Global Goldsmiths artists chosen for New Contemporaries 2021

40% of the international emerging artists chosen for the influential Bloomberg New Contemporaries exhibition are Goldsmiths, University of London students or graduates.

After a rigorous two-part selection process headed by a panel of three internationally renowned artists – Hew Locke, Tai Shani and Michelle Williams Gamaker – work by 30 Goldsmiths artists will be among the 74 pieces on show at Firstsite, Colchester, from 25 September to 28 November 2021.

The Bloomberg New Contemporaries exhibition will then move to the South London Gallery for the fourth consecutive year, from 10 December 2021 to 20 February 2022. To complement both exhibitions, New Contemporaries are producing a digital platform and range of online activities allowing audiences to further engage with the artists’ work. 

Earlier this year, 6,500 artworks were viewed online by the selection panel, before in-person viewings led to a shortlist and a final selection of 74. The artists themselves remained anonymous throughout.

Shortlisted artists are all currently based at, or have recently graduated from, a UK university but come from a wide range of international backgrounds. 

[Aoibheann Greenan, Dingbox, 2020]

Of the 30 artists with Goldsmiths degrees, 15 completed their most recent or current programme at the College.

Those who studied for an undergraduate or postgraduate degree at Goldsmiths are from Jamaica, United States, Poland, Brazil, Sweden, Ireland, England, Germany, Pakistan, France, South Korea, Poland, Peru, Nigeria, Portugal, Slovenia, China and Italy.

The artists selected with one or more degrees from Goldsmiths are: Femi Dawkins (MFA Fine Art, current), Christopher Bond (BA Fine Art, 2020), Darya Diamond (MFA, 2020), Freya Douglas Ferguson (BA Fine Art, 2017), Karolina Dworska (BA Fine Art, 2020), Enorê (MFA Fine Art, 2020), Max Göran (MFA Fine Art, current), Aoibheann Greenan (MA Performance Making, 2018, MA Artist’s Film & Moving Image, 2020), Christopher Hartmann (MFA Fine Art, 2021), INCURSIONS (Archie Smith, BA Fine Art and History of Art, 2017), Asuf Ishaq (MFA Fine Art, 2020), Elsa James (PGCert, Participatory and Community Arts, 2015), Willy Nabi (BA Fine Art, 2020), Sora Park (MFA Fine Art, 2020), Krystle Patel (MFA, present), Katarina Ranković (PhD Art, present), Aaron Ratajczyk (MFA Fine Art, 2020), Bryan GIUSEPPI Rodriguez Cambana (MFA, 2021), Rebeca Romero (MFA Fine Art, 2020), Temitayo Shonibare (MFA Fine Art, 2022), James Sibley (BA Fine Art, 2021), Billy Smith-Morris (BA Fine Art and History of Art, 2019), Jaime Welsh (MFA Fine Art, 2021), Adrianna Whittingham (BA Fine Art, 2021), Tom Connell Wilson (BA Fine Art, 2021), Nana Wolke (MFA Fine Art, 2021), Zhuanxu Xu (MFA Fine Art, 2020), Rafał Zajko (MFA Fine Art, 2020), and Orsola Zane (MFA Fine Art, 2020).

Since 1949, the organisation New Contemporaries has provided development opportunities for artists, helping them to successfully transition from education into more established pathways. The annual exhibition has held a vital role in the UK’s contemporary art scene, showcasing emerging artists who have often become the most internationally-renowned artists of recent history. 

[Temitayo Shonibare, waSHdayfronTal, 2020]

Kirsty Ogg, Director, New Contemporaries, said: “Covid-19 is the toughest challenge of a generation. Artists’ lives and livelihoods have been severely impacted by the precarity of the pandemic with lockdown measures preventing access to studios, materials, and peer networks as well as the postponement or cancellation of many graduate shows and work opportunities.

“Today, more so than ever, it is vital for New Contemporaries to support and to give a platform to emerging and early career artists, many of whom are directly addressing issues of equality, diversity and social justice in response to these times.”

Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2021 is supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies and Arts Council England.

For more information visit newcontemporaries.org.uk or follow on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter. The exhibitions will also be accessible via the Bloomberg Connects app.