25 Artists to Watch in 2014

Image via Complex Original

Born: 1986 in West Chester, P.A.
Location: New York

Currently working towards his MFA in painting at Bard College, Kyle Thurman received his BA in Visual Arts and Film Studies from Columbia University in 2009 and was a guest student at the Kunstakademie Dusseldorf from 2011 to 2012. Recent shows include a solo project at Room East in New York and a group exhibition organized by Ryan Foerster in Brighton Beach. Forthcoming exhibitions include a solo show at Office Baroque in Brussels and a group exhibition taking place at both Lisa Cooley and Laurel Gitlen.

Born: 1979 in Dusseldorf, Germany
Location: Dusseldorf and London

German abstract painter Chris Succo attended the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf and Royal College Of Art, London, graduating from the latter in 2012. His most recent solo shows include "Total Recall" at Rod Barton Gallery in London, "The Soft Machine" at Saks Gallery in Geneva, "Nu Era" at fiebach minninger in Cologne and Torn Ado at Tidens Krav in Oslo. In 2013, he participated in group exhibitions at Autocenter in Berlin, Charlie James Gallery in Los Angeles, Saks Gallery in Geneva, Galerie Jeanroch Dard in Paris, Brand New Gallery in Milan and Kunstverein Düsseldorf, as well as the "2014 Artists To Watch" exhibition at The M Building in Miami. In 2014, he will mount solos in New York and Berlin, participate in Art Brussels with DUVE Berlin, and feature in a group show at Luce Gallery in Turin. Public collections that count his work amongst their recent acquisitions include the Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf.

Born: 1982 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Location: Vienna and Los Angeles

2013 was a pivotal year for painter Christian Rosa, with highlights ranging from his participation in ReMap4 in Athens to the staging his debut Los Angeles solo with Ibid., who also presented his work at Frieze New York earlier in the year. Further recent achievements include MOMENTA in Venice during the Venice Biennale, Brucennial in New York and the Vienna Biennale, as well as group shows at Greene Naftali in New York, Brand New Gallery in Milan, Circle Culture Gallery in Berlin and the Kunstraum Schattendorf. Rosa, who graduated from the Akademie der bildenden Künste in 2012, where he studied under fellow painter Daniel Richter, is also known for enlivening the artistic community of Vienna, where he lives and works part-time, with curatorial projects, events and screenings. After participating in the "2014 Artists To Watch" exhibition at The M Building in Miami, he will take part in show in 2014 at DUVE Berlin, Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo in Turin and Isbrytaren / Carl Kostyál in Stockholm. Ibid will also take his work to several art fairs, including The Armory Show, Art Basel in Hong Kong and Art Los Angeles Contemporary.

Born: 1980 in Salisbury, M.D.
Location: Brooklyn, N.Y.

Julia Rommel was educated at the University of Richmond and The American University in Washington DC. Over the past eighteen months, she has had solo shows at Bureau in New York and Gaudel de Stampa in Paris, and participated in group exhibitions including T293 in Naples, Lora Reynolds Gallery in Austin, White Flag Projects in St. Louis, and Greene Naftali, Doyers Street, and Bortolami Gallery in New York. Her work has also been exhibited in Bureau's booth at a number of recent art fairs—the Independent and FIAC 2012 and Frieze New York 2013. She will present new paintings in Bureau's Lower East Side space in February 2014.

Born: 1987 in Exeter, England
Location: Los Angeles

Part British and part Persian, Kour Pour grew up in the South West of England before moving to Los Angeles, where he graduated with his BFA from Otis College of Art and Design in 2010. In explaining the impetus behind his popular series of carpet paintings, he says, "Carpets were a part of my childhood growing up in England. I remember my Father's rug shop, and how he would hand-dye sections of carpets that had faded away, in order to bring them back to their original vibrant colors." Each painting can take several months to complete and incorporates many techniques including an under-painting using a broomstick, silkscreen printing, sanding and meticulous hand painting. The images depicted in the paintings range from Chinese Dragons to Portuguese sailors, Genies and Silk Road nomads, all meeting together on one picture plane. The youngest artist on this year's list, Kour Pour has participated in group exhibitions at Roberts & Tilton and Steve Turner Gallery in Los Angeles. Following the "2014 Artists to Watch" exhibition at the M Building in Miami, he will open his first solo show at UNT/TLED in New York.

Born: 1985 in Edinburgh, Scotland
Location: London

Oliver Osborne's works juxtapose the abstract and the figurative with deadpan simplicity. Best known for his thoughtful pairings of excerpts from cartoons found in European language textbooks with painstakingly painted abstract (or, at times, figurative) backgrounds, the Scottish artist, who studied at Chelsea College of Art and the Royal Academy Schools in London, had two solos in 2013: "Otto" at Frutta in Rome and "Anna" at Vilma Gold in London. He has also contributed to a number of group shows of late, including the "Grand Opening" at the recently relocated Frutta, "The writing is on the wall" at Jonathan Viner in Margate, "Degrees of Separation" at Galerie Jeanroch Dard in Paris, "Yes I will Yes" at American Contemporary in New York, "Michiel Ceulers, Oliver Osborne, Yelena Popova and Stefan Sandner" at Mihai Nicodim Gallery in Los Angeles, "Paradise Garage," curated by Henry Kinman at Eighty One in London, "Friendship in Six Planes," with Tomas Downes, at Peles Empire in London and "We outsourced everything and now we're bored" at L'Atelier Kunst Spiel Raum in Berlin. Osborne was also named one of the Bloomberg New Contemporaries in 2012, and participated in exhibitions at the ICA in London and Copperas Hill Building in Liverpool, as part of the Liverpool Biennial. In addition to appearing in the "2014 Artists To Watch" exhibition at The M Building, he will present a solo project with Vilma Gold at the upcoming Independent art fair in New York.

Born: 1978 in Boston
Location: Los Angeles

Alex Olson's elegant paintings are included in the permanent collections of institutions such as the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, and the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis. Educated at Harvard University and CalArts, Olson has had solos at Laura Bartlett Gallery in London, Lisa Cooley in New York and Shane Campbell Gallery in Chicago, and taken part in recent group exhibitions at Wallspace in New York, Altman Siegel in San Francisco, and Michael Benevento and Public Fiction in Los Angeles, in addition to the three aforementioned spaces. Her work was also included in Made in LA at the Hammer Musuem and Painter Painter, curated by Eric Crosby and Bartholomew Ryan, at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. Her most recent show, "Interior Address: Paintings by Alex Olson (Notes by M. Malliaris)," is on view at Shane Campbell's Lincoln Park location through February.

Born: 1985 in Los Angeles
Location: Brooklyn, N.Y.

In 2013, Brendan Lynch participated in a number of exhibitions as a member of The Still House Group, including "Honk if you don't Exist" at The Fireplace Project in East Hampton, "(BRU)s" at Galerie Rodolphe Janssen in Brussels and Jonathan Viner's presentation at ReMap4 in Athens. He also took part in the group shows "This is This," curated by Isaac Brest, at Zach Feuer in New York, "The Writing is on the Wall" at Jonathan Viner in London, "AN AMERICANA" at the American Academy in Rome and "This is the story of America. Everybody's doing what they think they're supposed to do." at Brand New Gallery in Milan, as well as a two-person exhibition with Nick Darmstaedter at Bugada & Cargnel in Paris. After participating in the "2014 Artists To Watch" exhibition at The M Building and a show with The Still House Group in Miami in December, he will open a two-person show with Alex Ito at Steve Turner Contemporary in Los Angeles.

Born: 1980 in Vermont
Location: New York

Israel Lund was educated at Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.Y. and Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland, O.R. In addition to his MFA thesis show at the former, Lund has participated in a number of recent group exhibitions across Europe and the US, including "A Scanner, Darkly" at David Lewis Gallery in New York, "Space Whole Karaoke" at Middlemarch in Brussels, "The C of O Show" at Kresge Gallery, Ramapo College in Mahwah, NJ, "Kyle Thurman, Israel Lund, Jean Baptiste-Bernadet, Josh Smith" at TORRI Paris, ¯\_(

Born: 1985 in New York
Location: New York

From the aesthetics (as well as politics) of waste, Erik Lindman explores abstract painting and its position within contemporary art. Discarded elements retrieved by the artist are physically integrated into his paintings. The surfaces become a reflection on the act and idea of painting. In this way, scratched Perspex, stained leather or protective surfaces are used as a starting point—or a motif—for abstract compositions. While giving a generous place to chance and accident in the creative process, he is also interested in the notion of failure and editing. Most recently, he has had solo exhibitions at ribordy contemporary in Geneva and Almine Rech Gallery in Paris. He has participated in a number of group shows of late, including "White" at Dickinson Gallery, "The Stand In (or A Glass of Milk)" at Public Fiction in Los Angeles, "LAT. 41° 7' N., LONG. 72° 19' W" and "Creature from the Blue Lagoon," organized by Bob Nickas at Martos Gallery's summer locations in East Marion and Bridgehampton, NY, and "Neo Povera" at L&M Arts in Los Angeles. Lindman graduated from Columbia University in 2007. He will have a solo exhibition at Almine Rech's Brussels location in January of 2014.

Born: 1983 in New York
Location: New York

Wyatt Kahn, who was recently named one of The Next Generation in Architectural Digest, received his BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2006 and his MFA from Hunter College in New York in 2012. He has participated in group shows at Galerie Eva Presenhuber in Zurich, Ribordy Contemporary in Geneva, Wallspace, Room East, and The Hole in New York, DUVE Berlin, Hannah Barry Gallery in London and Michael Kohn Gallery in Los Angeles, as well as a temporary exhibition with Rockoon in Hollywood. His assemblages of differently sized and shaped canvas panels have been the subject of solo and two person exhibitions at T293 in Rome, Rachel Uffner Gallery in New York, and Hannah Barry Gallery. T293 will also exhibit new works by Kahn in their booth at Art Basel in Miami. Other recent showings of note include ReMap4 in Athens and a group exhibition curated by Ugo Rondinone in the Project Room at Sommer Contemporary Art in Tel Aviv. Several yet to be disclosed projects in Europe and the US are in the works for 2014. Kahn's work is included in the public collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Dallas Museum of Art.

Born: 1986 in Ventura, Calif.
Location: Los Angeles and New York

Raised in Orange County, currently residing in Los Angeles, artist Parker Ito works in painting, sculpture, video and installation. He has presented his work across the US and Europe, as well as in Tokyo, Mexico City and Toronto. Highlights of his 2013 include the solo exhibitions "Nothing Was the Same (John Boehner Ramesses III)" at Luce Gallery in Turin, "Parker Cheeto: The Net Artist (America Online Made Me Hardcore)" at IMO Gallery in Copenhagen, "See Also: Lai Fun, List of Pasta, Soba" at Steve Turner Contemporary in Los Angeles and "Memoirs of An Imperfect Kawaii Trill BB" at FIAC with New Galerie, as well as "Air to Surface," a two-person exhibition with Helen Johnson at PRISM in Los Angeles and group shows at M-Arco in Marseilles, Untitled Gallery in New York and New Galerie in Paris. In May of 2014, Parker will present his debut solo exhibition with New Galerie, Paris, and a collaborative project with Cameron Soren and Melissa Sachs at New Galerie, New York.

Born: 1979 in Kristiansand, Norway
Location: Oslo, Norway

Ann Cathrin November Høibo's works range from installation-based, site-specific pieces that incorporate mixed media and found objects to large-scale abstract canvases created using acrylic paint, acid and salt. Educated at the National Academy of Art and Handcraft and The National College of the Arts, Oslo and Städelschule, Frankfurt am Main, she has had solos at STANDARD (OSLO), Oslo Kunstforening and Freddy Knox Projectspace in Oslo, and Henie-Onstad Kunstsenter in Høvikodden. Awarded the inaugural Sparebankstiftelsen art prize in 2010, she has also taken part in recent group shows such as "Plentitude," curated by Stephan Tanbin Sastrawidjaja at Carl Freedman Gallery in London, "Game of Life," curated by Jan Freuchen at Kristiansand Kunsthall, "A Disagreeable Object" at Sculpture Center in New York, "Stipendutstillingen 2012" at Agder Kunstnersenter in Kristiansand, "Everyday Abstract - Abstract Everyday," curated by Matthew Higgs at James Cohan Gallery in New York and Five Generations of Birds, a public art project presented at various venues across Fitjar, Norway. Highlights of 2013 for the artist include participation in group shows at Rodeo in Istanbul, White Columns in New York and Standard (Oslo), as well as a solo presentation with the latter at Art Basel in Miami Beach.

Born: 1978
Location: Brooklyn, N.Y.

2014 will be a busy year for Brooklyn-based artist Sara Greenberger Rafferty. In addition to a number of group shows, she is preparing to open her third solo exhibition at Rachel Uffner Gallery in New York, will form part of the 2014 Whitney Biennial, and is a recipient of two artist residencies, one made possible by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, the other at Coast Time in Cutler City, Oregon. She has also been appointed a Visiting Scholar at New York University, Advanced Media Center and received publication commissions from Art Papers and Art Journal. These opportunities stem in part from her past achievements, the most recent of which include a two person show with Andrew Kuo at Halsey McKay in East Hampton and group shows at FLAG Art Foundation, Wallspace, Tracy Williams Ltd, Klaus von Nichtssagend Gallery, UNTITLED and Zach Feuer in New York, Tang Museum in Saratoga Springs, Cooper Cole Gallery in Toronto and M+B in Los Angeles. Rafferty, who attended the Rhode Island School of Design and Columbia University, has also presented solo projects at MoMA PS1 and The Kitchen in New York, and participated in group shows at Gagosian Gallery and the Jewish Museum in New York, Aspen Art Museum in Colorado and Neuberger Museum of Art in Purchase.

Born: 1979
Location: London

For "Siding," her first solo institutional exhibition, staged at Kunsthaus Baselland in early 2013, Lydia Gifford created an all-new body of work that included a piece constructed from found, painted boards that spanned the length of the 40m long wall of the Swiss museum, as well as numerous smaller paintings and sculptures that reflected her process-based practice. Gifford has also presented solo exhibitions at Laura Bartlett Gallery and the David Roberts Art Foundation in London, Galerie Micky Schubert in Berlin and Marcelle Alix in Paris, and participated in recent group shows at Nogueras Blanchard in Madrid, Simon Dickinson Gallery in New York, Museum Boijmans in Rotterdam and BolteLang in Zurich, as well as "Prairies," the 3rd Edition of Les Ateliers de Rennes: Biennial for Contemporary Art in Rennes. Gifford received her BA (Hons) from the Chelsea School of Art and Design and MA from the Royal College of Art. She was also the recipient of the Socrates Erasmus Scholarship from the Universität der Künste Berlin in 2005 the Valerie Beston Young Artists' Prize in 2008. She will have a solo at the BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead in 2014.

Born: 1978 in Sharjah, UAE
Location: London

Born in the United Arab Emirates to Somali parents, Ayan Farah was raised in Sharjah and Stockholm before moving to London. She graduated from Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in 2006 and the Royal College of Art in 2012. Since then, she has completed the Eileen Shona Residency at Robert Devereux and Vanessa Branson's island in Scotland, and was named Artist in Residence at The Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm. She had her first major solo show at Vigo Gallery in London in 2012. Farah has also participated in recent group shows at The Hole in New York, Dover Street Arts Club (alongside Analia Saban, Oscar Tuazon, Josh Smith and Nathan Hylden), Contemporary Art Society and Patrick Heide Contemporary Art in London, and Konsthall C in Stockholm. Future plans following her solo presentation in Vigo Gallery's booth at the 2013 Untitled Art Fair and the "2014 Artists To Watch" exhibition at the M Building in Miami include a project with the National Museum of Sweden, Stockholm and an exhibition at Soho House Berlin. Her work is included in the collection of the David Roberts Art Foundation.

Born: 1966 in Dallas
Location: Marfa, T.X. and Brooklyn, N.Y.

Jeff Elrod's paintings can be found in many important collections throughout the US, including The Whitney Museum of American Art, The Walker Art Center, The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Dallas Museum of Art, Houston Museum of Fine Art and Museum of Contemporary Art, Cleveland, as well as the Berezdivin Collection at Espacio 1414 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He has most recently had solo exhibitions at MoMA PS1, Simon Lee Gallery in London and The Journal Gallery in Brooklyn, in addition to presenting a solo project in ReMap4 in Athens with Peres Projects and participating in an exhibition at Gagosian Gallery in London. Elrod, who was educated at the University of Texas and the Rijksakademie Van Beeldende Kunsten and has received awards, residencies and fellowships from the Chinati Foundation, Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation, Dallas Museum of Art and Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, amongst others, is currently preparing for a solo at Luhring Augustine in 2014.

Born: 1983 in Nancy, France
Location: London

Nicolas Deshayes presented two solo exhibitions in 2013: Crude Oil at S1 Artspace in Sheffield and "Snails" at Brand New Gallery in Milan. He also participated in group shows in Rome ("The Time Machine (The Survivors)," curated by CURA at Frutta Gallery), Warsaw ("British Art in Poland" at the Centre for Contemporary Art), Stavanger ("Notes (On Declassing)" at Galeri Opdahl), New York ("Pop Tarts" at James Fuentes and "Out of Memory" at Marianne Boesky Gallery), London ("Slip" at The Approach, "£5.34" at Carl Freedman Gallery, "Abstract Cabinet" at the David Roberts Art Foundation, and "The Glass Show" at Jonathan Viner Gallery and "New Order: British Art Today" at Saatchi Gallery), Paris ("De Puristes et De Fauves" at Shanaynay), Lincoln (" World is Almost Six Thousand Years Old: Contemporary Art and Archaeology from the Stone Age to the Present" at The Collection) Cambridge ("Relatively Absolute" at Wysing Arts Centre) and Miami ("2014 Artists To Watch" at The M Building). Deshayes, who attended the Chelsea College of Art and Design and Royal College of Art in London, will participate in a group exhibition at David Roberts Art Foundation and present a solo at Jonathan Viner Gallery in 2014.

Born: 1981 in Camden, N.J.
Location: Philadelphia

Alex Da Corte received his BFA from the University of the Arts and his MFA from Yale University in 2010. He has recently mounted solo shows and presentations at the Joe Sheftel Gallery, New York, Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia, Artspeak, Vancouver, mother's tankstation, Dublin, the Institute of Contemporary Art, Portland, ME, and Nudashank, Baltimore. His work has been shown at MoMA PS1, the Museum of Modern Art, and the deCordova Museum, and he has participated extensively in gallery and non-profit exhibitions in New York, Philadelphia, and internationally. In 2012, Da Corte was named a Pew Fellow in the Arts by the Pew Center for Arts and Heritage, Philadelphia, PA. He is represented by Joe Sheftel Gallery in New York City.

Born: 1983 in Tyler, T.X.
Location: New York

2013 was a busy year for Ethan Cook, with highlights including the solo exhibitions "Felman" at Jeanroch Dard in Paris and "lobstee" at Rod Barton in London, and group shows such as "Space Whole Karaoke" at Middlemarch in Brussels, "Equilibrium" at Ritter/Zamet in London, "Xtraction" at The Hole and "Pattern Recognition" at Ana Cristea Gallery in New York, "This Is The Story Of America" at Brand New Gallery in Milan and "Organix: Contemporary Art from the USA," curated by Diego Cortez, at the Luciano Benetton Collection in Venice. He also took part in several art fairs: Jeanroch Dard exhibited his painterly works, which paradoxically contain no paint, and are created through a labor-intensive process of weaving, cutting up and sewing together pieces of different colored cottons and linens, which are then stretched and framed, in a solo booth at Artissima in Turin and a two person booth at Art Brussels. Coming up in 2014, following his appearance in the "2014 Artists To Watch" exhibition at The M Building in Miami: solos at T293 in Rome, American Contemporary in New York and Bill Brady in Kansas City and a group show at Luce Gallery in Turin.

Born: 1985 in New York
Location: New York

Sebastian Black most recently opened a solo exhibition at C L E A R I N G in Brooklyn, at which he showed his newest series of sculptures and richly painted oils on canvas, in which his sobering attention to detail and technique is tempered by his subtle convivial wit. This exhibition followed solo presentations at Karma, Kathleen Cullen Fine Arts, The National Exemplar Gallery in New York, Roberts and Tilton in Los Angeles, Tomorrow Gallery in Toronto and Nymphius Projekte in Berlin. He has also presented two person shows with Jacob Kassay at Room East in New York, Robin Cameron at Bodega in Philadelphia and Kyle Thurman at C L E A R I N G. In 2013, he participated in the group shows My Words Mark at 247365 in Brooklyn, The Wall at Marlborough Chelsea, Very New Works at DUVE Berlin and The Stairs, which he co-curated with Mathew Cerletty, at Algus Greenspon in New York. Sebastian Black received his BA from Vassar College in 2007 and his MFA from Columbia University in 2012.

Born: 1978 in Paris
Location: Brussels, Belgium

One of the most exciting voices in Brussels' increasingly potent artistic community, Jean-Baptiste Bernadet stood out amongst the nominees for the 2013 edition of the Young Belgian Art Prize. Educated at École Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Rennes and ENSAV La Cambre, Brussels, the past 18 months alone have seen solo exhibitions at Casado Santapau Gallery in Madrid and Marfa Book Company Gallery in Marfa (Bernadet completed a residency at the Chinati Foundation there in late 2010), 2 person shows at Gerhard Hofland in Amsterdam, Toomer Labzda in New York and 8 rue Saint-Bon in Paris, and group shows at Galerie Torri in Paris (alongside fellow 2014 list members Kyle Thurman and Israel Lund), Ricou Gallery and Super Dakota in Brussels, Espace Le Commun, Le Labo and Galerie Saks in Geneva and Centre d'art de Guyancourt, as well as the show attached to the aforementioned prize, staged at Brussels' BOZAR (Palais des Beaux-Arts de Bruxelles). After the "2014 Artists To Watch" exhibition at The M Building in Miami, Bernadet will participate in a group show at Chez Valentin in Paris, with solos at Rod Barton, American Contemporary and Karma scheduled in the months to follow. Bernadet also co-runs the Brussels project space Middlemarch and recently published On Knowing and Not Knowing (with text by John d'Agata) with Karma.

Born: 1986 in Bangkok, Thailand
Location: New York and Bangkok, Thailand

Korakrit Arunanondchai's exhibitions are noteworthy for their audience-friendly immersive installations that incorporate elements of music, performance and film. In 2013, he worked on solo shows at C L E A R I N G's galleries in Brooklyn and Brussels (the gallery also presented a solo booth of his work at FIAC in Paris) and a two person show with his twin Korapat Arunanondchai at Bill Brady in Kansas City. He also participated in "Double Life" at Sculpture Center in Queens and "Digital Expressionism" at Suzanne Geiss Company in New York. The new year will see solos at C L E A R I N G in New York and Carlos/Ishikawa in London, and a project at High Desert Test Site in Joshua Tree with performance artist Boychild and artist Harry Bornstein. Arunanondchai was educated at the Rhode Island School of Design, Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture and Columbia University, where he received in MFA in 2012.

Born: 1980 in Brussels, Belgium
Location: Brussels, Belgium and New York

Harold Ancart opened two solo shows this fall, among them Anaconda Standard at C L E A R I N G in Brooklyn, where he presented his most recent sculptures, photographs and vibrant large scale oil stick based drawings. On this occasion, Ancart also released a limited edition artist monograph, entitled Tomorrow, published by Triangle Books. Ancart had two other solos in 2013, at Xavier Hufkens in Brussels and Veneklasen/Werner in Berlin. He also participated in the group exhibitions "I knOw yoU" at the Irish Museum of Modern Art in Dublin, "A Stone Left Unturned" at Yvon Lambert in Paris, "Harold Ancart," "Kristin Baker," "Mark Barrows" at Galerie Perrotin - Saint Claude in Paris, and "Champs Elysées" at the Palais de Tokyo, Paris. The new year will see participation in a group show at Casey Kaplan, New York. Ancart holds an MFA from La Cambre in Brussels.