2026 promises to be quite the year for discovery in the art world, with biennials, triennials, and quadrennials opening everywhere from Diriyah to Pittsburgh, not to mention the grande dame of them all, the 61st Venice Biennale, unveiling in May, almost exactly a year after the death of this edition’s commissioner, Cameroonian curator Koyo Kouoh, at the age of 57. Art Basel and Frieze will welcome new fairs to their growing stables, in Qatar and Abu Dhabi respectively. In Los Angeles and New York, two museum staples—LACMA and the New Museum—will unveil much anticipated expansions. In the midst of this novelty whirlwind, you are sure to be introduced, or reintroduced, to hundreds of artists. We gathered a dozen industry insiders to see which artists they are most excited about (or for!) among them.
Kimberly Drew, writer and curator
“I have two artists of interest for 2026. Last fall, I had the privilege of spending an afternoon in Larissa de Souza’s São Paulo studio, thanks to an invitation from friend and collector Wole Bakare. All week, colleagues in town for the SP Bienal had been buzzing about her work, and the praise was no exaggeration. What lingers with me most is her attunement to folklore and matrilineal narrative. Her mixed-media paintings and sculptural work are strong, capacious, and hold the heart in ways I haven’t felt in a long time.
Pedro Neves’s recent body of work, ‘Zuilla: Bandeiras Verdes,’ on view at Mitre Galeria in São Paulo through Jan. 10, is nothing short of triumphant. Informed by his return to his native Maranhão after 24 years, the exhibition brings forth many Brazils at once: mythic, romantic, and, most importantly, authentic to his roots. I can without hyperbole say that each painting is more captivating than the last. With global eyes increasingly drawn to artists working across Brazil, Neves’s expanding practice is one I hope receives the deep and sustained attention it fully earns.”
