9 Artists to Look Out For This Season
On the heels of the turning point into the core of a New Year - as major art fairs, exhibitions and biennales are set to launch, we prefer to look forward in anticipation. New talent is continually springing up before our eyes in unexpected ways. With multi-million dollar forgery scandals shifting the art-market, (yes, the Knoedler & Co Gallery lawsuit over the purchase of a fake Rothko) there is, without a question, a stifling air of suspense around the question of authenticity.
We have an entire year ahead of us. Thousands of emerging artists will be producing works in every conceivable scale, media, and subject matter - some will be good, some will be bad, and some we will have forgotten before the decade is over. Pulling from a year’s worth of insight, we predict these hand-selected artists are destined for big things this year.
CHARLIE ANDERSON
Painter
Often mistaken for collage, Anderson’s visually generous acrylic paintings source references from vintage adverts and magazine models to political campaigns - these influences, however, do not overshadow a clearly individual practice. The artist has created a body of breakthrough works, each image is intricately layered and sourced to be reproduced manually. Charlie’s technique marks a novelty in the practice of modern painting and a new direction to reading art. Durable labour, perfecting a craft, and the investment of time and energy in ones creative pursuit marks Charlie as an undisputed talent to succeed. Charlie Anderson is currently developing a new series of paintings for an exhibition in Edinburgh, Scotland, during the festival this year in August as well as planning a development of number of new murals around Edinburgh. The Artist Residence hotel in Brighton will also be home to one of Charlie’s bespoke pieces. The artist will be releasing a limited edition clothing range at the end of April through his website: www.charlie-anderson.co.uk
SIMON SHEPHERD
Sculptor
We’ve interviewed Simon once before when he clarified that he preferred to work in ‘blissful isolation’ to the on-goings in current art movements. Perhaps this stands as a testament to his undeniable growing role as a pioneer in contemporary sculpture. Simon’s pieces are equally as playful as they are paradoxical. Having never been known to shy away from using materials other artists may consider stubborn or difficult, Shepherd is able to explore a range of themes from satire to abstract explorations of space and form. As an exclusive to After Nyne, Simon has revealed ’Red Converse ‘ - a brand new piece created this year. The life-sized deconstructed red Converse shoe is spread across a custom built wood plinth mimicking a gymnasium floor. The distance of the disassembled parts reveal to the viewer an unexpected aluminium steel interior. Following London shows with Black Rat Projects in Soho and Lilford Gallery in Kent; 2016 will see Simon move further afield internationally. Simon continues to develop his interest in objects of popular culture, but plans also to unveil a brand new body of work which will explore darker, more provocative artistic interests and concepts. http://simonshepherdart.co.uk
NICOLAS LABORIE
Photographer
Nicolas Laborie’s photographic practice is always informed by a thoughtful, deep-rooted and often poignant narrative. His wet plate collodion polyptychs demand presence and call on a meditative state causing time to slow down. The wet plate process is equally as demanding of time and strips photography to its most primitive in the most beautiful of ways. Invented in 1851, the wet collodion photographic process produces a glass negative and an exquisitely detailed print. Each wet plate is born from highly toxic chemicals, that often leaves the artist subject to a trace of pain or struggle in the process, just like the inspired stories of pain, longing, obsession and crisis behind his photographs. The lack of physical interaction with photography can cause many artists to disassociate themselves with the process of making images. Laborie stands out in his choice of medium, subject matter and unrelenting obsession to interact with every step of the image-making process. He is current represented by GX Gallery in London. http://www.nicolaslaborie.com
MARK DAVEY
Multi-media
Winner of the Saatchi New Sensations 2009 award, Davey is an artist that very successfully challenges the interaction between work and viewer. “Master and Slave” exhibited last year by William Bennington Gallery at Art15 conveyed this perfectly: a heavy metal bar is swung at a hanging bulb, stopping with precision just as it gently taps the glass, and at this moment, the light glows brightest only to fade as the bar falls back away. This captures the fragility of a moment suspended, and though we anticipate a violent or even aggressive resolution, we even long it to smash to the floor. Instead, it is tender - as delicate as a kiss. This is the essence of art. Mark Davey recently closed Blend - a solo exhibition that continued to explore his signature style into the performativity and sensuality of his machines. He is currently represented by Backlit Gallery, Nottingham and William Bennington Gallery, London. http://www.mark-davey.com
JONNY GREEN
Painter
This painter, turned musician, re-turned painter deftly wields his brush to turn the mysterious into the marvellous. Following a successful two years including having exhibited at the Royal Academy Summer Show in 2014 and a range of group and solo shows in 2015, Green continues to return to the canvas with great vigour. Green paints from sculptures, “mad-men rendered crudely in plasticine and electrical tape or abject-looking re-animated brains adorned with filthy paper flowers and grubby clockwork parts.” Tortured pictures of a tortured process. These items are reproduced with such accuracy that it feels like an exercise of physical force to squeeze their robust three-dimensionality onto a two-dimensional plane. There is no trickery to Green’s work, he does not present us with façades, but rather with a way of looking at the overlooked. Still-life-portraits which invite us to question how they came to be, and what exactly they are. http://jonnygreen.net
DANIEL SACHON
Photographer
For a photographer well-versed in digital techniques and the meanings they convey, 20-year old Sachon often speaks about bodily sensation. Daniel has grown enormously since his onset with photography in his ability to think through the activity of relating the female body to sensuality - the angle of a gaze, the impact of a single strand of hair, the difference between one crease in a sheet held tight against the body or two. Though Sachon predominantly photographs in black and white, his debut solo show Disruptive Innovation saw some of his colour photographs go public for the first time. The colours depicted are often clean enough that the works could be used as paint charts – green light, cobalt violet deep hue, quinacridone red – an impressive step in nurturing his craft. As an exclusive to After Nyne, Daniel has revealed he will begin taking his photographs to the streets, where he hopes to venture into more artistic collaborations allowing him to produce large scale murals across London. The New Year will see Daniel’s work reach an international audience with plans to exhibit across Europe, including Paris, Milan and Amsterdam. He is also currently working on his first screen print edition which he hope to release before the summer. http://danielsachon.co.uk/
DAY-Z
Pencil and modern print
With a fine grasp on the allure of popular culture, Day-Z’s perfectly pencilled pieces place emphasis on the playful without the expectation of the all-too-common. Perhaps widely recognised for her Charlie Chaplin, Chanel series, Day-Z injects depth into otherwise quotidian themes, reminding us just how extraordinary the impact of a creative mind can be. Following her debut solo show "Branded" in November last year at Ashurst LLP, the upcoming artist continues to work on on-going commissions. She is currently working on a series of more provocative pieces for a second solo show, (details yet to be announced) as well as looking to take part in more group exhibitions this year. “I'm also introducing more of my gallery style pieces to the streets of London, playing with placing prints in specific locations and going back the next day to peek at how people are taking it in (or not noticing in the slightest)” - she tells us. Having recently been signed to SAMHART Gallery in Switzerland, we look forward to seeing Day-Z grow internationally. http://imitatemodern.com/artists/day-z/
KYUANG HWA SHON
Multi-media
Exposing herself to different cultures and languages, and inhabiting new architectural spaces, Shon has explored networks of physical interactions, adaptation strategies, and psychological connections that arise in the spaces we inhabit. Kyuang Hwa has had a successful past 5 years as an emerging artist from her 2012 Artist in Residency at the Royal Academy of Arts to being shortlisted in the Painting category of the open competition UK/raine at the Saatchi Gallery late last year. Earlier this year, the Korean artist exhibited a small section of the large scale installation ‘The City of Fragments’ (inspired by Paul Auster’s novel ‘City of Glass’) at the London Art Fair’s Art Projects, for which she won the 2015 SOLO award. She has been invited to participate in several solo and group exhibitions for 2016 in Seoul and London, also on the cards is a solo exhibition titled ‘The Surface of the City and the Depth of the Psyche’ at Alternative Space Loop in Seoul. http://www.kyunghwashon.com
MARKUS RICO
Design and multi-media
Rico cites Oscar Wilde’s ‘Art for art’s sake’ as a driving force in his artistic ventures over the past few years. It’s difficult to pin-point exactly which medium Rico bears a favourite for, as his craft extends to a handful of media including photography, painting, and digital. Art, for art’s sake, in this case, proclaims self-expression has no boundaries. ‘Technique is just a means of arriving at a statement.’ the artist states. Having widely exhibited across Madrid, we anticipate Markus making his mark on the ever-growing London scene very soon, particularly as he prepares for a solo exhibition in the capital curated by Spain Now for the summer. 2016 will also see the young artist expand into Art Direction on a collaborative music project with artist and singer Hugowho.
