TOP 13 YOUNG ULTRA-CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS YOU NEED TO KNOW

The art world in 2025 is brimming with next-gen talent breaking records and reshaping the market. From digital interventions to raw, emotional canvases, these young artists are capturing the pulse of a changing world—and collectors are taking notice.
Sorted by their standout 2024 auction debut records, these 13 ultra contemporary artists are already making waves on the global stage. Whether they’re pushing boundaries in painting, rethinking sculpture, or merging tech with tradition, they’re the names that define what’s next in art.
Curious who's setting the tone for the future of collecting? Here are the Top 13 Young Ultra Contemporary Artists to Watch in 2025.
Let’s dive in.

1. Sholto Blissett
Sholto Blissett creates lush, imagined landscapes that blend classical ruins with ecological reflection, offering a surreal commentary on humanity’s relationship with nature and time.

2. Rufus Martin
Rufus Martin’s vibrant figurative paintings explore themes of identity, masculinity, and diaspora through layered symbolism and bold, expressive brushwork.

3. Zou Xunjing 
Zou Xunjingis a Chinese artist known for eerie, hyper-detailed paintings that explore digital identity, surveillance, and the blurred line between reality and simulation.

4. Eva Helene Pade
Eva Helene Pade’s work merges installation, sculpture, and performance to investigate psychological space, intimacy, and bodily presence in contemporary environments.

5. Alia Ahmad
Alia Ahmad draws from Gulf heritage and myth to create vivid, narrative-rich paintings that examine gender, ritual, and shifting cultural landscapes.

6. Li Hei Di
Li Hei Di is a multidisciplinary artist whose dreamlike compositions intertwine personal memories, folklore, and nature to explore transformation and identity.

7. Pol Taburet
Pol Taburet’s hallucinatory canvases and sculptural forms fuse Afro-Caribbean iconography with digital aesthetics to express themes of spirituality, mythology, and metamorphosis.

8. Moka Lee
Moka Lee’s surreal portraits and dreamlike scenes channel youth culture, emotion, and fantasy, reflecting the tensions of coming of age in a hyper-mediated world.

9. Sasha Gordon
Sasha Gordon creates hyperreal, psychologically charged self-portraits that confront Asian American identity, body politics, and queerness with both vulnerability and wit.

10. Daisy Parris
Daisy Parris is known for raw, gestural paintings filled with text and color that express emotional intensity, inner struggle, and the messiness of being human.

11. Joseph Yaeger
Joseph Yaeger’s cinematic, blurred paintings evoke memory and media culture, layering meaning through ambiguous figures and atmospheric light.

12. Tony Tafuro
Tony Tafuro works across mediums including painting and digital media, creating cryptic, symbolic works that question consumerism, spirituality, and contemporary myth-making.

13. Maria Kreyn
Maria Kreyn bridges classical technique with contemporary themes, crafting emotionally rich figurative paintings that explore love, solitude, and existential drama.