Maeve Doyle’s Top 5 Emerging Contemporary Artists who are Boldly Redefining the Art Scene

As part of her role as Artistic Director at Maddox Gallery, Maeve Doyle has the pleasure of supporting new and upcoming artists at the start of their journeys. At the forefront of what’s new in the art world, she also has an insider’s view of the emerging contemporary artists who are currently making waves. One day, she may be dropping in to visit Cooper — one of the artists featured here — to see what he is creating as part of his six-month Artist in Residence programme at our Shepherd Market gallery in Mayfair. Another day, she will be speaking to an artist in their studio, using her candid style of interviewing to get to the essence of their work for her Private View podcast.

When you come out of something like a pandemic, everything changes. We saw this very clearly in the art world, with artists moving away from realism and perfectly finished pieces towards more emotive works. Life as we knew it was gone and, in response, artists began exploring their subconscious in the search for answers and inspiration. You can see this very clearly in the works of Niall Campbell Strachan and Iván Montaña, below. 

The recent rise in surrealism and abstract art is, I believe, a direct response to both the pandemic and the unsettling times we’re living through right now. With so much trouble in the world, artists are using them to express confusing emotions. I anticipate seeing more non-linear narratives this year, with the focus on the human condition and what connects us.

At Maddox, we are proud to support some of the best emerging artists at work today. These are my top five contemporary artists who are helping to redefine the art scene in 2024.

#1 Niall Campbell Strachan

I love the world that Scottish contemporary artist Niall Campbell Strachan has created, which positions animals as superior beings. Inhabited by a cast of weird and wonderful creatures, his tribally ornate canvases begin with the energy and emotion of abstraction before morphing into figuration. 

Niall is an excellent example of someone who didn’t attend art school and his work is all the better for it. Constantly studying art history, he compares his style of painting to that of the Ninth Street Women. Like this collective of female Abstract Expressionist painters in post-war America, who — unlike their male counterparts like Willem de Kooning and Jackson Pollock — have largely been written out of art history, he prefers to create the abstract base for his works on the floor first. This enables him to move around the canvas as he works, instinctively making marks and applying paint strokes.

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#2 Oscar Llorens

The neo-surrealist art movement that emerged as a consequence of Covid is beautifully expressed in the works of the Spanish artist Oscar Llorens, who previously worked as an illustrator. Illustrators are, of course, known for their creative imaginations and understanding of shape, colour, and form, which Oscar channels into his practice as an artist. 

Inspired by the most endearing memories from his childhood, the fantasy world he has created is one of childlike wonder, and there is a deep sense of nostalgia in his works that is universally relatable. There are days in all our lives where we long for the simplicity and innocence of childhood — these are the feelings that Oscar chooses to evoke through his art.

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#3 Iván Montaña

Manifestations of memories, encounters, feelings and sensations, there are good vibes only in the vibrant conceptual paintings of Spanish contemporary artist Iván Montaña. From cosmic taxis to floating pigs, his painting style is hard to categorise, and there is a spontaneity to his mark-making which I adore.  

For creative guidance, Iván frequently looks to children’s literature, rather than other painters who might influence his style. This youthful innocence is reflected in his reductionist approach to painting, which allows the viewer to connect with the child within.

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#4 Moritz Moll

When pop culture meets coming-of-age drama, you get the visual otherworldliness of the German artist Moritz Moll. Inspired by musical theatre, Wes Anderson and Stephen King, Moritz casts his subjects from friends and family and searches vintage shops for a nostalgic wardrobe to dress them in. 

There is something very meditative about Moritz’s style of painting. Through his intimate portraits and sensitive yet vivid colour palette, there is a sense that we are witnessing both a burst of youth and the subsequent loss of innocence. His debut solo show, ‘The Grand Finale’, is currently showing at our gallery in Gstaad, and if you have the chance to visit, I will thoroughly recommend it. 

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#5 Cooper

Influenced by the radiant paintings of David Hockney, Cooper is a colourist, first and foremost. His works are a visual diary of his personal history — or, as he recently told me, “A guide to living well.” The positive aura that radiates from his canvases always has the power to stop me in my tracks. 

When I dropped by our Shepherd Market gallery the other day, where Cooper is currently a Maddox Artist in Residence, I was greeted by a new series of neon-bright still-lifes he has been working on. With his euphoric colour palette and irrepressible zest for life, he seeks out joy in the world around him and pours it into his art. It’s great fun to witness. 

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Maeve Doyle is the Artistic Director of Maddox Gallery.