Donald Judd, Gerhard Richter, Dan Flavin and Judy Chicago all had record museum shows in 2020. In the last few years alone, these groundbreaking artists have gone from being the exclusive purview of serious collectors to hitting the cognoscenti mainstream and the record sales figures that follow it. With blue-chip auctions such as Sotheby’s, Phillips and Christie’s setting the pace, their works are increasingly eye-wateringly expensive to buy unless you are well connected or simply get lucky.
Fear not, however, there is hope for those art lovers among us that still want to collect without spending the GDP of a small nation. A new batch of incredible artists have arisen to take the place of those before them and become the new cutting edge talents to follow.
Aspiring collectors take note; If you run into one of these new popart wunderkinds in Miami don’t wait to buy a piece from them, get them a drink and convince them to sell to you before their prices explode by next Miami Art Basel. Without a doubt it will be a better investment than that random crypto coin your coworker convinced you to buy last summer…
Paul Kneale
Kneale explores the impact of our favourite digital technology on our perception of reality. By deconstructing the global digital context in which we live our lives he re-contextualises the virtual facets of our existence, simplifying it into a digital language and presenting it in physical form. His work has gained international acclaim from art critics and collectors alike and found in the private collections of the Rubell Family and the Collezione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo.
Coco Davez
Sunny, cheerfully colourful pieces that reflect a sensibility towards the commercialisation of the artistic form. Davez’s most recognisable project is “Faceless” a series of iconic portraits that show historic figures wearing their most recognisable accessories. This stripping down of form over subject is unmistakably reminiscent of Warhol who played with themes of identity and perceptions in popular culture.
Davez has garnered a sizeable international fanbase mainly through her Instagram, bringing her in turn to collaborate with brands as diverse as Chanel, Netflix, Prada, Dior and Shiseido. Her first book ‘Faceless’ is out now.
Michael Pybus
Pybus adopts combinations of brands, cartoons and childlike familiar imagery to evoke sentimentality and tap directly into our emotions. He is particularly fascinated with collages utilising Japanese cartoon, Pokemon’s outwardly compulsive tagline ‘Gotta Catch’em All!’? and how it offers a mirror to modern society’s consumption obsessed ethos.
Alex Israel
Alex Israel is an American multimedia artist and self confessed product of Hollywood culture. His celebrated works includes large, colourful airbrushed paintings of abstract gradients and Los Angeles skies, enormously indulgent self-portraits (painted on shaped fibreglass panels), and multimedia installations constructed from movie-house props. Israel is collected far and wide and has burst into the collective subconscious of the art world, entering into the collections of the Moderna Museet, the MOCA, LACMA, the Whitney Museum of American Art and even New York’s MoMA.
Bradley Theodore
Theodore made his bones (pun intended) adorning the streets of New York City with vibrant, chromatic murals of skeletons depicting contemporary pop culture and fashion ‘royalty.’ His bold images and iconoclastic approach to art led him to gain quick momentum internationally and to sold-out shows at London’s prestigious Maddox Gallery. He has collaborated with brands such as Puma and most recently – David Beckham’s Haig Club. Bradley currently lives and works in Miami.
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