We have 75 years’ experience of supporting artists through the new by providing exhibitions, residencies, mentoring and community.
21 October 2025
Today we are thrilled to share 26 artists, from across the UK, who will exhibit at the South London Gallery and MIMA, Middlesborough in 2026, selected by artists Pio Abad, Louise Giovanelli and Grace Ndiritu.
The artists selected are:
Viviana Almas, Kat Anderson, Hadas Auerbach, Timon Benson, Lakshya Bhargava, William Braithwaite, River Yuhao Cao, Ali Cook, Shaun Doyle, Ally Fallon, Samantha Fellows, Alia Gargum, Oliver Getley, Makiko Harris, Manuel Alejandro Hernandez Rivera, Deborah Lerner, Gregor Petrikovič , Will Pham, Isobel Shore, Maya Silverberg, Aaron Alexander Smyth, Christopher Steenson, Varvara Uhlik, Eliza Wagener, Benjamin Waters, and Yimin Xiang.
Find out more about the artists here
Works in the exhibition will span painting, sculpture, installation, photography and moving image, illustrating the full breadth of artistic practice across the UK. Presented thematically in both the SLG and MIMA exhibitions, they will engage with speculations on dystopian futures; critical responses to the climate crisis, industrialisation, gentrification and displacement; and critical approaches to systems of power. The exhibition will also examine our inherent entanglement with digital technologies and our evolving desire to understand realities beyond human perception through other species.
Additionally, themes of mourning, remembrance and loss are explored through a range of collective and personal experiences. Some artists merge figuration with abstraction to investigate intersecting identities, cultural heritage and a desire for connection, while others draw on the familiar and the fantastical - from both urban environments to intimate domestic interiors- as constructions of selfhood and place.
“I am really excited by our selection for New Contemporaries. We have chosen a diverse range of artists from all over the UK, with a variety of mediums and points of view, that are both visually arresting and can help bring a little bit of joy and beauty into an increasingly difficult world.” Grace Ndiritu, artist selector
Exhibition dates:
Building on over 75 years of championing new art and ideas, we are reimagining what artist support can be through a new, responsive and evolving model that shifts with the needs, urgencies and ambitions of artists across the UK. In response to the growing precarity faced by early-career artists, we are expanding our work beyond exhibitions to include advice, opportunities, community building and mentoring.
As part of our new forward-thinking direction, we have expanded our UK wide reach ensuring that at least half of participating artists are based outside London and that our programmes represent the full breadth of today’s contemporary art practice. Through partnerships with organisations such as the South London Gallery, MIMA Middlesbrough, Forma, and Hospitalfield, our new programme will now include annual residencies, studio bursaries and an artist development programme that offer participants space, time, and sustained support.
“Artists renew society. They are everywhere — in every part of the UK, in every circumstance — but they can’t do it alone. Our job is to make sure their voices are heard and supported. We’re leading the way for artists, and we won’t stop advocating for them.” Kiera Blakey, Director, New Contemporaries
Follow along on our Instagram channel @New_Contemporaries where over the coming weeks and months we will introduce each artist and their practice, as well as sharing updates on our new programme.
The New Contemporaries Programme is generously supported by Arts Council England, Art Fund, the Emerging Artist Circle, The Fenton Arts Trust, Henry Moore Foundation, TFA London, OMNI and our 75th Anniversary Fundraiser, held in partnership with Christie’s, that was made possible by the generous contributions of contemporary artists and led by our Development Committee.
Reminder! Our next open call for new early-career artists will take place in February and March 2026.
