Spring is in the air, with a fresh crop of artists from the Artnet Gallery Network that we’ll be watching as we move into the new season. And two of our featured artists currently have exhibitions on view, so you can get out and catch some fresh air as well as a show.
Working across the mediums of photography, mixed media, and painting, across the gamut of representational to pure abstraction, each artist is represented by a gallery on the Artnet Gallery Network, a comprehensive resource where you can search and browse art and artists. So while you should be sure to keep these five artists on your radar, it’s only a small fraction of what you can discover with Artnet.
Vanessa Berlein at Tanya Baxter Contemporary
Vanessa Berlein, Sheets Waiting to be Creased (2023). Courtesy of Tanya Baxter Contemporary, London.
Originally from South Africa, Vanessa Berlein (b. 1986) is primarily recognized for her paintings, but over the course of her three-decade career has explored numerous mediums ranging from different forms of printmaking to sculpture and photography. Work from her oeuvre is incredibly diverse, spanning portraiture, landscapes, as well as abstraction, and in her most recent body of work the various genres can be seen as synthesizing into one. Creating dreamlike atmospheres and taking inspiration from early Modern Dutch and Flemish schools of painting, Berlein’s paintings engage with themes such as beauty and memory.
Anne von Freyburg at K Contemporary
Anne von Freyburg, Untitled (after Boucher / Portrait of Marquise de Pompadour) (2020). Courtesy of K Contemporary, Denver.
U.K.-based artist Anne von Freyburg (b. 1979) is currently the subject of her debut solo show at K Contemporary in Denver, “Violets are Blue and the Mirror is You,” on view through March 31, 2024. Approaching textile art from the perspective of painting traditions, the artist can capture the best of both worlds—the gesturalism of paint with the physical and visual texture of textile, achieved through a palette of thread, silks, sequins, vinyl, and more. In the present show, von Freyburg reconsiders Rococo painting, imbuing her works with a sense of opulence and excess, while referencing the period’s culture through reimaginations of subject matter.
Hung-Ju Kan at Latitude Gallery
Hung-Ju Kan, Wildflower Series-06 (2023). Courtesy of Latitude Gallery, New York.
Hung-Ju Kan (b. 1993) received his BFA in painting and calligraphy from the National Taiwan University of Arts and subsequently his MFA from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design. Tapping the artististry of both East and West, Kan has developed a practice that leverages both technique and composition to combine the two; Chinese landscape inspired works are overlain with floral patterns, for example, to achieve a unique visual rhythm and engage with ideas around reality and virtuality. Further, referencing the floral patterns of cloth from his home in Taiwan, Kan conveys a sense of the deeply personal.
Yau Wing Fung at Fu Qiumeng Fine Art
Yau Wing Fung, HAZY MIRAGE VII (2023). Courtesy of Fu Qiumeng Fine Art, New York.
Currently a PhD candidate at the Chinese University of Hong Kong in art history, Yau Wing Fung (b. 1990) employs both traditional and contemporary modes of ink drawing and painting in his work, and further works within the realm of installation art. His work is recognized for its distinct harmonization of classical landscapes with modern influences, which is expanded upon in his installations that offer viewers a new way of engaging with real and perceived space. Recently, the United Overseas Bank and Art Central commissioned the artist to create a large-scale ink installation.
Valentina Pini at Lullin and Ferrari
Valentina Pini, Le uova (2024). Courtesy of Lullin and Ferrari, Zurich.
On view through March 28, 2024, Zurich gallery Lullin and Ferrari is presenting “Water Into Wine,” a solo exhibition of work by Valentina Pini (b. 1982). In her practice, Pini explores ideas around illusion and reality as well as more specifically ideas around alchemy. Physical materials and their transformation, as well as nods to soucres like mythology and popular science, are central themes within her images as well as sculptural series. Viewers are invited to question what they see—or think they see—as well as how it came to be.
Explore and discover more new artists to watch with the Artnet Gallery Network.
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