Top 5 Painters to Watch in 2025

In the history of art, change is the only constant. Artists have always adapted to societal, cultural, and technological changes with creativity and audacity in equal measure. Contemporary art, perhaps now more than ever, is especially characterized by shifting trends and rapid innovation. So, what’s next for art in 2025? And who is going to lead the way?

We made a list of five emerging artists we think are especially worth watching this year: Moka Lee, Touils, Agnès Waruguru, Dabin Ahn, and Emily Kraus. Hailing from different continents, cultures, and artistic traditions, these painters are increasingly making waves—and making headlines—in the contemporary art world.

Moka Lee (b. 1996) is a figurative painter based in South Korea. Her work is shaped by social media—and the way that social media, in turn, shapes how people see themselves and others. Lee’s portraits stand out because they achieve seemingly disparate effects simultaneously. For instance, Ego Function Error evokes both the retro aesthetic of candid analog photography and the tell-tale conventions of highly-curated Instagram selfies. This tension, alongside the uncannily painted surface of the portrait, points out the pervasive lens that filters all our lives: our smartphone screens.

2024 was an exceptionally busy year for Moka Lee, who is currently represented by Jason Haam, a contemporary art gallery based in Seoul. In addition to exhibiting in gallery shows in Seoul and Hong Kong, Lee participated in Frieze Seoul, Frieze London, and Art Basel. Her first U.K. solo show, Face ID, is currently on view through February 15 at Condo London 2025.

2. Touils

A self-taught artist from Morocco, Touils (b. 1995) draws inspiration from French Impressionism to paint contemporary landscapes that seem to shimmer. These works capture both the visual and cultural landscapes of the places he explores. Their escapist quality is emphasized by the large scale of his canvases and the warm vibrancy of his color palette.

“I paint what I seek: love, positive energy, and light,” Touils explained in an interview with  Maddox Gallery. “I want the audience to be transported when they look at my paintings, the same way I am when I am creating them.” A challenging childhood taught Touils the daring optimism that shines through in his landscapes, for which he uses acrylic, oil, and spray paint to intuitively layer his lively brushstrokes. This infectious and authentic positivity is somewhat unusual in the contemporary art world—but it is inspiring increasing international interest in Touils’s work.

Touils said, “I see myself as a contemporary Impressionist, with the French vanguards influencing me greatly. Van Gogh is an important source of inspiration: his difficult past, his desire to liberate himself from negative energy and express himself through his dramatic use of color.”

Touils is represented by Maddox Gallery, which operates in the U.K. and Switzerland. Last year, he held his debut solo exhibition with the gallery, True Colors, which comprised technicolor Japanese landscapes. Touils’s latest series of paintings, inspired by his recent relocation from  France to Dubai, is collectively titled The Arab Collection. It premieres on February 20 at Maddox Gallery’s Berkeley Street location in London.

Agnès Waruguru (b. 1994) masterfully interweaves minimalist painting and Kenyan textile traditions in her monumental hanging works. She uses cotton fabric as her canvas—dying, pouring, spraying, and brushing paint onto the cascades. The Nairobi-based artist’s work appears abstract at first glance. However, the materials and processes she uses actually tell intimate stories about specific environments or cultural practices. Waruguru particularly focuses on crafts passed down by the women in her family.

Waruguru told Mater how and why she came to incorporate textiles into her painting process. “I began by using my old bedsheets, upholstery textiles, sheers, traditional textiles from Kenya (kanga), doilies my mum had in her house, and textiles I had in my own home once I started to move between countries. I was interested in ideas surrounding home since I often felt displaced, so I wanted to understand what it meant to move through different spaces. I also wanted to work with materials that felt familiar and had a history.”

Last year, Waruguru was invited to contribute a series of hanging cloth paintings to Foreigners Everywhere, the main art exhibition at the 60th edition of the prestigious Venice Biennale. Waruguru is currently represented by Circle Art Gallery in Nairobi, where she recently wrapped up a solo exhibition titled What the Water Left Behind.

4. Dabin Ahn

Dabin Ahn’s (b. 1988) work often has a surreal sculptural quality about it. With meticulous realism, he produces trompe l’oeil paintings of objects like burning candles and vintage porcelain vessels that feel frozen in time. At the same time, Ahn’s handmade frames and the painted edges of his canvases reveal the materiality of his paintings. The intriguing interplay between reality and illusion in Ahn’s work is inspired by Shakespearean soliloquies, during which actors break the fourth wall to communicate their inner feelings directly to the audience.

In an interview with OVERSTANDARD, Ahn elaborated on the symbolic significance of candles and porcelain vessels in his work: “There is a sense of longevity, ephemerality, delicacy, and brittleness when I think of them,” he said. “Vessels in my paintings absorb and then reflect candlelight towards viewers. This simple gesture is all I need for now to bring out the subtle emotions I’m trying to deliver through my paintings.”

Born and raised in South Korea, Dabin Ahn now lives and works in Chicago, where he attended the School of the Art Institute. His most recent solo exhibition was Good Things Take Time, which culminated in December 2024 at Harper’s Gallery Chelsea 534 in New York City. Currently, his work is on view in a group show titled Midnight Gardens at Nazarian/Curcio in Los Angeles until February 8.

Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Emily Kraus (b. 1995), then an art student at the Royal Academy of Art in London, found herself confined to a small studio space. Inspired by the unusual circumstances, the New York native developed a unique method—and a corresponding, human-sized contraption—by which to create mesmerizingly rhythmic abstract paintings.

Kraus designed a cube-like structure outfitted with rotating poles, around which she loops raw canvas. Perched inside, she applies oil paint by hand, pulling the canvas around the poles to form patterns that repeat, evolve, and fade as the paint dries. Kraus repeats the process, layering a new series of marks atop the previous patterns and welcoming the inevitable imperfections, both manual and mechanical. Then, she unfurls the canvas to reveal the final composition.

“My painting process is one of spontaneity, agility, reaction, and freshness,” explained Krauss in an interview with The Hopper Prize. “When I paint, I don’t have set goals. It’s an open block of time when I look and think and play mental games with potential colors or shapes…everything happens in the moment.”

Last year, alongside an impressive swath of solo and group exhibitions across Europe and the United States, Emily Kraus presented a solo booth at Frieze London. She is currently represented by The Sunday Painter, a London-based contemporary art gallery.