15 must-have finds under $15,000

The fast-rising British artist Danny Fox has developed a cult following among critics and collectors. Last year his UK dealers, Arthur Yates and Phoebe Saatchi Yates, divulged to Christie’s that one fan even asked Fox to sign their arm. Fox, whose bold, folklore-inspired figurative paintings have drawn comparisons to those of Jean-Michel Basquiat and Henri Matisse, weaves art historical references and cultural symbolism into his own personal narratives. A longtime friend of the storied Los Angeles artist Henry Taylor, Fox was recently the focus of an exclusive exhibition at Taylor’s studio-turned-art-space, Chinatown Taylor’s. The show attracted widespread attention, with coverage in GQ and Elephant. His first institutional solo exhibition, set to debut at the University of Plymouth in spring 2025.

The Los Angeles-based Jennifer Guidi is well known for her intricately patterned surfaces, which pulse with rhythm and energy, as seen in her intimately scaled, Untitled (MF #1 Black and White). Drawing inspiration from natural landscapes, celestial phenomena and Eastern philosophies, her work bridges the tactile and the transcendent, evoking harmony and contemplation. A prominent figure in contemporary American abstraction, her paintings are housed in major US institutions, including the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Dallas Museum of Art.

Michael Kagan’s Hillary Step and South Col mark the artist’s striking foray into landscape painting. In the artist’s signature expressive brushwork, these dynamic works depict two of Mount Everest’s most perilous landmarks, both situated in the ‘death zone’ where climbers face extreme physical and environmental challenges. Best known for his richly textured astronaut paintings, Kagan has captivated collectors and artists alike. The musician Pharrell Williams has collaborated with Kagan on projects related to the hip-hop artist’s luxury brand, Billionaire Boys Club, including limited-edition astronaut sculptures. With Hillary Step and South Col, Kagan expands his thematic repertoire, offering a new lens through which to view mankind’s pursuit of the impossible.

It’s been a knockout year for Vojtěch Kovařík. The 31-year-old Czech artist mounted solo exhibitions at Prague’s Museum Kampa and the Power Station in Dallas. Known for his vibrant paintings that bridge classical themes with contemporary energy, Kovařík contorts his exaggerated subjects in acts of love, combat or sport. In his 2018 painting Thrilla in Manila, the artist reimagines the iconic 1975 heavyweight boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. Kovařík’s art has been acquired by public collections worldwide and has recently packed a punch in the market, with nine of his 10 highest auction prices achieved within the past 18 months. In May 2023, his painting Aphrodite shattered expectations when it sold for $378,000 at Christie’s, establishing a record price for the artist.

The Saudi-Palestinian artist Dana Awartani has been on a global tour throughout 2024. Her practice, which spans painting, installation, sculpture and video, provides a contemporary reinterpretation of traditional Islamic art. In addition to a solo exhibition in Adelaide, Australia, the artist appeared in the 60th International Art Exhibition at the Venice Biennale, Saudi Arabia’s Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale and the Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art in Brisbane. Awartani meticulously employs ancient techniques such as hand-ground pigments, illumination and traditional calligraphy to explore themes of identity, spirituality and cultural heritage.

Nnenna Okore is teasing, twisting and sewing her way through the art world with her richly textured, visceral sculptures that resemble organic forms found in nature. This year alone, her works have been featured in institutional exhibitions across the globe, from Miami and Toronto to Abu Dhabi and Azerbaijan. Born in Australia and raised in Nigeria, Okore now resides in Chicago, where she fuses traditional African techniques with contemporary themes to tackle urgent ecological subjects such as carbon emissions, waste and energy consumption. Inspired by her natural surroundings, she employs eco-friendly materials like bioplastics, burlap, and cheesecloth, as in her 2017 work Resonance.

Alina Perez’s monumental works on paper weave together real and fantastical elements to conjure a world uniquely her own. Her practice is rooted in a symbolic language based on her experiences as a Cuban American raised in Miami. Finding parallels between Florida’s fragile ecosystem and the emotional landscape of youth, Perez draws connections between the teeming life of the region’s tropical wetlands and the complexities of human experience. Her drawings evolve through layers of instinctive gestures, undergoing continuous revision as she refines and enriches each detail. At age 29, Perez was one the youngest participants selected for the 2024 triennial at El Museo del Barrio — on view through 9 February 2025.

A century after André Breton penned the Surrealist Manifesto, the movement continues to inspire new generations of artists. The French painter Laure Mary-Couégnias cites influences like René Magritte and Séraphine de Senlis in her distinctive blend of Naive Art, Pop Art and Surrealism. Her unsettling depictions of everyday scenes appear suspended in time, poised for action. Inspired by Dutch Golden Age masters, Mary-Couégnias employs traditional painting techniques and luscious jewel-toned palettes. The artist begins each painting by writing a poem, which serves as the conceptual foundation for the work.

The youngest member of the so-called ‘Lost Tribe’, Yukultji Napangati grew up living a seminomadic, hunter-gatherer lifestyle in the Australian bush. Isolated from settler influence, her family lived in complete seclusion until 1984, when they were discovered by Australian settlers and reunited with their Pintupi kin in Kiwirrkura. There, Napangati joined the artist collective Papunya Tula and began painting in 1996. Drawing from her ancestral narratives and sacred desert landscapes, Napangati paints hypnotic dot patterns that evoke the shifting sands and undulating dunes of her homeland. Today Napangati is an internationally acclaimed artist with works in major institutions including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Harvard Art Museum in Cambridge and the National Gallery of Australia.

Legend has it that the Kenyan-born German artist Cosima von Bonin works from her bed, sitting upright to create her large-scale mixed-media installations. Characterised by oversized stuffed animals, textiles and elements drawn from pop culture, her works use humour and absurdity to explore themes of play, power and consumerism. Von Bonin’s art has earned a place in notable collections worldwide, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. Untitled (Fence) comes from the esteemed collection of Rosa de la Cruz, the visionary Miami collector known for her cutting-edge eye for boundary-pushing contemporary voices.

The Indian artist Vibha Galhotra is best known for her large-scale works that examine the transformation of topographical and cultural landscapes due to globalization and nation-building in her homeland. Her tapestries, like the 2014 Najafgarh (from Flow series), combine traditional craftsmanship with meticulous research. Galhotra employs ghungroos — small metal ankle bells symbolizing femininity in Indian culture — which she painstakingly sews and dyes to create abstract sculptural landscapes. The artist’s works are held in numerous public and private collections including the Margulies Collection in Miami and Gates Foundation in Seattle.

The Los Angeles-based artist Alec Egan belongs to a generation of contemporary painters building on the legacy of artists like Pierre Bonnard and Edouard Vuillard, infusing private scenes with fresh perspectives. Coming directly from the collection of television legend Norman Lear and his wife, Lyn, Egan’s March (2018) offers an intimate glimpse into a domestic space filled with vibrant patterns and everyday objects. The painting evokes a sense of lived experience and authenticity, mirroring the creative integrity Lear brought to his groundbreaking television shows.

Ghada Amer and Reza Farkhondeh have developed a dynamic artistic collaboration that blends their distinct yet complementary styles. Their mixed-media works on paper combine Amer’s bold explorations of female sexuality with Farkhondeh’s lyrical, nature motifs. Together, they create richly layered compositions that explore femininity, identity and the natural world. While the two have worked together since 2001, they have maintained their own studios, passing works back and forth in a fluid dialogue. After a six-year hiatus, Amer announced earlier this year that she and Farkhondeh would be embarking on a new collaboration.

An early member of Takashi Murakami’s Kaikai Kiki collective, the self-taught Chiho Aoshima is among Japan’s most exciting contemporary artists. The artist — who was discovered by Murakami while working at an advertising agency — combines surreal, dreamlike visions with traditional Japanese aesthetics and images from pop culture. She was selected by Murakami to be part of his iconic 2001 Superflat exhibitions at the Walker Art Museum in Minneapolis alongside names like Mr. and Yoshitomo Nara. More recently, Aoshima has expanded into the realm of ceramics, translating her signature style into three-dimensional objects that invite audiences to engage in new ways.