10 small galleries discover emerging talent

Foundations is Artsy’s new online gallery highlighting new works from galleries known for selecting exciting emerging artists. Here, Artsy Editorial selects 10 standout art galleries with programs packed with new rising talent.

Paris-based Bim Bam Gallery is building a name for its emerging program. The gallery places particular emphasis on presenting solo shows by US-based artists who have not yet performed in France.

The gallery opened in 2019 in the Marais, and has since featured emerging artists like Kevin Sabo, who creates fantastical portraits of queer individuals pushing the boundaries of sexual expression. Sabo is one of the Foundations’ featured artists, along with Rachel Hayden.

Some of the artists Bim Bam has featured are Heather Benjamin, Jeffrey Cheung, Richard Coleman, and Devra Fox.

Since its opening in 2013, Seoul-based G Gallery has made a notable impact on the art world with an impressive program of Korean artists, especially those working in the field of abstraction. This is demonstrated by the selection of “Foundations” which includes the vibrant geometric abstract sculptures of Jungpyo Hong in dialogue with earth-toned works on paper and sculptures by Suyon Huh.

Symbolizing Seoul’s fast-growing art market, G Gallery is a must-visit for anyone interested in contemporary art in Seoul. The gallery’s recent exhibitions and fair showcase of abstract textile artist Hana Wu, who won the inaugural Frieze Seoul Artist Prize, are testament to the gallery’s position in creating taste and supporting emerging talent.

Minneapolis-based HAIRandNAILS was founded in 2015 by artists and curators Ryan Fontaine and Christine Van Loon. The gallery is known for its small, intimate and often experimental exhibitions, which include photography, media, sculpture, drawing and performance. Her rich selection of institutions is no exception, featuring the moody, cinematic paintings of Emma Beatrice alongside the sweet color palette of abstract painter Rachel Collier, among other artists.

The gallery’s most recent exhibitions included “Lord Split Me Open” by conceptual artist Cameron Patricia Downey, which closed last month, and “Coming Home” by visual artist Gregory Rick, which will be on view through July 23. Both exhibitions depict the lives of black Americans through radically different means and practices.

One of the newest galleries on this list is New York-based Someday Gallery, which opened in Tribeca in 2021. Founder Rosie Motley has an impressive track record as an art writer and curator in New York, and she has used these skills to develop a program of compelling artists. The exhibition features several contemporary New York artists including sculptor Ivana Pašić. Rachel Rossin, best known for her work in virtual reality and multimedia; and performance by multimedia artist Justin Sterling.

Someday Gallery’s selection of institutions—which includes paintings by Alex Gibson, Brittany Shepherd, and Peter Brook—demonstrates its interest in identifying up-and-coming talent.

Everyday Gallery, founded by Boris Davies in 2019, showcases the work of a selection of artists who tend to be drawn to nature and imagination. Located in Antwerp, the gallery has worked with up-and-coming painters from Europe, including Elsa Roy, Maria Prats, and Dietmar Vien. Vian showed with the exhibition at the Future Gallery.

As for the selection of themes, the exhibition highlights haunting suburban scenes and abstract paintings by Bram Kinsbergen; puzzling, nature-inspired sculptures by Tom Volkert; The Bastille is still alive by Eric Chiavelli. A fixture on the city’s art circuit, Everyday Gallery has quickly become known for its ability to introduce new artists to an international art audience.

Paris France; Cotonou, Benin

SEPTIEME Gallery was founded a few months before the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2019. Its directors, Julie Panater and Lea Perrier-Loco, have a keen eye for selecting emerging artists with a modernist flair. Always looking for artists who work in innovative and interesting ways, the gallery’s new approach includes showcasing artists from the black diaspora in Paris and Cotonou.

The gallery’s Grounds show is typical of its programme, showcasing Didier Feudi’s naive and acrylic photographs, alongside Kawako Yaro’s mixed media collages. Along with Ablerh-Dukku Bourlabi’s bright paintings featuring coconut sheaths, the body of works offers an exciting new perspective on the depiction of people in black.

Meanwhile, the gallery’s current exhibition titled “What’s Your Gray Area?”, which runs until July 29, showcases the work of rising figurative painter Rebecca Brodskis.

LATITUDE New York is a New York-based contemporary art gallery, founded by artist and entrepreneur Shihui Zhu in 2020, dedicated to showcasing cutting-edge artwork by emerging artists from the Asian diaspora. The gallery recently featured promising emerging artists such as Jess Xiaoyi Han, Yuan Fang, and Kyung Kim, artists who create works with bold visual impact. Take, for example, Han’s dynamic yellow-and-pink abstract paintings, or Fang’s immersive purple-hued abstract paintings, both of which have captivated collectors in recent years.

The gallery showcases a wide range of artists and media to showcase its foundations. Some notable paintings include Ye Cheng’s abstract pastel paintings; The earth-toned, nature-inspired abstract paintings of Raymond Hwang; and the figurative surrealist paintings of Jessica Wei.

SMAC was first established in 2007 in Stellenbosch, South Africa, with its Cape Town location opening in 2011. The gallery is dedicated to discovering and promoting new and emerging artists from Africa and the African diaspora, and has gained a strong reputation for selecting new artists with great potential. For example, it represents conceptual textile artist Wallin Mapundera, who was featured at The Artsy Vanguard 2021, and was subsequently shown at the Zimbabwe Pavilion at the 59th Venice Biennale.

In SMAC’s institutional selection, Mapondera’s works are curated alongside Simphiwe Butthelezi and Bonolo Kavula, two complementary artists who work in textiles and mixed materials. While Mapundera’s conceptual use of mixed media lends itself to more sculptural forms, Buthelezi chooses to create sculptures that resemble paintings. Meanwhile, Kavula creates woven rugs that play with the history of South African textiles and patterns. SMAC reflects, but is not limited to, the South African art scene and has been firmly linked to the international art scene through its thoughtful curation.

Founded in 2012 by Samantha Bankel Shiffman and Paulina Petkowski, PLAYGROUND DETROIT is a contemporary art gallery and creative talent agency based in Detroit, Michigan. The gallery specializes in curating a diverse group of artists from various cultural and artistic media.

The selection of exhibition grounds demonstrates his keen interest in and curation of surrealist styles in both painting and photography through the works of Lou Braden and Ivan Montoya. For example, Braden’s brightly colored photographs place black individuals in fantasy settings that heighten their use of magic in hair, makeup, clothing, and set design. Braden’s profile is on the rise this year: they were recently highlighted on Photo Vogue, a Condé Nast editorial blog that supports new photographic talent across its networks.