Introducing 5 Artists Catching Our Eye in August 2023

Introducing 5 Artists Catching Our Eye in August 2023

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ach month, we bring you "Artists on Our Radar," a series highlighting five artists who have captured our attention. With our art expertise and insights from Artsy data, we've identified these artists for their recent achievements, such as new gallery representation, exhibitions, auctions, art fair participation, or the release of fresh artworks on Artsy.

Meet Tyler Eash: Challenging Norms and Embracing Identity through Multidisciplinary Art

Tyler Eash, also known as Loreum, is an artist born in California in 1988, currently residing and working in London. His diverse practice explores themes of identity, particularly queerness, Indigeneity, and class, as a way to preserve personal and ancestral histories from erasure. While initially focused on choreography, Eash’s artistic expression has expanded to encompass sculpture, drawing, painting, film, music, poetry, and performance, all centered around the body’s resistance against colonialist, capitalist, and gender-normative influences.

NıCOLETTı, an art gallery in the UK, represents Tyler Eash. He held his first solo exhibition at the gallery in 2020, featuring thought-provoking drawings, paintings, sculptures, and films that critically examined the American dream. In this month’s Artsy’s Foundations fair, Eash is showcasing a trio of paintings, including “Angel #3” (2023), part of a cowhide painting series inspired by rural California, where he spent his childhood with his Maidu and Modoc grandmother. Additionally, another solo exhibition at NıCOLETTı is planned for later this year.

Eash obtained degrees in theater, dance, and landscape architecture from the University of California, Davis, in 2011 and earned his MFA from Goldsmiths in 2019. His work has been exhibited in various solo and group shows across the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, and France.

Meet Joana Galego: Painting Emotions and Multilayered Narratives

Joana Galego, a Portuguese artist born in 1994 in Cascais, currently resides and creates in London. Her paintings evoke the hazy quality of distant memories, with subjects depicted in loose gestures and shading, partially obscured within collage-like compositions that suggest multiple interconnected narratives. Despite the enigmatic nature of her works, Galego skillfully conveys emotions such as power, vulnerability, miscommunication, loneliness, guilt, and the longing for connection and intimacy.

In her recent solo exhibition titled “Mole Lunar Sinal” at Soho Revue, a prominent gallery in London, Galego explored themes of communication barriers and the complexities of meaning. The title combines words from three different languages, reflecting the intricacies of human communication. Throughout the exhibition, Galego’s thoughtful details accentuated her themes. In one notable piece, “right and wrong things that could happen more often” (2023), a couple lies together in bed, their faces tranquil, illuminated by soft, dappled sunlight in red and yellow tones. However, one figure’s hands, carefully defined, rest folded in his lap, noticeably not touching his partner, conveying an emotional distance between them.

Joana Galego earned a BA in painting from the University of Lisbon and furthered her studies at the Royal Drawing School in London, where she now resides. Her works have graced various galleries across London, including a recent group show at Oliver Projects.

Bonolo Kavula: Reimagining Tradition Through Innovative Art

Hailing from Kimberley, South Africa, Bonolo Kavula is a talented artist currently based in Cape Town. Her work transcends conventional boundaries by skillfully blending textiles, printmaking, and sculpture. Notably, Kavula deconstructs traditional materials and ideologies, creating a unique artistic expression.

Inspired by a shweshwe fabric dress inherited from her late mother, Kavula incorporates this material into her mixed-media creations. The shweshwe fabric, brought to South Africa by colonizers in the 19th century, takes on a new form in her hands. Kavula meticulously cuts individual disks of the fabric and weaves them together using hand-tied threads. This process results in mesmerizing geometric abstractions that pay homage to her personal history while inviting diverse interpretations from each viewer.

Kavula’s artistic practice extends beyond mixed-media sculptures to encompass video, music, and print media. In 2014, she earned a BFA from the Michaelis School of Fine Art at the University of Cape Town. In 2015, she co-founded iQhiya, an artist collective. Her remarkable talent and dedication have earned her recognition, including the Norval Foundation’s inaugural Sovereign African Art Prize. In 2022, her solo exhibition “Soft Landing” at SMAC was featured in Artforum. Currently, Kavula’s captivating artistry is showcased in SMAC’s Foundations presentation exclusively on Artsy.

Aryo Toh Djojo: Capturing the Strange and Surreal

Aryo Toh Djojo, a painter based in Los Angeles, creates a unique and captivating world in his small-scale airbrushed works. His dreamy freehand technique brings to life cinematic moments of American adolescence and sci-fi encounters, resulting in a strangely alluring atmosphere.

Toh Djojo’s paintings, exhibited in venues like Perrotin and Sow & Tailor, delve into intriguing themes. In his recent presentation at Tokyo Gendai, ghostly figures appeared on dark beaches, and rebellious gestures found their place on car windows. The artist employs photorealistic elements, often with a touch of blurriness, drawing inspiration from the seductive codes of advertising and media obsessed with youth.

One of his thought-provoking works, “Fluoride in Our Tap,” displayed at Sow & Tailor, explores conspiracy theories against a monochrome suburban backdrop. In this painting, a UFO ominously hovers in the distance, while the title hints at skepticism towards the government-regulated water supply.

Toh Djojo holds a BFA from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. His talent has earned him solo exhibitions at Stems Gallery in Brussels and Sow & Tailor in Los Angeles, as well as participation in group shows at Woaw, Perrotin, and Volery Gallery.

Emily Wise: Exploring Mystical Realms through Vibrant Colors

Emily Wise, a talented artist based in Portland, Oregon, creates mesmerizing paintings with a striking palette of electric blues, Barbie pinks, and velvety violets. Her works feature female protagonists navigating captivating and otherworldly landscapes.

In her latest exhibition, “Hands that Hold the Melting Rope,” hosted at Chefas Projects until August 8th, Wise presents a group of women embarking on a nighttime snack run to 7-Eleven, only to find themselves slipping into an alternate realm. They become marooned in this new existence, contemplating if this place has always been within each other, waiting to be discovered. The sense of wonder in her work is reminiscent of the mystical art of her inspirations, including Hilma af Klint, Frida Kahlo, Leonora Carrington, and Remedios Varo.

Having exhibited extensively across the West Coast, Emily Wise earned her BFA from the Pacific Northwest College of Art. Her paintings transport viewers to a realm of imagination and exploration, where vibrant colors blend with enigmatic narratives.