The art world is constantly hungry for fresh perspectives and new voices. To identify who might be the next name worth knowing, we asked four curators and four art advisors from around the world to each pick one artist they believe is poised to break out in 2026. Fittingly, the artists they have selected address some of the most urgent topics of our time, from migration and diasporic identity, to science, technology, and our evolving relationship with the environment. As we navigate the uncertainties awaiting us in the coming year, these artists can offer particularly creative insights.
As Victoria and Albert Museum’s contemporary program curator, Carrie Chan constantly scouts for next-generation artists who explore new frontiers of the digital realm, and the work of Eunjo Lee quickly caught her eye.
Chan first came across the South Korea-born, London-based artist and filmmaker on Instagram, and was immediately drawn to “the way she creates a new world to explore ecological interconnectedness between human, nonhumans, objects, and nature.” Chan was impressed by the “new visual language” Lee creates using gaming software like Unreal Engine.
An MFA graduate of the Ruskin School of Art at the University of Oxford, and winner of the Mansfield-Ruddock Art Prize 2024, Lee had a fruitful 2025, with positive reviews of her institutional debut at Goldsmiths Centre for Contemporary Art in March and solo presentation at Frieze London’s Focus section in October. Lee already has a list of projects lined-up for 2026, including a commission by curatorial agency Hervisions and a commission by the LAS Art Foundation in Berlin in collaboration with Google Arts and Culture Lab.
“While the work is purely digital, it offers a deeply emotional, poetic and meditative experience,” Chan said. “It would be interesting to know more about how Eunjo will further develop the interactive quality of her work, and explore the fusion of digital and physical dimensions.”
