10 contemporary artists to invest in right now
A selection of artists whose reputations and markets are on the rise — featuring works offered in Christie’s 20th/21st sales
Thomas Houseago (b. 1972), Untitled, 2008. Plaster, wood, hemp, graphite and oilbar, 70½ x 47⅝ x 40 in (179 x 121 x 101.5 cm). Sold for £40,000 on 18 February 2019, Online
Nicolas Party
Nicolas Party (b. 1980), Portrait, 2016. Pastel on card. 31¼ x 23⅝ in (79.3 x 60 cm). Estimate: £80,000-120,000. Offered in Post War and Contemporary Art Evening Auction on 4 October 2019 at Christie’s in London
Who? The Swiss-born American artist Nicolas Party (b. 1980) is best known for his colour-saturated paintings, murals and sculptures, often of characters with large heads and staring eyes. He recently signed to Hauser & Wirth gallery (as one of the youngest artists on its roster), and in 2019 one of his paintings sold at auction for over $600,000 — more than four times its lower estimate.
Recent exhibitions: Polychrome, The Modern Institute, Glasgow, 2019; Speakers, Modern Art Oxford, Oxford, 2017-18; Sunrise, Sunset, Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, 2017; Pastel, KARMA, New York, 2017
If you like this artist you might also enjoy: Tomoo Gokita, Shara Hughes, George Condo
Birgit Jürgenssen
Birgit Jürgenssen (1949-2003), Zwitterschuh (Hermaphrodite Shoe), 1976. Graphite and coloured pencil on paper. 20⅝ x 15½ in (52.5 x 39.5 cm). Estimate: £6,000-9,000. Offered in Post-War and Contemporary Art Day Auction on 5 October 2019 at Christie’s in London
Who? The Austrian artist Birgit Jürgenssen (1949-2003) is regarded as a pioneer of 20th-century feminist avant-garde art. Her photographs critiqued the role of women in modern society, often through black and white self-portraits, while her drawings and paintings confront sexual politics. She also taught at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna.
Recent exhibitions: Ich Bin/I Am, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk, Denmark, 2019; Birgit Jürgenssen, Gladstone Gallery, Brussels, 2019; Nocturnal Light, Alison Jacques Gallery, London, 2018; Freak, Codex, Berlin, 2018.
If you like this artist you might also enjoy: Charlotte Colbert, Tracey Emin, Marina Abramović
Nobuo Sekine
Nobuo Sekine (b. 1942), Phase of Nothingness — Cloth and Stone, 1994. Liquitex on canvas, plastic fibre rope and found rock. 119⅝ x 76⅜ x 7⅛ in (304 x 194 x 18 cm). Estimate: £50,000-70,000. Offered in Post-War and Contemporary Art Day Auction on 5 October 2019 at Christie’s in London
Who? The Japanese artist Nobuo Sekine (1942-2019) was a key member of the Mono-ha group — a collective of Korean and Japanese sculptors who experimented with mixing natural and industrial materials, such as steel, glass, wire, leather and stone, in the 1960s and ’70s. After representing Japan at the Venice Biennial in 1970 his work gained popularity in Europe, and more recently has been the focus of several exhibitions in America.
Recent exhibitions: Tribute to Mono-ha, Cardi Gallery, London, 2019; Nobuo Sekine, Blum & Poe, Los Angeles, 2014; Tokyo 1955–1970: A New Avant Garde, Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2012.
If you like this artist you might also enjoy: Isa Genzken, Franz West, Richard Long
Dana Schutz
Dana Schutz (b. 1976), Ear on Fire, 2012. Watercolour monotype with coloured pencil, crayon and pastel on Lanquarelle watercolour paper. 60 x 47½ in (152.4 x 120.7 cm). Estimate: £50,000-70,000. Offered in Post-War and Contemporary Art Day Auction on 5 October 2019 at Christie’s in London
Who? The American artist Dana Schutz (b. 1976), who paints gestural, figurative canvases, was included in the Clandestine show at the Venice Bienniale in 2003 and has shown her work at MoMA and the Whitney. In 2019 a painting by Schutz, one of the best known names on our list, hit the $2 million mark at auction — against an estimate of $300,000-400,000.
Recent exhibitions: Imagine Me and You, Petzel, New York, 2019; Dana Schutz, ICA Boston, Boston, 2017; Waiting for the Barbarians, Contemporary Fine Arts, Berlin, 2016; Dana Schutz, Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal, Montréal, Canada, 2015-16
If you like this artist you might also enjoy: Adrian Ghenie, Alex Katz
Loie Hollowell
Loie Hollowell (b. 1983), Lady in Green, 2014. Oil on canvas. 64 x 48 in (162.6 x 121.9 cm). Estimate: £50,000-70,000. Offered in Post War and Contemporary Art Evening Auction on 4 October 2019 at Christie’s in London
Who? The colourful paintings of Loie Hollowell (b. 1983) use curvaceous motifs to represent the female anatomy; in 2015 Martha Schwendener of The New York Times described her work as ‘abstract body landscapes’. Hollowell’s paintings have been purchased for public collections by the Arts Council England and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Arkansas.
Recent exhibitions: Dominant / Recessive, Pace Gallery, London, 2018; The Beyond: Georgia O’Keeffe and Contemporary Art, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Arkansas, 2018; Dreamers Awake, White Cube Bermondsey, London, 2017.
If you like this artist you might also enjoy: Huguette Caland, Kenny Scharf, Georgia O’Keeffe
Toyin Ojih Odutola
Toyin Ojih Odutola (b. 1985), Manifesto, 2017. Charcoal, pastel and pencil on paper. 24 x 19 in (60.9 x 48.25 cm). Estimate: £60,000-80,000. Offered in Post-War and Contemporary Art Day Auction on 5 October 2019 at Christie’s in London
Who? Nigerian-born Toyin Ojih Odutola (b. 1985) is best known for her pen, pencil and charcoal portraits which examine identity and race and reflect her childhood relocation from Africa to New York. In 2012 Forbes magazine listed her as one of the ‘30 under 30’ artists to watch.
Recent exhibitions: When Legends Die, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, 2018; Toyin Ojih Odutola: The Firmament, Hood Museum of Art, New Hampshire, 2018; Toyin Ojih Odutola: To Wander Determined, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 2017-18.
If you like this artist you might also enjoy: Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, Henry Taylor, Njideka Akunyili Crosby
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Lorna Simpson
Lorna Simpson (b. 1960), Untitled (Two Necklines), 1989. Two gelatin silver prints and eleven engraved plastic plaques. Overall: 40 x 100 in (101.6 x 254 cm). Estimate: £30,000-50,000. Offered in Post-War and Contemporary Art Day Auction on 5 October 2019 at Christie’s in London
Who? The American photographer, video maker and collagist Lorna Simpson (b. 1960) was inspired by the poet David Antin — her teacher at the University of California in San Diego — to create her famous ‘photo-text’ works, such as Untitled (Two Necklines), above. Another version of this work is in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
Recent exhibitions: Darkening, Hauser & Wirth, New York, 2019; Focus, Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Texas, 2016-17.
If you like this artist you might also enjoy: Kara Walker, Laurie Simmons, Wangechi Mutu
Tschabalala Self
Tschabalala Self (b. 1990), Sapphir, 2015. Oil, pigment and sewn fabric collage on canvas. 84 x 62 in (213.4 x 157.5 cm). Estimate: £100,000-150,000. Offered in Post War and Contemporary Art Evening Auction on 4 October 2019 at Christie’s in London
Who? The youngest artist on our list, New Yorker Tschabalala Self (b. 1990) makes mixed media works on canvas that depict black female figures. She was awarded the Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters & Sculptors Grant in 2016, then the following year named as one to watch by Forbes magazine.
Recent exhibitions: Bodega Run, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, 2019; Tschabalala Self, Fyre Art Museum, Seattle, 2019; MOOD: Studio Museum Artists in Residence, MoMA PS1, New York, 2018-19; Tschabalala Self, Tramway, Glasgow, 2017.
If you like this artist you might also enjoy: Lynette Yiadom- Boakye, Kara Walker
Donna Huanca
Donna Huanca (b. 1980), Gatorade, 2015. Plaster 3D paint on canvas. 63 x 47¼ in (160 x 120 cm). Estimate: £8,000-12,000. Offered in Post-War and Contemporary Art Day Auction on 5 October 2019 at Christie’s in London
Who? The Chicago-born Donna Huanca (b. 1980) often substitutes canvas for the nude female body in her work, which spans choreography, sound and sculpture. The artist’s paintings are linked to the performative elements of her exhibitions, such as Gatorade, above, which was shown at Peres Projects in Berlin in 2015 as part of her Muscle Memory show, where painted female bodies ‘glacially engaged with the works and the space.’
Recent exhibitions: Donna Huanca: Obsidian Ladder, Marciano Art Foundation, Los Angeles 2019; Lengua Llorona, Copenhagen Contemporary, Copenhagen, 2019; Piedra Quemada, Belvedere Museum, Vienna, 2018-19.
If you like this artist you might also enjoy: Ida Ekblad, Helen Frankenthaler, Sam Francis
Julie Curtiss
Julie Curtiss (b. 1982) Hotel, 2018. Acrylic and oil on canvas. 30 x 40⅛ in (76 x 102 cm). Estimate: £40,000-60,000. Offered in Post-War and Contemporary Art Day Auction on 5 October 2019 at Christie’s in London
Who? The painter Julie Curtiss (b. 1982) grew up in Paris but now lives in Brooklyn, New York, where she works with oils, acrylics and gouache — often painting pictures of women’s hair, hands and feet as a way to examine gender stereotypes. In 2012 she was awarded the Van Lier Fellowship from the New York Foundation for the Arts.
Recent exhibitions: Wildlife, Anton Kern Gallery, New York, 2019; Altered States, Various Small Fires, Los Angeles, 2018; Soft Shells, 106 Green, New York, 2017.
If you like this artist you might also enjoy: Tamuna Sirbiladze, Christina Quarles, Dorothea Tanning