New Contemporaries is the leading organisation supporting early career and emerging artists in the UK.
It began in 1949 as Young Contemporaries, an annual show established to present new work by emerging artists in the UK. The exhibition became a key national platform, recognised for identifying artists who would go on to shape post war and contemporary British art.
Over the decades, their programme has included artists such as Ed Atkins, Monster Chetwynd, Phil Collins, Tacita Dean, Antony Gormley, Sophie von Hellermann, Mona Hatoum, David Hockney, John Hoyland, Isaac Julien, Anish Kapoor, Mark Lecky, Rachel Maclean, Haroon Mirza, Richard Mosse, Mike Nelson, Laure Prouvost, Paula Rego and Gillian Wearing, among many others.
The South London Gallery has hosted the New Contemporaries exhibition seven times, the first was in 1999.
Each year, artists were selected from an open call by a panel of experienced judges.
“Experimentation is key to the wonder of the exhibition, offering a snapshot of the next chapter of British art. If these are the new contemporaries, they make the future look bright.” – Fanny Wendt Höjer on Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2022 for Aesthetica