Art review: 100 Painters of Tomorrow at Beers Contemporary Gallery

Nuno Gil, In the Shape of A Tree

Which painters are the household names of tomorrow, the next Mark Rothko, the next Jackson Pollock? Gallery director Kurt Beers scoured the world for two years on a mission to find the brightest up and coming painters for 100 Painters of Tomorrow, a new exhibition and book.

Beers received over 4,300 applications from nearly 40 countries. These were whittled down by an international panel of experts with the aim of offering a snapshot of the best new painters from across the world.

“Even in an age of social media,technological advancements and ubiquitous removal of the ‘human hand’ from all aspects of creation, painting is doing more than simply surviving; it is thriving,” says Beers, and the 100 painters of Tomorrow exhibition is out to prove just that.

First opening in New York, the exhibition is now at East London’s Beers Contemporary Gallery. But in total only 82 of the artists’ work has been shown, roughly split between the two galleries. To see the others, it seems you’d best buy the accompanying book, which provides more background on the 100 chosen ones.

Beca Laliberte, Assistant Director of Beers Contemporary emphasises the diversity of styles on display, reflecting the tastes of the jury members, which included ICA Executive Director Gregor Muir and British painter Cecily Brown.

But for visitors to the East End gallery this diversity may feel more like a patchwork of different contemporary styles, from the most traditional to the more conceptual and abstract. This snapshot of new talents offers very little insight into the artists’ worlds, though a few paintings are sure to catch the eye. One painting by Peruvian artist Ivana de Vivanco reinterprets of the Adam and Eve story, in a style reminiscent of the New Leipzig School. Also worth a mention is Pablo Griss, who admits being obsessed with space and relying on geometric abstraction in his creations.

100 Painters of Tomorrow is at Beers Contemporary Gallery 1 Baldwin Street, EC1V 9NU until 17 January