Over the past seven years, our shared understanding of what contemporary art is, what it looks like, and what, if anything, it should do, has changed so much. At the end of each, CULTURED has exhaustively collected ideas from every show we’ve seen, every story we’ve published, and every rumor we’ve heard, in order to compile our annual list of Young Artists who are capturing the moment. When considered over time, these thoughtfully considered lists flow together into an evolving story of art and society—the zeitgeist. This year’s selection of Young Artists comprises stars of the biennials and darlings of the market, as well as brand-new talents we can’t wait to see more from. Between them, some vital, and often surprising, trends emerge: a wish to tell stories; a taste for figuration, for craft and the handmade; an interest in folk traditions and pop culture; a feeling for psychedelic color and magic; and an urge to wield beauty to unexpected ends. In addition, there is often a desire to explore the past in order to recover what has been forgotten, to chart a different path forward. All these through lines come together into a kaleidoscopic parallel universe of imaginative perspectives.

This was 2022, and a glimpse into what 2023 may reveal.

Bony Ramirez
Sedrick Chisom
Anna Weyant
Dominic Chambers
Emma Webster
Zoé Blue M.
Adam Gordon
Felipe Baeza
Ludovic Nkoth
Anna Park
Brandon D. Landers
Anthony Cudahy
Emmanuel Louisnord Desir
Emma McIntyre
Eric-Paul Riege
Kiyan Williams
Sasha Gordon
Walter Price
Alfonso Gonzalez Jr.
Frieda Toranzo Jaeger