As we enter the month of November, the art world continues to evolve and showcase the talents of artists from around the world. From multimedia installations to paintings and sculptures, artists represent a diverse range of styles, themes, and techniques, and are pushing the boundaries of traditional art forms. Whether you are an avid collector or simply an art enthusiast, these artists are definitely worth keeping an eye on as they continue to shape the future of contemporary art. Here are some of our favorite artists on our radar this fall.

Sarah Berman

Sara Berman, born in the UK in 1975 and currently residing and working in London, has had a fascinating artistic journey. She initially pursued a fashion degree at Central Saint Martins during the 1990s and had a career in the fashion industry before furthering her education by earning a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree from Slade UCL, which she completed in 2016. Berman's art revolves around the concept of the Harlequin as a Trickster Whore, delving deep into the intricate constructs that define the female experience in society. Her approach to portraiture challenges historical norms associated with female representation. Through her self-portraits, Berman actively rejects the male gaze and the objectification of women. Her figures often exude defiance, and her artistic style, characterized by gentle, muted aesthetics, is rich with contrasting layers that render the canvas almost bruised. Her work skillfully juxtaposes the visceral and corporeal with delicate and fluid lines, creating a visual tension that defies expectations. Berman's art employs its aesthetic appeal to subvert preconceived notions, infusing a sense of violent transgression within the realm of beauty.

***Sara Berman in her studio, Photo courtesy of Art Fix***

Sara Berman's artistic accomplishments include being featured in the 2015 BP Portrait Award, which celebrated fifty-five exceptional and innovative portraits from around the world. Her work can be found in prominent collections, such as The House of KOKO in London, The Poort Visser collection in the Netherlands, The Maison Estelle in London, the RO2 Art Collection, and the Montparnasse collection in Canada. She remains actively engaged in the Hospital Room projects in London and participated in an exhibition at Hauser & Wirth, London, in collaboration with Hospital Rooms.

Danielle Mckinney

Danielle Mckinney, born in 1981, is known for her captivating interior scenes that capture profound moments of introspection and intimacy with a poetic touch. What sets her work apart is her unique approach of creating these scenes on an all-black canvas, allowing the subjects to emerge from the darkness in a striking chiaroscuro fashion. Mckinney meticulously constructs her domestic settings, often using source material from magazines or social media, reminiscent of dioramas. Within these atmospheric compositions, you can find subtle bursts of color, like the faint glow of a lit cigarette or the vibrant hues of protagonists' lips and nails. Notably, her figures are exclusively Black and female, and they are depicted cherishing moments of solitude, whether through reading, smoking, or simply getting lost in contemplation.

***Danielle Mckinney, Oolong and a Spirit, 2023***

As a trained photographer, Mckinney arranges her subjects in a cinematographic manner, displaying a keen awareness of the power of the gaze and its political implications. Her figures command the spaces they inhabit, creating opportunities for a multitude of narrative threads and self-exploration. In essence, Danielle Mckinney's art is a visually rich exploration of human emotions and identity within carefully constructed, intimate settings, where her subjects radiate a sense of empowerment and self-expression.

Shota Nakamura

***Installation view, each passing day, Peres Projects, Berlin 2022, Photo courtesy of CLEARING***

Shota Nakamura, originally from Yamanashi, Japan, and currently based in Berlin, is an artist whose creative practice transcends the boundaries of traditional painting. He delves into other realms, blurring the lines between domestic and untamed spaces. Nakamura's compositions beckon viewers into mesmerizing worlds, where contemplative figures in various states of meditation and transition serve as a boundless source of inspiration. Working primarily with oil paints, he employs this medium as a means to counteract the frenzied pace of modern life. Through his art, Nakamura offers a serene stillness that provides solace from the relentless influx of images and media.

***Shota Nakamura, Summer Table, 2023, Photo courtesy of CLEARING***

In Nakamura's creations, different planes seamlessly merge, resulting in a captivating effect that immediately captures the viewer's attention. His artwork reveals the existence of countless ways to interpret and comprehend the reality we inhabit, often necessitating a pause and a willingness to explore them.

Lonnie Holley

Lonnie Holley has dedicated his life to the pursuit of improvisational creativity, channeling his art and music through a lens of resilience, adversity, and an insatiable curiosity, driven by both personal and biological imperatives. His artistic expressions span a diverse array of mediums, including drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, performance, music, and filmmaking. Holley's sculptures, steeped in the African American sculptural tradition, are crafted from found materials rich in cultural and artistic symbolism. He assembles these objects into narrative sculptures that serve as tributes to places, people, and significant events. His work now graces the collections of prominent museums worldwide, including The Museums of Fine Arts in San Francisco, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Smithsonian American Art Museum, The National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, and others. Notably, his work is on permanent display in the United Nations and has even been showcased in the White House Rose Garden. Over the years, Holley has also ventured into the realms of film, photography, and video. In 2019, he made his directorial debut with the short narrative film "I Snuck Off the Slave Ship," premiering at the Sundance Film Festival.

***Lonnie Holley, Photo courtesy of New York Times***

In 2023, a podcast titled "Unreformed: The Story of the Alabama Industrial School for Negro Children" chronicles the history of this notorious reform school in Alabama, often referred to as a "slave camp for kids." The podcast also sheds light on Holley's early life and the profound struggles he and countless others endured at the hands of the state of Alabama. As of 2022, Holley's remarkable talent earned him recognition as a USA Artist Fellow, and his visual art finds representation through Blum & Poe Gallery in Los Angeles and Edel Assanti Gallery in London. He continues to create art and music from his home and studio in Atlanta, Georgia.

Reggie Borrows Hodges

***Reggie Burrows Hodges, For the Greater Good, 2019***

Reggie Burrows Hodges, originally from California but now based in Maine, is a renowned painter known for his exploration of storytelling and visual metaphor in his art. His large-scale paintings, created with acrylic and pastels on raw canvas, delve into universal themes like identity, community, truth, and memory, often drawing inspiration from his upbringing in Compton. Notably, he begins his creative process with a black canvas, from which he skillfully develops the scene surrounding his figures using a painterly and ethereal brushwork technique. This unique approach shifts the focus from the individuals themselves to their surroundings, challenging our perception and highlighting the subtle nuances of the relationship between people and their environment. The figures in Hodges' paintings emerge in a background that recedes into space, devoid of concrete physical features. Instead, their presence is defined by the context and atmosphere in which they are painted, demonstrating Hodges' embrace of nuanced ambiguities and his keen exploration of how we are shaped by our surroundings, emphasizing the concept that we are products of our environment.

***Reggie Burrows Hodges in his studio, Photo courtesy of Sotheby's***

Reggie Burrows Hodges' work has found its place in numerous prestigious public collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, to name a few. His art has also reached international audiences, with pieces held at institutions like the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, the Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris, and the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, among many others. His work captures the essence of human existence, offering a unique perspective on the profound impact of our surroundings on our lives.

Yan Pei Ming

Yan Pei-Ming has gained global acclaim primarily for his portraiture, capturing a diverse array of contemporary figures, including politicians, actors, and popes. His portfolio features celebrated portraits of notable personalities like Mao Zedong, Bruce Lee, and Barack Obama. In addition to these public figures, Yan Pei-Ming extends his artistic focus to encompass his own family members and himself. His body of work spans a wide spectrum of subjects, delving into historical events, such as the 2001 World Trade Center attack, and reimagining iconic works from the annals of art history.

The artist's creative output is undeniably rooted in the traditions of European painting and portraiture. Yan Pei-Ming's work places significant emphasis on portraying status and power, harking back to the conventions of representation that have existed for centuries. In the face of contemporary challenges like digital reproduction and exploitation, his subjects embody the tension between classical forms and their relevance in the modern era. This duality allows for interpretations that bridge both traditional and contemporary contexts. Although he identifies himself as a European painter in terms of style and subject matter, Yan Pei-Ming has increasingly integrated his Chinese cultural heritage into the Western portraiture tradition in recent years, creating a unique blend of influences that enriches his art.

Cornel Brudaşcu

***Cornel Brudascu, Portrait (Ion Munteanu), 1970***

Cornel Brudaşcu completed his studies at the Institute of Arts Ion Andreescu in Cluj, graduating in 1962. He holds a distinct position as one of the rare Romanian artists associated with the pop art movement and has played a pivotal role as a mentor for the younger generation of figurative painters internationally recognized as the Cluj School. During the 1970s, Brudaşcu's artistic journey took a fascinating turn as he became acquainted with contemporary American art, inspiring him to embark on a series of portraits. These portraits encompassed not only his fellow artists from Cluj but also prominent Western pop culture icons. His artistic inspiration stemmed from images he encountered in Western newspapers and magazines.

Notably, Brudaşcu's artistic evolution unfolded against the backdrop of Nicolae Ceaușescu's Romania during the 1970s, which presented a relatively open period within the regime, allowing for limited international exchanges. Despite stringent travel restrictions, especially to Western countries, information about groundbreaking developments in the art world managed to circulate. Elements of counter-culture, music, and artistic influences found their way into Romania through various channels, including the availability of Western magazines in reading rooms and informal networks for sharing information. Magazines like the German publication Popcorn served as a springboard for some of Brudaşcu's artworks and his own experiments with solarized photography.

Héloïse Chassepot

***Installation view at Frieze London, 2023, Photo courtesy of HIGH ART***

Héloïse Chassepot, born in Paris, France, in 1995, is currently based in London, where she both lives and works. She completed her educational journey at Haute école d'art et de design in Geneva, Switzerland, and later earned her Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree from Goldsmiths, University of London, in 2022.

Chassepot's impressive artistic career includes a series of solo exhibitions, notably "Pauline Perplexe" in Paris, France, in 2023, "Downs & Ross" in New York, USA, in 2022, "Lokal-int" in Biel, Switzerland, in 2022, "CAN Centre d'Art Neuchâtel" in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, in 2021, and "one gee in fog" in Geneva, Switzerland, in 2020. Her work has also been featured in various group exhibitions, such as those at Tara Downs in New York (2023), Pippy Houldsworth in London (2023), Public in London (2023), The Margulies Collection in Miami (2022), ateliers de la ville de Marseille and La traverse in Marseille, France (2022), French Place in London (2022), Dray Gallery in London (2021), Artgenève in Geneva (2019), villa Emerige in Paris (2018), and HIT in Geneva (2018).

Joanna Woś

Joanna Woś's artistic practice navigates the intriguing space between the subconscious and the intricately dissected visual layers of historical paintings. She frequently draws inspiration from these layers, utilizing past symbolism to bring forth complex themes of repression, shame, and emotional trauma. Her images occupy an unsettling border where parallel realities intersect, creating an atmosphere of desperation that prompts profound contemplation. Woś's work evokes inquiries into the intricate web of human emotions, including love and death, desire, longing, and solitude.

***Installation view, Joanna Woś, Precious and Tender, Croy Nielsen, Vienna, 2022***

Born in 1991, Joanna Woś currently resides and creates in Vienna. She pursued her studies at the Academy of Art and Design in Wroclaw from 2016 to 2018 and is currently enrolled at the Akademie der bildenden Künste Wien, studying under the guidance of Daniel Richter since 2018. Her impressive body of work encompasses solo exhibitions like "Wschód" in Warsaw in 2020, "Notcancelled" in Warsaw in the same year, and "Nectar" at Serce Człowieka during the Warsaw Gallery Weekend in 2019. In addition, she has participated in group exhibitions, including "Rundgang" at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna in 2020 and "PAT PAT PAT. A Romance with (Im)material" at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna in 2019, among others.

Li Hei Di

Li Hei Di, born in Shenyang, China, in 1997, pursued her artistic education at the Maryland Institute College of Art and later at Chelsea College of Art. She continued her academic journey by completing a Master of Arts in Painting at the prestigious Royal College of Art in London. Notably, in 2022, her debut solo exhibition titled "Tits at Dawn" was showcased at LINSEED Projects in Shanghai. Li Hei Di has also been featured in various group exhibitions at renowned galleries, including Galerie Marguo (2023), Gagosian in Hong Kong (2023), Pippy Houldsworth Gallery in London (2023), Downs & Ross in New York (2022), Public Gallery in London (2022), and LINSEED Projects in Shanghai (2022). Excitingly, her first solo exhibition with Pippy Houldsworth Gallery is scheduled for early 2024.

***Li Hei Di in her London studio, Photo courtesy of Artsy***

Li Hei Di's vibrant and expressive paintings serve as abstract portraits that delve into themes of yearning, desire, and seduction. Through her work, she skillfully transforms repressed and primal emotions into fleeting and ephemeral scenes. Currently, she resides and creates her art in the vibrant artistic landscape of London, where her unique talent continues to flourish and captivate audiences.

daria borisova

ART + CULTURE + COLLECTION

Artists on Our Radar This Fall /November 28, 2023 by daria borisova