Launching in Hull, UK across both Humber Street Gallery and Ferens Art Gallery, Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2022 exhibition features 47 of the UK’s most exciting artists emerging from art schools and alternative peer-to-peer learning programmes.

This year’s New Contemporaries cohort were selected by internationally renowned artists James Richards, Veronica Ryan and Zadie Xa. From an open call submission of over 1,500 entries, the two-stage selection process was chaired by independent curator and writer and Chair of New Contemporaries Board, Fatoş Üstek. The resulting exhibition demonstrates a rich diversity of voices and approaches to making.

Selected artists for Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2022 are: Lou Baker, Ashton Blyth, Adam Boyd, Tom Bull, Velvet Butler Carroll/Rudi Blu, Danying Chen, Josh Clague, Eugenia Cuellar, bill daggs, Francesca Dobbe, Charlotte Edey, Paola Estrella, Winnie Hall, Hamish Halley, Deborah Hobson, Eva Hopper, Steph Huang, Kneed – Ishwari Bhalerao and Leonie Rousham, Gabriel Kidd, Yun Kim, Sarah Lang, Akinsola Lawanson, Lorena Levi, Rudy Loewe, Catarina Ludovico, Jemisha Maadhavji, Leily Moghtader Mojdehi, Mehmil Nadeem, Abi Ola, Beverley Onyangunga, Ciara Otuokere, Meitao Qu, Bishwadhan Rai, Divya Sharma, Nicole Sheppard, Sherie Sitauze, Katie Surridge, Yukako Tanaka, Kialy Tihngang, Emma Todd, Rosalie Wammes, Theresa Weber, Andre Williams, Dawn Wilson, Zearo and Zish.

Presented thematically across both venues, this year’s exhibition investigates ideas including the Domestic and Home; Portraiture of the Self and Others; Spirituality and Mysticism – reflecting the cultural framework which informs the artists’ practice. 

• Portraiture of the 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.Subjects of vulnerability, sensuality and femininity around the male body are the main areas of interest in Catarina Ludovico’s practice. Using photography and videography, her work focuses on personal subjects of self-discovery in the realms of gender and sexuality.
• Domestic and Home: Mehmil Nadeem’s practice questions the reliability of memory as an archive highlighting the way in which it is shaped by external influences and time. Nadeem reconstructs narratives using different mediums and processes allowing the artist to reinvent the past and how time is remembered. Andre Williamsapplies his graphic drawing style and striking use of colour to hand screen-printed textiles, painted woodcut reliefs, furniture and interiors, bringing his fantastical drawings of interiors and street scenes to life.
• Spirituality and Mysticism: Akinsola Lawanson’s short film Bosode explores Ifá religion (a religion originated from the Yorùbá ethnic group from West Africa), divination systems and binary mathematics. The film is inspired by Nollywoood horror and Nigerian magical realist literature. Danying Chen's work centres on emotional attachment. Revisiting childhood memories of the Buddhist spirituality of her hometown, Chen’s work looks at how images of gods, praying, emotions, wishes and selfish desires are portrayed.

New Contemporaries has held a vital role in the UK’s contemporary art scene since 1949, showcasing emerging artists some of whom have gone on to be the most internationally renowned artists of recent history including post-war figures Frank Auerbach, Bruce Lacey and Paula Rego; pop artists Frank Bowling, Patrick Caulfield and David Hockney; new media pioneers Stuart Brisley, Helen Chadwick and Derek Jarman; YBAs Damien Hirst, Chris Ofili and Gillian Wearing; alongside contemporary figures such as Tacita Dean, Sunil Gupta, Mark Leckey and Mona Hatoum. In the new millennium, we have supported exceptional artists including Monster Chetwynd, Rachel Maclean, Haroon Mirza, Laure Prouvost and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye. More recently a new generation including Hardeep Pandhal, Joanna Piotrowska, Shen Xin and Imran Perretta have all been a part of the New Contemporaries story.

As well as taking part in the annual touring exhibition, this year’s artists will benefit from inclusion in New Contemporaries online platform, platform.newcontemporaries.org.uk. They will also have access to a range of mentoring, talks, discussion groups including New Contemporaries bespoke Bridget Riley Artist Development Programme, all of which are intended to support the long-term sustainability of emerging practices.

After launching at Humber Street Gallery and Ferens Art Gallery, from 23 September to 27 November 2022, the exhibition will travel to the South London Gallery for the fifth consecutive year, from 9 December 2022 to 12 March 2023.

Associated Events

Throughout the exhibition, both venues will be hosting supporting events as part of a public programme including online and in-venue artists’ talks, artist-led workshops and tours.

Tickets for events that require booking can be found on the galleries’ websites and on Eventbrite: absolutelycultured.co.uk/humberstreetgallery and hcandl.co.uk/museums-and-galleries/ferens

A range of visual arts activities will also be taking place in venues across Hull including Artlink and Feral Art School.

To coincide with Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2022 in Hull, 87 Gallery is showcasing work by Maya Gurung-Russell Campbell, New Contemporaries alumni from 2021. Drawing inspiration from the longstanding traditions of mask-making and masquerade in the Caribbean and Nepal, Brixton-based artist Gurung-Russell Campbell creates evocative landscapes that explore her dual heritage. Incorporating sound, moving image, oral history, poetry and analogue photography, her practice centres on matrilineal mythologies and lived experience, whilst interrogating universal themes. ‘Folklore Imaginary’ is the artist’s first UK solo exhibition and will run from 24 September to 17 December 2022.