7 Leading Curators Predict the Defining Art Trends of 2023 featuring Ravelle Pillay
In 2022, we witnessed a rise in neo-surrealist art, NFTs, and textile-based art practices. These were trends that were bubbling to the surface by the end of 2021, but weren’t fully realized until the spring of the following year. Now, many other styles are emerging as key genres that may have their moment this year.
Artsy spoke to seven leading curators who lent their expertise and shared their insights on which styles and themes may newly emerge or continue to garner attention in 2023. Many anticipate that the sociopolitical climate will continue to inform artists’ practices, with some predicting a rise in more provocative art that critiques religion and systemic oppression.
Zoé Whitley is looking to artists who are pushing the limits of traditional art practices. “The artists who currently inspire me defy genre expectations,” she said. “A painter like Ravelle Pillay conjures magic from the stubborn liquidity of oil paints as if they were watercolours; photography-trained Laurie Kang applies the material lessons of photosensitivity to breathe new life into architectural atmospheres and multi-hyphenate Benoît Piéron teases poetry and tenderness from illness, without pathos but with beauty and softness.” Pillay, Kang, and Piéron will have dedicated solo exhibitions at Chisenhale Gallery later this year.
