Michaela Yearwood-Dan, In these bodies we live, 2025. © Michaela Yearwood-Dan. Photo by Deniz Guzel. Courtesy the artist, Hauser & Wirth and Marianne Boesky Gallery.
BY EMILY MAY
At the start of 2025, Artsy predicted a year that would “give marginalized voices their flowers.” And so it did. There was, for example, “Paris Noir” at the Centre Pompidou—which celebrated Black artists working in the French capital whose work had never before been shown in the country. And across the U.K. and the U.S., several exhibitions spotlighting Indigenous Australian artists brought new, and deserved, recognition. The year culminated with British artist Nnena Kalu’s historic Turner Prize win, as she became the first neurodivergent artist to receive the award. In short, across the year, the contemporary art world showed its growing embrace of diverse voices.
As we move into 2026, ongoing political and economic turbulence worldwide may prompt museums to adopt a more cautious approach to programming: The year already appears to be dominated by large-scale retrospectives of established, well-known figures. Yet, it is worth noting that many of these celebrated artists were once radicals in their own right, and their spirit of experimentation amid challenging times can offer inspiration to a new generation of artists as they navigate their own. 2026 is also a major biennial year. Events such as the 61st Venice Biennale, the 18th Lyon Biennale, and the 16th Gwangju Biennale will offer a chance to take the pulse of the contemporary art world, explore current trends, and glimpse where it might be headed.
Michaela Yearwood-Dan
The Whitworth, Manchester, England
Apr. 17–Oct. 18
British artist and former Artsy Vanguard 2022 alum Michaela Yearwood-Dan is a rising star in contemporary painting. Bursting with botanical imagery created from turquoise, pink, and sunny gold hues, her canvases evoke joyful Caribbean carnival culture and reference her West Indian heritage. Largely abstract, Yearwood-Dan’s works explore a wide range of topics from femininity and queerness to Blackness and healing rituals. Often, they feature gold leaf, beading, and ceramic petals, and they’re sometimes inscribed with text drawing on dancehall lyrics, poetry, and the artist’s own diaristic writings.
2025 was a big year for Yearwood-Dan: She staged her debut show with Hauser and Wirth, which announced it would represent her in 2024. Now, The Whitworth in Manchester will host her first institutional solo exhibition. Running from April to October of this year, the show will be centered around a major new commission incorporating elements of painting, drawing, ceramics, furniture, and sound. Not only will it demonstrate the breadth of her practice, but also transform the gallery into a contemplative, multi-sensory environment.
