The European art world has had its share of European (and beyond) creativity, invention, and culture to offer. Today, artists from all over the continent are breaking new ground, transforming artistic expectations, and setting trends that reverberate around the world. From installation work that will make you think to visually striking visual compositions, these artists know how to enthrall an audience through statement work.
From expansive public art to intimate mixed-media work, their pieces catalyze reflection and conversation. As art and technology converge and these innovators redefine the function of art in the modern day, they are pushing past traditional boundaries in any number of ways. In this blog, we look at a few of the most prominent Contemporary Artists in Europe, whose work continues to define the evolution of modern art.
Best Contemporary Artists Based in Europe
1. Rasha Amin
Multidisciplinary artist, born in Cairo (Egypt), lives and works in Rome (Italy). Amin’s art projects sit somewhere in between paintings, drawings, installations, photography, and experimental video art. Amin’s body of work reflects resilience, empowerment, and the complexity of womanhood in her society. Rasha Amin aims to invite viewers to embrace different facets of life through her designs and spark a conversation that transcends borders through her creations.
“Hope” by Rasha Amin
2. Adrian Ghenie
Born in Baia Mare, Romania; lives and works in Berlin. Ghenie does not employ the traditional tools of the painter, nor, really, brushes, but a palette knife and stencils. He paints portraits of 20th-century figures, especially those linked to genocide and mass suffering, which emerge in his work eaten away and hacked at, smudged and flecked.
“kneeling male nude with raised hand” by Adrian Ghenie
3. Michaël Borremans
Belgian painter and filmmaker born in 1972 living and working in Ghent. In recent years, his paintings have been based on photographs he has taken himself (or made-to-order sculptures). It originated in his training as a photographer, but he took up drawing and painting in the mid-nineties. He represents his work according to old photographs of people and landscapes.
“The Constellation” by Michaël Borremans
4. Tiffany Bouelle
A Franco-Japanese artist living in Paris, France. Bouelle’s heritage has given rise to her exploration of simplicity, melancholy, and irregularity as the route through to fulfillment and to her sense of beauty and truth. Painting, Japanese watercolor, sculpture, interior object design, video, or performance, are all mediums that serve a multidimensional practise and allow for a space in which to communicate her signature colorful and geometric universe.
“Under your spell” by Tiffany Bouelle
5. Geoffroy Pithon
The French painter works at the confluence of art and design, trying to bring unconventional communication methods with graphic experiments. Through this eclectic porosity, he sticks together his very own language that dances together colors, shapes, and figures in a vibrant choir. Geoffroy’s paintings make us feel moments in nature: possibly a way to connect with creation in almost a spiritual fashion.
“Construction D’un Jardin” by Geoffroy Pithon
6. Alice Herbst
Former Swedish fashion model and Artist Herbst began studying art at age 21, and quit modeling in 2012. Her work, which has been described by The Art Gorgeous magazine as “depicting beautiful women being staged in a vintaged manner” tends to be figurative. She describes her paintings as “Parts of stories that may be self-experienced or derived from daily observations.
“A promise” by Alice Herbst
7. Manuel Skirl
A Viennese artist whose path often leads him between public space and gallery space. His signature style consists of organically formed structures made of blue and black lines. The first 12 years of his artistic life were spent laying classic-style graffiti. His works use organic properties of texture and style along with patterns and symbols from nature. There is visual tension and movement in the contrast of exact lines and natural forms. Using a hand-cut roller, he makes a unique stain wherever he visits.
“Through This” by Manuel Skirl
8. Andrea Zanatelli
An artist from and living in Milan, Italy. After he finished art school, he just never stopped making my way around someone else’s creating, coming into, and practicing his own romantic, poetic vision for his digital collages, pulling from theatrical characters, decadent poets, old-fashioned textiles, stitching, and odd things. His interest in theatre and the mystical figures it brings forth, and early cinema period artists, has grown. The elaborate costumes, doomed heroines, sweeping sets, and sumptuous decor are among the things that inspire his work.
“The Débutante” by Andrea Zanatelli
9. Roberto Ruspoli
Born in Lugano, works and lives in Paris. Among the art and design set, Ruspoli has garnered a reputation for his muralism, painting murals that span from wall to floor or blossom across ceilings, often featuring human figures with classical profiles. The murals are simple and modern, yet laden with historical references: a sweeping toga; a crown of laurels; and a hand holding the outline of a two-handled cup.
“Les Amoureux” by Roberto Ruspoli
10. Stefan Heyer
A German modern artist, his abstract pieces are an examination of both personal and shared histories inspired by pop culture, esoteric and philosophical concerns of our postmodern digital age alienation, nature, and history in general. He is from a working class whose path to a life in the arts wasn’t paved by privilege, but fueled by flame. He describes his process as a fusion of the intensely physical, energetic trance-like sweeps and markings and a more cerebral meticulous one. It’s this masterful mix of spontaneity and premeditation that lends Heyer’s abstract works their tantalizing complexity.
“The Shamen of Mont Doom” by Stefan Heyer
Conclusion
The vibrant contemporary art scene in Europe reflects a complex relationship between a region steeped in artistic history and an industry constantly looking to the future. Their assorted artistic styles and thought-provoking pieces go against the currents of conventionality and inspire radically different perceptions of the nature of art. Be it through audacious social commentary, abstract experimentation, or multimedia innovations, they make an indelible impression on the global art stage. If you have learned anything from this experience is that the rising contemporary artists in Europe remain the catch of the event.