Art
Maxwell Rabb
Oliver Bak, Puppet’s Dance, 2023. Photo by Mikkel Kaldal. © Oliver Bak Courtesy the artist, Sprüth Magers, and ADZ Gallery.
John Pule, These hot evenings make dreaming difficult, 2023. Courtesy of the artist and Venus Over Manhattan, New York.
Each fall, as galleries across the globe retire their summer group shows and unveil ambitious new exhibitions, a select group of artists step into the spotlight. This season is no exception, with numerous artists set to make an impression in New York, London, São Paulo, and beyond, each presenting new bodies of work that are propelling them to prominence in the international art scene.
Here, we share 11 such artists we will be watching this fall.
B. 1983, Boston. Lives and works in New York.
Portrait of Margaux Ogden. Photo by Charlie Rubin. Courtesy of the artist and White Cube.
Margaux Ogden, Bathers (Naphthol Red, Primary Magenta, Manganese Blue & Orange), 2023. Courtesy of the artist and White Cube.
Brooklyn-based painter Margaux Ogden will enter mega-gallery territory with her inaugural exhibition with White Cube, on view online from September 26th through November 7th. Her paintings, characterized by intricate geometric patterns, draw from a repertoire of bright, abstract forms that have evolved over years of repetition.
The tessellated works featured in White Cube’s presentation all take inspiration from the Roman mosaics found at the Baths of Caracalla. Ogden’s three-year-long fascination with this subject began during her time as an Abbey Fellow at the British School in Rome in 2021, when she became interested in the continuity of forms across history. This interest is reflected in the artist’s practice, where repetition is a creative catalyst. Each successive piece subtly shifts while maintaining a connection to its predecessors.
Since earning her MFA from Boston University in 2012, Ogden has steadily built up a name for herself. She presented two solo exhibitions in 2023 at Deanna Evans Projects in New York and Berggruen Gallery in San Francisco. Earlier this year, Ogden mounted a solo show with Tif Sigfrids in Athens, Georgia, and made waves in the gallery’s booth at Felix Art Fair in Los Angeles.
B. 1987, Warri, Nigeria. Lives and works in Lagos.
Portrait of Nengi Omuku. Photo by Anny Robert. Courtesy of Kasmin.
Represented by Kasmin since last year, Nigerian artist Nengi Omuku will present her highly anticipated debut solo exhibition with the gallery, “Wild Things and Perennials,” from September 4th through October 24th. The show—the artist’s first solo in New York—will feature eight new oil paintings on the traditional Nigerian textile sanyan, a handwoven fabric made from a blend of silk and cotton. Omuku will also be in the spotlight at Frieze London as part of the Artist-to-Artist section, where she was selected by Yinka Shonibare to have a solo booth.
An MA and BA graduate of the Slade School of Fine Art, Omuku studied traditional landscape and portraiture painting, particularly from the British Romantic period, known for its connection to nature and emotional depth. This influence is evident in Omuku’s work today, which features individuals and groups amid natural scenes, rendered with a loose, expressive touch. Her subjects are often situated against impressionistic landscapes and presented in earthy tones. Through her use of sanyan, Omuku enhances the cultural resonance of her paintings, whose subjects reflect themes of identity and belonging.
Nengi Omuku, Small Groups, 2024. © Nengi Omuku. Courtesy of the artist and Kasmin, New York.
Omuku’s show at Kasmin coincides with her first solo museum exhibition, “The Dance of the People and the Natural World,” at Arnolfini in Bristol, England. The artist has had previous solo exhibitions at Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery and Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, which co-represent her with Kasmin.
B. 1992, Copenhagen. Lives and works in Copenhagen.
Portrait of Oliver Bak. Photo by Emanuel Blade. Courtesy of Sprüth Magers.
Danish artist Oliver Bak will take a major step in his career with his first show at Sprüth Magers in Berlin, on view from September 14th through November 2nd. The presentation will feature densely textured paintings of ghostly figures set against hazy landscapes infused with a sense of foreboding.
This new body of work builds on the historically inspired, mystical scenes for which Bak is becoming known. In it, he explores the intersection of beauty and violence, taking cues from Lawrence Alma-Tadema’s The Roses of Heliogabalus (1888), in which the Roman emperor Elagabalus smothers his guests under a cascade of rose petals. Bak produces these paintings through a meticulous process of working and reworking thick layers of wax and paint across months to years.
After graduating from the Royal Danish Art Academy in 2021, Bak has made several strides in the art world. The young artist presented solo exhibitions at London’s Cassius & Co. in 2023 and ADZ Gallery in Lisbon in 2022.
B. 1994, Sittingbourne, England. Lives and works in London.
Portrait of George Rouy, 2024. Photo by Kemka Ajoku. © George Rouy. Courtesy of the artist, Hannah Barry Gallery, and Hauser & Wirth.
This fall, George Rouy’s exhibition “The Bleed: Part I” will be held at Hauser & Wirth in London, where it will run from October 7th through December 21st. The showcase will continue with “The Bleed: Part II,” set to open at Hauser & Wirth’s downtown Los Angeles location in February 2025. Featuring exaggerated and blurred representations of human figures, the exhibitions will continue Rouy’s project of exploring themes of identity and alienation. In his murky, semi-abstract paintings, the boundary between the body and its environment is deliberately blurred.
After graduating from London’s Camberwell College of Arts in 2015, Rouy has steadily gained recognition through solo exhibitions at Steve Turner in 2018, Peres Projects in 2020 and 2022, and Almine Rech in 2022. This June, shortly after announcing its representation of Rouy, Hauser & Wirth showcased several of the artist’s paintings at Art Basel. His work is currently held in collections around the world, including the ICA Miami and the X Museum in Beijing.
B. 1992, Lagos. Lives and works in Chicago.
Portrait of Luke Chidiebube Agada. Photo by Robert Chase Heishman. Courtesy of the artist and Roberts Projects, Los Angeles, California.
Luke Chidiebube Agada started out as a self-taught artist while pursuing a degree in veterinary medicine, making and selling art to pay bills. Just one year into his veterinary career, Agada quit and enrolled in an MFA program at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, from which he graduated in 2023. This abrupt pivot is paying off with his first solo exhibition in Los Angeles, “Between Two Suns,” on view at Roberts Projects from September 28th through November 2nd.
Agada’s work is rooted in the traditions of Surrealism. With colors inspired by the rooftops, roads, and sunlight of his native Lagos, his paintings often feature spectral shadows or warped figures populating domestic settings. These transient figures evoke a sense of the unfamiliar, often associated with the immigrant experience. By considering the instability of space and selfhood, his paintings use dreamlike ambiguity to convey displacement.
Chicago’s moniquemeloche hosted Agada’s first U.S. solo exhibition in September 2023. His momentum continued to build when Roberts Projects showcased his work at Art Basel Miami Beach, where it was highlighted as one of Artsy’s best booths.
B. 1993, Rio de Janeiro. Lives and works in Rio de Janeiro.
Portrait of Laís Amaral. Courtesy of the artist and Mendes Wood DM.
Laís Amaral, Sem título V, série “Como um zumbido estrelar, um pássaro no fundo do ouvido,”2024. Photo by Estudio Em Obra. Courtesy of the artist and Mendes Wood DM, São Paulo, Brussels, Paris, New York.
Laís Amaral, co-founder of the Trovoa group—a Brazilian women’s collective that champions the arts beyond traditional academic frameworks—often integrates materials such as beads and straw into her abstract paintings. Through this mixing of media, she highlights the traditions of craftswomen across her home country.
A selection of these works will be featured in Amaral’s New York solo debut, “What Happens at the Seaside at Dawn?,” on view at Mendes Wood DM from September 6th through October 5th. In these paintings, Amaral draws on natural forms from her home country’s landscapes to investigate environmental collapse in the Amazon and globally, as well as its societal implications. Her ongoing research into environmental issues guides her practice, where gestural, rugged canvases emphasize the tense relationship between humanity and nature.
This exhibition follows solo shows at Bela Maré in Rio de Janeiro, Mendes Wood DM in Brussels, and HOA in São Paulo. Amaral has previously been spotlighted by Artsy as a Latin American artist at the forefront of abstraction.
B. 1962, Liku, Niue. Lives and works in Auckland.
Portrait of John Pule. Courtesy of Venus Over Manhattan.
A poet, printmaker, and painter celebrated across Oceania, 62-year-old Niuean artist John Pule is poised to make his U.S. debut this fall at Venus Over Manhattan. In May, the gallery showcased Pule’s work in its group presentation at TEFAF New York.
Pule’s verdant, densely decorated paintings draw heavily from the hiapo—a traditional Niuean barkcloth characterized by freehand patterns that incorporate both Indigenous and colonial symbols. In his upcoming self-titled exhibition, Pule will present recent paintings that burst with the vibrant, lush imagery of Niue’s flora and fauna. These works render the natural world with glossy, enchanting colors that pop from the canvas.
Though this upcoming exhibition marks his debut in the U.S., Pule is no stranger to acclaim. His work has been widely admired since the 1990s and is prominently displayed in institutions across Oceania, such as the Queensland Art Gallery, the National Gallery of Australia, and the Auckland Art Gallery.
B. 1966, Xi’An, China. Lives and works in Beijing and New York.
Portrait of Yu Hong. Courtesy of Lisson Gallery.
Yu Hong has built momentum over the past year with a site-specific installation presented by the Guggenheim’s Asian Art Initiative during the 60th Venice Biennale, as well as a solo exhibition at the SCAD Museum of Art. This fall, the artist will present her first solo show with Lisson Gallery, “Islands of the Mind.” Inspired by Arnold Böcklin’s famous Island of the Dead (1880–1901), each of Yu’s new energetic, large-scale paintings will depict an island landscape that embodies a distinct theme, such as repose, love, life, or death.
Yu’s practice, grounded in Socialist Realist traditions but evolved into something more personal, focuses on the experiences of contemporary Chinese women. Her works—which use oil, pastels, and fabric dye—depict women at every stage of life, often set against stark, dreamlike backgrounds. For example, Yu’s ongoing autobiographical series “Witness to Growth,” started in the 1990s as a collection of diptychs, chronicles her own life alongside news clippings from each period.
The show at Lisson, on view from September 27th through November 9th, is a milestone for the 58-year-old artist. Frequently referenced as a star of contemporary Chinese art, she has been the subject of solo exhibitions at the Long Museum in Shanghai and the CAFA Art Museum in Beijing, among others.
B. 1974, Buenos Aires. Lives and works in Buenos Aires and Mar del Plata, Argentina.
Portrait of Matias Duville. Photo by Filipe Berndt. Courtesy of Casa Triângulo, São Paulo.
Matias Duville’s landscapes suggest a post-apocalyptic world where familiar natural forms like mountainscapes and towering trees loom. These works are the subject of the artist’s first solo exhibition at Casa Triângulo in São Paulo, “Cenizas de Mañana,” on view until September 14th. This exhibition builds on the momentum from his recent show at Barro in New York, deepening that exhibition’s exploration of manipulated natural environments.
Duville’s work is characterized by scrawled lines and pops of radiant, unnatural colors. While figures are mostly absent, the landscapes are littered with traces of human presence and activity. Ashes of modernity (2024), featured among the works at Casa Triângulo, illustrates a desert landscape lit by a burnt orange sky. Amid this wasteland, dotted with dying plants, lies a solitary motorcycle helmet—signifying the weight of human impact on the terrain and hinting at a tragedy that occurred there.
Duville’s works are held in prestigious collections, such as the Guggenheim Museum, Tate Modern, the Blanton Museum of Art, and the Museum of Modern Art.
B. 1990, Havana, Cuba. Lives and works in Miami.
Portrait of Alejandro Piñeiro Bello. © Alejandro Piñeiro Bello. Courtesy of the artist and Pace Gallery.
Portrait of Alejandro Piñeiro Bello. © Alejandro Piñeiro Bello. Courtesy of the artist and Pace Gallery.
Alejandro Piñeiro Bello is squarely in the spotlight after Pace Gallery announced its representation of the artist in June. He will make his London debut with the gallery with “Entre El Día Y La Noche,” on view from September 4th through 28th. The exhibition will showcase a collection of new paintings, works on paper, and a sculpture that explore the transformative moments between day and night, employing a psychedelic palette reminiscent of sunset and sunrise.
Piñeiro Bello’s vivid, gestural work draws from the painting traditions of the Caribbean and its diaspora, taking inspiration from artists including Wifredo Lam and Manuel Mendive. His work employs rich and deep colors that evoke the lush landscapes of his native Havana, Cuba. These works—often painted on raw linen, burlap, or hemp—explore mystical themes, often returning to the spiral as a central motif. Frequently found in nature, the spiral, for the artist, symbolizes mystical power and a sense of interconnectedness. In paintings like La Espiral Luminosa (2024), the artist uses this natural phenomenon to evoke a sense of unity between humans and the natural world.
Last year, the artist had his first solo exhibition with Pace in Seoul. The year was topped off by a buzzy solo exhibition at KDR during Art Basel Miami Beach and a concurrent exhibition at the Rubell Museum, which closes on October 20th.
B. 1971, Parumala, India. Lives and works in Kochi and Bangalore, India.
Sosa Joseph, Śarada, 2023–24. © Sosa Joseph. Courtesy of David Zwirner.
Sosa Joseph will make a landmark solo debut in Europe with “Pennungal: Lives of Women and Girls” at David Zwirner’s London gallery, on view from August 30th through September 28th. The show will feature a series of new, characteristically colorful paintings capturing moments of everyday life.
Joseph’s hazy scenes incorporate figures from her South Indian upbringing, using natural motifs to explore communal and personal histories. Often, her work focuses on the lived experiences of women and girls in her native Parumala, India. The new body of work featured at David Zwirner will continue these explorations, depicting the women in her community engaging in activities of daily life around the Pampa River.
A graduate of the Raja Ravi Varma College of Fine Arts in Kerala, India, Joseph has been the subject of solo shows at Stevenson in Cape Town and Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke in Mumbai. Her work is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Maxwell Rabb
Maxwell Rabb is Artsy’s Staff Writer.
