‘Portraiture of Self and Others’ from the Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2022
New Contemporaries returns to the South London Gallery for the fifth consecutive year with Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2022. This year’s exhibition features 47 of the UK’s most exciting artists emerging from art schools and alternative peer-to-peer learning programmes. The 2022 cohort were selected by internationally renowned artists James Richards, Veronica Ryan and Zadie Xa from an open call submission of over 1,500 entries.
A Phone in London (winter), Zearo (2022). Soft pastel on handmade paper. Approximately 42 cm x 29.7 cm each
Veronica Ryan, New Contemporaries 2022 selector said, “It’s really important for emerging artists to get an early sense of how their ongoing practice will develop. New Contemporaries provides a really good way for artists to get a sense of the wider world, of what happens once you leave art school, of their contemporaries and of different colleges and alternate ways of thinking.”
Adam Boyd, New Contemporaries 2022 artist said, “New Contemporaries has allowed me to continue the momentum from the culmination of my degree, vastly increasing the audience that will encounter my work. It’s a real privilege to show in such recognised institutions and to be introduced to a whole new cohort of artists.”
Presented thematically, the exhibition broadly explores “Portraiture of the Self and Others”; “Communication and Disconnection”; “Spirituality and Mysticism”; “Repurposing and Retro-futurism; and Reclaiming Spaces”—reflecting the cultural frameworks that inform each artist’s practice.
Music in My Eyes, Jemisha Maadhavji (2019). Oil, Crystals, and gold medium on canvas
Portraiture of Self and Others: Jemisha Maadhavji’s work represents individuals from different cultural backgrounds, exploring their personalities and genders through symbolism and narrative. Hugely influenced by fashion, Maadhavji’s work is typified by bold bright colours and patterned fabrics. Zearo’s painting practice has an autobiographical perspective exploring his relationship to the male figure influenced by his south-east Asian background and same-sex desire.
Untitled (Boy, Head Down), Zearo (2021). Soft pastel on handmade paper. 30 cm x 41.5 cm
Also complementing the exhibition is the New Contemporaries 2022 Online Platform platform.newcontemporaries.org.uk, an online space for the artists to present their work beyond the physical show. Including artists’ works and biographical material, the platform also offers new, critical voices and fresh perspectives on New Contemporaries and the artists’ practices by early career writers.
To find out more about the Public Programme events accompanying the exhibition, please visit the New Contemporaries website.
