Art market
Maxwell Rabb
Igi Lola Ayedun, view of the “Eclosão de um Sonho, Uma Fantasia” installation at HOA, 2023. Courtesy of HOA.
This year, commercial galleries around the world navigated uncharted territory in a volatile year for the art market. Like many businesses, galleries have been susceptible to the uncertainties of an economy overshadowed by the lingering threat of recession. The art market has not been isolated from these issues, which have affected both the primary and secondary markets.
Despite this challenging climate, several galleries have flourished in 2023, both in their local communities and making waves internationally at art fairs around the world.
Here, we’ve rounded up 10 emerging galleries that made significant strides this year.
Based on: London
Known for: Showcasing breakthrough artists like Harminder Judge and Li Hei Di
Highlights of 2023: He won the Frieze Stand Prize in London for his debut stand
Adam Farah-Saad, installation view of the Public Gallery stand at Frieze London, 2023. Courtesy of the Public Gallery.
This year marked an impressive debut at Frieze London for East London’s Public Gallery. There, the gallery won the Frieze Focus Stand Prize and the Frieze Tate Fund, which resulted in four of his works being acquired for the Tate’s prestigious national collection.
The gallery’s dynamic program featured artists such as Artsy Vanguard artists Harminder Judge and Li Hei Di, as well as emerging artists such as Amanda Baldwin and Michaela Yearwood-Dan. Upcoming highlights for the gallery include Steph Huang’s solo stand at Art Basel Hong Kong.
Based on: Paris
Known for: An innovative program at the heart of Paris’ thriving contemporary art scene
Highlights of 2023: Featured shows from artists like Molly Greene
Molly Greene, installation view of “Very Much Alive” in Cadet Chapel, 2023. Photo by Thomas Marron. Courtesy of the artist and cadet chapel.
cadete capella was founded in 2018 with the mission of supporting emerging artists and encouraging artistic practices “off the beaten track”. Its role, with two gallery spaces in the 3rd arrondissement of Paris, has become vital in shaping and enriching the city’s contemporary art scene.
During Paris+ par Art Basel, the gallery hosted a prominent exhibition by Molly Greene, which followed several solo exhibitions by emerging artists Nadia Ayari, Kwong Wing-kwan and Blake Daniels. Above all, the gallery has prioritized the presentation of younger artists with significantly different backgrounds to create a very diverse and dynamic program in the heart of Paris.
Based on: lakes
Known for: Stimulating a burgeoning contemporary art scene in Lagos
Highlights of 2023: Global presence at Untitled Art Fair, Abu Dhabi Art, Frieze Masters and more
Ngozi-Omeje Ezema, view of the “Boundless Vases” installation in kó, 2023. Courtesy of the artist and kó.
Founded in 2020 by Kavita Chellaram, art collector and founder of Arthouse Contemporary in Lagos, Nigeria, kó has emerged as a key gallery in the city’s vibrant art scene, where it was one of 10 galleries selected to participate in this year’s Art x. lakes
In 2023, the gallery continued to make its mark globally by introducing a diverse and intergenerational range of African artists to art fairs around the world. This year, kó showed outstanding presentations at Untitled Art Fair, 1-54 New York, Abu Dhabi Art, Frieze Masters and The Armory Show; in the latter, he hosted a solo performance with Modupeola Fadugba. By putting Nigerian artists on the international stage, kó is helping to platform his local community and artists, including 29-year-old Joseph Obanubi, who last appeared at the gallery’s Untitled booth.
Based on: new york
Known for: Showcasing some of New York City’s hottest artists
Highlights of 2023: Featured Galleries by Melissa Joseph and Olivia Jia
Kris Lemsalu, installation view of “Peace at 295 Church Street” at Margot Samel, 2022. Photo by Dawn Blackman. Courtesy of Margot Samel.
In 2022, Margot Samel stepped down as senior director of GRIMM to launch her eponymous gallery in Tribeca. Less than two years after opening its doors, the New York gallery hosted some of the year’s most lively downtown shows, including Melissa Joseph’s “Irish Exit” and Olivia Jia’s “Perimeter.”
The gallery is already getting tongues wagging in the art world at large, thanks to a handful of notable appearances at the fair’s big moments. This year, the gallery participated in the Basel Social Club and hosted a group exhibition at NADA Miami, with the work of Narcissister, August Krogan-Roley and the late Leroy Johnson.
Rose Easton
Based in: London
Known for: Immersive exhibitions that challenge traditional gallery formats
Highlights of 2023: Animated art exhibitions that caught the attention of the public
View of the “Edge of Fashion” installation at Rose Easton, 2023. Courtesy of Rose Easton.
Founded by former fashion creative director Rose Easton in 2021, this East London gallery has quickly made a name for itself with bold multidisciplinary exhibitions that blur the lines between art, fashion and eroticism.
Easton’s gallery has become a hub for transformative and inventive exhibitions, with shows including Arlette’s ‘José’ and Louis Morlæ’s ‘Machinochrome Dreams’ taking over the entire space of their gallery to create immersive experiences.
The gallery opened its 2023 program with a group exhibition, “On the Edge of Fashion”, held in conjunction with London Fashion Week, where artists positioned fashion as a means of resistance. The show attracted the attention of a global fashion audience, highlighting the interdisciplinary appeal of the gallery.
Based on: Sao Paulo
Known for: Championing a new generation of artists in a vibrant art capital
Highlights of 2023: Strong stands at Frieze London, Artissima, Miart and ARCO MADRID
Igi Lola Ayedun, view of the “Eclosão de um Sonho, Uma Fantasia” installation at HOA, 2023. Courtesy of HOA.
After nearly a decade in the fashion industry in Paris, Igi Lola Ayedun returned to Brazil and was captivated by São Paulo’s burgeoning art scene, especially its growing recognition of black Brazilian artists. Ayedum, an artist at the forefront of abstraction, opened HOA in 2020 to provide a platform for these emerging voices, launching the first black-owned art gallery in Brazil.
HOA’s network of artists now numbers over 40, and this year, the gallery made international waves with a series of featured appearances at art fairs around the world. His first stand at Frieze London featured works by ultra-contemporary Brazilian artists Mariana Rocha and Laís Amaral, which was acclaimed, as well as his stand at Artissima in Turin, which brought together three Brazilian artists from different cultural backgrounds: Renan Aguenna, Caroline Ricca Lee and Rafaela Kennedy. Throughout the year, the gallery dedicated its exhibition space to young and underrepresented artists from all over Brazil.
Based on: Cape Town
Known for: His keen eye for spotting emerging talent
Highlights of 2023: Main fair stands at Paris+ and Art Basel Hong Kong
Installation view of ‘Back in Town’ at SMAC Gallery, Church Street, Cape Town CBD, 2023. Photo by Lauren Theunissen. Courtesy of SMAC.
First established in 2007 before opening its Cape Town flagship in 2011, SMAC has made several memorable impressions on the international art scene in 2023. The gallery has participated in more than 10 art fairs this year, including Paris+ par Art Basel and Art Basel Hong Kong, where it ranked among Artsy’s best booths.
In Hong Kong, the gallery presented work by Wallen Mapondera, a 2021 member of The Artsy Vanguard who also represented Zimbabwe at the 59th Venice Biennale. This year, the gallery has worked on the platform of several prominent South African artists, including Bonolo Kavula and Mary Sibande. He closed the year by opening a new location in the center of Cape Town.
Based on: Antwerp
Known for: A cutting-edge program dedicated to conceptualism and narrative approaches
Highlights of 2023: Much talked about international appearances in South Korea and London
Madeleine Bialke, installation view of “Death Motel” at Newchild Gallery, 2023. Courtesy of Newchild Gallery.
Antwerp’s Newchild Gallery, founded in 2020 by Diego Castaño, Chandler Noah and Sarah Vanwelden, has quietly developed an exceptional roster of ultra-contemporary artists, including Swedish painter Viktor Mattsson and Brooklyn painter Madeleine Bialke.
This year at KIAF in Seoul, the gallery showcased a solo exhibition by Bialke, whose meditative canvases, inspired by his parents’ farm in Trumansburg, New York, have attracted significant interest from local collectors. The gallery has seen significant success with its younger artists, further collaborating with Frieze No.9 Cork Street this summer to present new work by Ella McVeigh and Konstantina Krikzoni.
Based on: Braga and Seoul
Known for: A highly curated list that mixes established and emerging artists
Highlights of 2023: Opening of the second gallery in Seoul
Exterior view of Duarte Sequeira, Braga, 2023. © Hugo Araujo. Courtesy of Duarte Sequei
Gallerist Duarte Sequeira grew up in art, spending his childhood among the green landscapes of his family’s 25-hectare gallery in Braga, Portugal. In 2019, Sequeira took over the space, renaming it Duarte Sequeira, and has since breathed new life into the gallery, which quickly became a tourist and local attraction in its own right.
The curatorial vision of the new gallerist set the gallery on a remarkable trajectory. It opened an outpost in Seoul last year and a second in the Korean capital this summer, consolidating its rapid growth. The gallery’s roster is packed with emerging artists such as Nell Brookfield, alongside notable names such as Julian Opie and André Butzer; the latter’s solo exhibition at the gallery’s headquarters in Braga was one of the most talked about shows of the year.
Based on: seoul
Known for: Vivid re-imaginings of how a commercial art space works in the contemporary art world
Highlights of 2023: Winning the Frieze Seoul Stand Award
Interior view of CILINDRO DOUS, 2023. Courtesy of CILINDRO.
Originally created in 2020 by Dooyong Ro as a personal showroom, CYLINDER has quickly evolved into a dynamic exhibition space that is making waves in Seoul’s youthful and vibrant gallery scene. The gallery is dedicated to nurturing young artists in South Korea through its TORQUE program, which provides opportunities and resources for university artists. In May, the gallery expanded to a second location in the city, hosting Jonghwan Lee’s solo exhibition “HYPERCUBE.”
CYLINDER gained recognition on the international stage in September when it received the Frieze Seoul Stand Prize 2023 for its solo presentation by Sinae Yoo.
Maxwell Rabb
Maxwell Rabb is the staff writer for Artsy.
Clarification: This article has been updated to include additional information about the location of SMAC in Cape Town. Also updated to remove a mention of artist Emily Kraus from the list of artists represented by Duarte Sequeira.
