“Artists on Our Radar” is a monthly feature highlighting five artists currently making waves in the art scene. By leveraging our expertise and Artsy data, we identify which artists have gained attention over the past month due to new gallery representation, exhibitions, auctions, art fairs, or new works available on Artsy.

Clara Gesang-Gottowt

B. 1985, Stockholm. Lives and works in Lund, Sweden.

Swedish artist Clara Gesang-Gottowt creates semi-abstract landscape paintings that blend the personal with the vast. Her recent works displayed at Galleri Nicolai Wallner are rich with foggy greens, soft pinks, and warm oranges, inviting viewers into a tranquil and dreamlike space.

Her exhibition titled “ Waters ” featured large-scale landscapes in portrait format, resembling portals inviting viewers to step inside. The expansive and luminous quality of Gesang-Gottowt’s work evokes memories and emotions, expressed through vibrant colors and gentle shapes that reflect the haziness of recollection.

Gesang-Gottowt completed her MFA at Stockholm’s Royal Institute of Art in 2013. Her works are included in the permanent collections of Swedish institutions like Moderna Museet and Malmö Konstmuseum. She has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions at galleries such as Galleri Magnus Karlsson, OTP Copenhagen, and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm.

—Arun Kakar

Zoe Hawk

B. 1982, St. Louis, Missouri. Lives and works in Columbia, Missouri.

Artist Zoe Hawk employs dollhouses, unicorns, and paddling pools in her narrative paintings that delve into the transition from girlhood to womanhood. Her latest solo exhibition, “ She Said,” at Montreal’s Galerie Robertson Arès, showcases her whimsical oil-on-panel paintings of girls dressed in pinafores and ballet flats, reminiscent of John Tenniel ’s iconic illustrations for Alice in Wonderland. Like Alice, Hawk’s characters embody both whimsy and adventure while facing change and upheaval. One standout figure is depicted in The Sky Darkens (2025), an anxious young woman navigating an unknown environment.

Hawk’s vibrant paintings subtly address themes of autonomy and social acceptance. Through seemingly innocent portrayals of girls engaging in swimming, exploring, and playing traditional games, she hints at the intricate and evolving dynamics of female friendships.

Hawk earned her BFA from Missouri State University and an MFA from the University of Iowa. Her work has been showcased at venues including Sagar Reeves Gallery, Visions West Contemporary, Harman Projects, and Rhodes.

—Adeola Gay

Junyi Lu

B. 1996, Guangzhou, China. Lives and works in London.

Chinese artist Junyi Lu creates hazy canvases that often feature torn and reassembled elements, disrupting the otherwise soft and sensual imagery. Her mixed-media works commonly depict ethereal figures set against vibrant, psychedelic colors, and incorporate materials like gauze, thread, and paper. Her first solo exhibition in the U.K., “ (cosset),” is on display until April 26th at The Sunday Painter in London.

One notable piece, A Murderer’s Dream VII (2025), features a ghostly, headless figure against a watery background alongside an abstract tree-like structure and a stark grid, adding a sense of order to the chaos. This artwork encapsulates the fleeting nature of dreams and memories, where impressions are often obscured by fog, fading within our subconscious.

Lu obtained her BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2018 and her MFA from the Slade School of Fine Art in 2023. She previously held a solo exhibition titled “Watch Out, Kiddo,” at the Shanghai-based gallery LINSEED in 2024.

—Maxwell Rabb

Kelly Sinnapah Mary

B. 1981, Saint-François, Guadeloupe. Lives in Saint-François.

Raised in Guadeloupe, Kelly Sinnapah Mary identified as Afro-Caribbean until she discovered her ancestry linked to South Indian indentured laborers brought to the Caribbean. This revelation profoundly influences her artwork, where identities are often hidden and unveiled. Her surreal, storybook-like scenes depict characters grappling with environmental threats, reflecting the complex history of colonialism in the region.

Central to many pieces is Sanbras, a character inspired by the 1899 Scottish children’s book The Story of Little Black Sambo. Sinnapah Mary reinterprets this character, envisioning a tattooed animal-girl hybrid. Her 2023 series “She taught me to listen to the wind” features striking imagery, such as a furry hand reaching into a leafy scene, grasping a girl’s face as she peacefully rests, her skin adorned with stencil-like vines and Peter Pan motifs. This powerful imagery suggests a looming loss of innocence.

Sinnapah Mary’s work has been exhibited internationally, including at the Pérez Art Museum Miami, Kunstinstituut Melly in Rotterdam, and the 34th São Paulo Bienal. She recently showcased her work in a solo exhibition, “The Book of Violette,” at James Cohan Gallery in New York.

—Josie Thaddeus-Johns

Rachel Youn

B. 1994, Abington, Pennsylvania. Lives and works in New York.

There’s a uniquely human quality to Rachel Youn ’s kinetic sculptures, which move in a rhythmic, almost ritualistic manner; observing them feels akin to watching awkward teenagers at a school dance. These “dancers” are constructed from artificial plants and repurposed motors that create repetitive motions. Youn’s choice of materials evokes feelings of artificiality and intimacy, with motors sourced from discarded electronic massagers, serving as substitutes for human touch.

The moving elements of flowers and leaves interact clumsily, introducing a playful eroticism to Youn’s work. This theme is humorously encapsulated in the title of her 2022 sculpture, Sexy but not joyous. Displayed through April 12th in a duo show with Sophie Birch at London’s Alice Amati, the piece features two artificial orchids attached to a wall rig, one appearing to nuzzle the wall while the other pokes in and out of a metal opening, a suggestive action made mundane through its mechanical repetition. Youn succinctly described a recurring theme in her practice: “Desire is so embarrassing.”

A graduate of Yale’s MFA program in 2024, Youn has showcased her work across the U.S. and Europe, with solo exhibitions at Soy Capitán in Berlin, Night Gallery in Los Angeles, and Sargent’s Daughters in New York.

—Olivia Horn

Artsy Source: https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-5-artists-radar-april-04-07-25 The Future of Art Collecting.