The Trending Artists from Past Editions of The Artsy Vanguard
On October 21st, we launched the seventh edition of The Artsy Vanguard, which features 10 of the most promising artists working today across various geographies and mediums. Since Artsy started the Vanguard in 2018, many of its alumni have gone on to become leading names in contemporary art. To mark the occasion of this year’s Vanguard, we are featuring two data spotlights. The first looks at trending artists from last year’s Vanguard, while the second offers a glimpse into the growth in commercial interest in works by artists featured in Vanguard from 2020 to 2022.
Trending Artists, The Artsy Vanguard 2023–2024
Year-over-year growth in followers, 2024
The above chart shows the artists from The Artsy Vanguard 2023–2024 who have experienced the most growth in followers on Artsy this year so far.
Topping the list is Cinthia Sifa Mulanga. The Congolese artist paints, as my colleague Olivia Horn wrote in her wonderful profile of the artist, “richly colored, densely referential images that place Black women in luxe, [Barbie] Dreamhouse–like interiors, surrounded by objects of consumerist desire and emblems of capitalist anxiety.” Mulanga was the subject of a solo booth at Investec Cape Town art fair earlier this year with Bode, which represents her, and was also featured in a group show at Chilli Art Projects in London.
Following Mulanga is Tesfaye Urgessa. A painter of bodies “both potent and vulnerable,” as Emily Steer wrote in her profile, Urgessa represented Ethiopia at the country’s first Venice Biennale pavilion this year. He also had a solo show in London coinciding with the Biennale with Saatchi Yates, which represents him.
Third is Soumya Netrabile. The Indian American artist was recognized in last year’s Vanguard for her “lush, whimsical oil paintings, typically depicting swirling nature scenes,” as writer Kerry Cardoza noted in her profile of the artist. But, Cardoza wrote, Netrabile’s paintings “aren’t meant to be representational; instead, they are phenomenological recreations of things she’s experienced.” It’s been a busy year for the artist, who has had a pair of solo shows with Rachel Uffner in New York and Andrew Rafacz in Chicago, as well as group shows at galleries including Anat Ebgi.
The Artsy Vanguard: In-Demand
Year-over-year inquiry growth for The Artsy Vanguard 2020–2022, Jan–Sep 2024
The above chart shows The Artsy Vanguard alumni from 2020 through 2022 whose works have experienced the most growth in inquirers on Artsy over the first nine months of this year, compared to the previous nine months.
Topping this list is Alteronce Gumby, who was featured in The Artsy Vanguard 2021. The artist was recognized by writer Jewels Dodson for his abstract paintings that take “viewers on an odyssey beyond the provincial politics of the present, nudging open the door to worlds both within ourselves and well beyond this one.” Since being featured in Vanguard, Gumby has continued to ascend in the art world. This year, for instance, he’s been featured in group shows at galleries including Gagosian and Lehmann Maupin as well as in solo shows with Nicola Vassell and Bode.
Next is Dominic Chambers, an alumnus of The Artsy Vanguard 2022. A painter who, as Neyat Yohannes wrote, “subverts narratives focused on work and expectations of productivity,” Chambers is an artist who continues to go from strength to strength. This year has seen the artist mount two solo shows with his representing gallery Lehmann Maupin in New York and London, the latter of which is still on view. He’s also been featured in a string of notable group shows, including at the X Museum in Beijing, the Kunstmuseum in Basel, and Zeitz MOCAA in Cape Town.
Third is Louise Giovanelli. The British painter, known for her “absorbingly mysterious and lushly tactile” paintings—as Osman Can Yerebakan put it in her Artsy Vanguard profile—has been on quite the ascent since being featured in 2021. In 2022, the Giovanelli joined the roster of White Cube, and subsequently had solo shows at the gallery’s Bermondsey, London and Hong Kong locations in 2023 and 2024, respectively. This year, Giovanelli was also the subject of a solo museum exhibition at the He Art Museum in Foshan, China. And in March, a new auction record for a work by the artist was set at Christie’s when Ether (2022) sold for £85,680 ($107,225).
Header: Tesfaye Urgessa, detail of “Fever 1 (2022).” Courtesy of the artist and Saatchi Yates.
