BY EMILY STEER
Abstract painting has continued to dominate in 2023, with a host of emerging names making a sizable dent in the market with energetic works inspired by the body and its interior world. Many artists have also successfully embraced an expanded painting practice, working canvases into site-specific, immersive installations, or showing them alongside sculptural and sound elements. This year, psychological themes, unruly bodies, and political collapse have taken center stage.
There has also been a notable move beyond rigid fine art practices, seeing artists experimenting with other forms such as opera, fashion, set design, and music. The artists on this list have seen an increase in their profile this year, with institutional shows, in-depth profiles, major prize wins, unexpected leaps on the auction scene, or exciting ventures into new formats. Expect to see more of them in the new year.
(Excerpt from the full article below)
Michaela Yearwood-Dan
Michaela Yearwood-Dan’s booming popularity shows no sign of stopping. Her star has been firmly on the rise over the last few years, with her paintings far outpacing their estimates at auction (in spring 2023, Love me nots sold for roughly 12 times its estimate of £60,000, or $76,390, at Christie’s in London).
In April, Marianne Boesky Gallery opened “Some Future Time Will Think of Us,” a solo show including paintings, ceramics, works on paper, and a site-specific installation, exploring her ongoing interest with optimistic queer spaces, joy, and abundance. She has appeared in numerous group exhibitions, including at CICA Vancouver (“New British Abstraction”); Gagosian Gallery, London (“Rites of Passage”); and Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati (“Ecologies of Elsewhere”).
Yearwood-Dan had a sell-out booth with Tiwani Contemporary at Frieze L.A. She has also recently designed an intricate beaded bag as part of Dior’s ongoing artist collaborations. “I’m reclaiming beauty,” she told the Glossary in March. “For myself and for all women everywhere. And all non-binary people and all queer people. I’m reclaiming beauty and all the cis het predominantly white men making the laws across the world can go suck it!”
