Derrick Adams
Adams’s work is often the go-to for pop culture vehicles looking to reference art (it’s appeared in everything from Beyoncé’s Black Is King to the Sex In The City reboot, And Just Like That). It follows, therefore, that the artist would feature in the Los Angeles County Museum’s eagerly awaited exhibition celebrating Interscope Records’ 30th anniversary, in which artists interpret past albums (from January 30): his riff on Mary J Blige’s The Breakthrough will appear alongside pieces by Kehinde Wiley, Takashi Murakami and Damien Hirst amongst others. Though his output includes performance, video and sculpture, Adams is perhaps best known for his paintings and collages celebrating the everyday lives of Black Americans. He revisits the theme in his current work for MoMA’s Modern Window installation series, in which two men drive in retro supercars past ad billboards. With pieces in the permanent collections of MoMA and the Whitney Museum, we’re excited to see what’s next for Adams as demand for his work continues to grow.
Delphine Lebourgeois
With a loyal and broadening following, Lebourgeois has long been a Hang-Up favourite thanks to her exquisite illustrative prints. Last year, she took her practice out of the gallery for her first ever installation piece. Having created two outsized female figures called The Guardians out of cardboard, she placed them in the French woodland of the Auvergne for occasional passers-by to discover. Despite its remote location, the piece echoed the sentiment and purpose of urban street art. Lebourgeois also released her All Hysterical series, inspired by the historical idea of female hysteria, as well as creating signed wrapping paper to raise money for the Big Issue. This year, her admirable work ethic shows no sign of abating, and we can’t wait to see her new collection of work.
Wole Lagunju
With solo exhibitions slated for New York, Geneva and Cape Town this year, as well as a place in 2021’s Royal Academy’s Summer Exhibition, Nigerian-born Lagunju continues to make waves on the international art scene – and we’re delighted to welcome him to our roster in 2022. Based in the USA since receiving the Philip Ravenhill Fellowship at UCLA back in 2006, Lagunju combines references to Nigerian culture and customs with nods to influential painting movements of the past five centuries, thereby questioning art’s traditionally western lens. Lagunju is influenced by the Ona art movement linked to the Yoruba people, and his pieces include repeating emblems of Yoruban culture such as adiré textiles (tie-died indigo cloth) and Gelede masks (worn at festivals that honour women’s role in society). His ink drawings and oil paintings are much coveted by collectors.
Mikalene Thomas
One of the artists highlighting the changing art landscape at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth’s forthcoming exhibition, Women Painting Women, Thomas creates work through the lens of a queer black women. The power of her art was evident at a Christie’s auction last Spring, when her painting Racquel Reclining Wearing Purple Jumpsuit achieved $1.3 million, smashing its $600,000 estimate. Pratt Institute and Yale educated, Thomas makes rhinestone-adorned collage paintings and engaging video installations and cites one of her goals as “removing the Black female from stereotypes of servitude and overtly sexualized positions”. She has often been inspired by her mother, the 1970s model Sandra Bush. At the end of last year, Thomas opened exhibitions across Lévy Gorvy’s four galleries in London, Paris, New York and Hong Kong, revealing interconnected works with overlapping narratives across the four spaces (the exhibitions marked her first London solo show). Her work is increasingly popular in Europe, and Hang-Up is honoured to be offering pieces by the artist in 2022.
Tim Fishlock
Released in October 2021, Fishlock’s last collection eschewed his usual carnival colours in favour of monochrome canvases filled to the brim with irregular, shouty, uppercase messages. Entitled The Happiest Place On Earth When There Is No Tomorrow, the collection took its name from an amalgamation of Disney’s slogan and one previously used by FedEx, and focused on the western world’s reliance on tools that offer an immediate tranquilising effect with little regard for the future. Known for his witty typographic pieces questioning the essence of modern life, the artist continues to shock and inspire in equal measure. This March, Fishlock will open a new exhibition at Hang-Up which departs from his trademark biting wit to celebrate music culture. Watch this space for more info…
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