Fresh paint: seven emerging artists to discover in the Nova and Positions sectors
Find out how these young painters are updating their medium
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Throughout the millennia, artists have continuously sought to challenge the nature of painting. Innovation hasn't stopped: Here are seven artists relentlessly testing the limits, opportunities, and traditions of the medium – all of whom you can discover at Art Basel Miami Beach this week.
Didier William (b. 1983, Port-au-Prince, Haïti)
James Fuentes, New York City, Nova sector, booth N4
Didier William creates evocative pictures half-way between figuration and abstraction. Working with an array of media including paper, charcoal, and stucco, the Haitian American painter explores how memories travel through generations and geographies. They crop up in his work through graphic elements interwoven with color fields and chimerical figures, which conjure up speculative mindscapes. In Miami Beach, William will present Vertieres (2019), an epic work inspired by the namesake battle that led to the independence of Haiti from France in 1803.
Astrid Svangren (b. 1972, Gothenburg, Sweden)
Christian Andersen, Copenhagen, Positions sector, booth P11
Svangren’s compositions turn painting into a multidimensional experience. The Swedish artist takes the different elements constituting the medium (paint, surface, canvas, stretcher bars) and rearranges them in space. The poetic environments resulting from that process are reminiscent of both conceptual art and stripped-down domestic spaces. In Miami Beach, the artist will present one of these immersive works, inspired by the teachings and rules of Shaker culture.
Amoako Boafo (b. Accra, Ghana)
Mariane Ibrahim Gallery, Chicago, Nova sector, booth N5
Amoako Boafo is best-known as a portraitist. With an energetic brushstroke, the Ghanaian-born, Vienna-based artist depicts friends and acquaintances, often placed on a monochrome background. Boafo’s practice pertains to a long tradition – the oeuvres of Amy Sherald, Barkley L. Hendricks, Alice Neel, and Egon Schiele come to mind. But this lineage does not dilute the punch of his paintings – quite the opposite, his distinctive style is enriched by these influences. Boafo will show new work in Miami Beach, conceived especially for the fair.
Wu Chen (b. 1983, Zhengzhou, China)
Magician Space, Beijing, Positions sector, booth P2
A joyful iconoclasm transpires from the paintings of Chinese artist Wu Chen. Wu paints easily recognizable motives and figures, which he then distorts and places in unexpected environments. In doing so, the artist aims to address the excessive importance we attribute to symbols and images. His Miami Beach project will build on a fictional dialogue between himself and Henri Matisse, pondering on the value of artistic identity and production.
Maia Cruz Palileo (b. 1979, Chicago, US) and Ebony G. Patterson (b.1981, Kingston, Jamaica)
Monique Meloche Gallery, Chicago, Nova sector, booth N14
The works of Maia Cruz Palileo and Ebony G. Patterson share an alluring sense of baroque. Palileo’s oeuvre is articulated around her Filipino heritage. She paints lush scenes based on images found in archives, combining her personal history with external – and sometimes fictional – elements. Patterson is known for her impressive dexterity with ornamentation. Her maximalist use of decorative elements is never gratuitous, however: Instead, they contribute to her ongoing exploration of Afro-Caribbean visual identities and symbols, and of the region’s turbulent history. The two artists will be presented together at Art Basel Miami Beach by Monique Meloche Gallery.
Aaron Fowler (b. 1988, St. Louis, US)
M+B, Los Angeles, Positions sector, booth P9
LA-based artist Aaron Fowler draws on his personal story to form impressive hybrids of painting and sculpture. A striking combination of exuberance and grit characterizes his works, many of which incorporate discarded materials Fowler sources from his immediate surroundings. The artist focuses on the Black experience, presenting, he explains, a ‘nuanced approach to reading narratives of blackness.’ In Miami Beach, Fowler will present a brand-new wall work exploring community, salvation, and transformation.
Discover more galleries participating in this year’s Nova and Positions sectors at Art Basel Miami Beach here.
Top image: Amoako Boafo, Cobalt Blue Earring (detail), 2019, via Mariane Ibrahim Gallery, Chicago.