermy animals, neon sculptures, and found objects, creating tensions between nature and architecture, with a sense of portended, but comical, ruin.

“The Stone, The Branch, and The Golden Geometry” is on view through September 7, 2019, at Perrotin, 1F 5 Palpan-Gil, Jongno-Gu, Seoul.

 

Adrian Buschmann in “Weekend im office” at Gabriele Senn Galerie

Adrian Buschmann, Selbst als Grunge Girl (1995-2019). Courtesy of Gabriele Senn Galerie.

Adrian Buschmann, Selbst als Grunge Girl (1995-2019). Courtesy of Gabriele Senn Galerie.

In an attempt to stop repeating tropes in his own work, the German painter Adrian Buschmann spent a period of years primarily focusing his attention on understanding other artists, including Francis Picabia and Wassily Kandinsky, among others. Buschmann considered this a kind of vacation from himself, which alleviated the anxiety of falling into conventions or comfortable traps in his own work. Now he returns to his own creations, a mix of colorful, energetic abstractions with swirls of color here and there, or puzzle-like patterns, and a group of portraits that have a pleasant Margot Tenenbaum meets Elizabeth Peyton vibe.

Adrian Buschmann in “Weekend im office” through September 7, 2019, at Gabriele Senn Galerie, SchleifmĂĽhlgasse 1A, Vienna.


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