10 Fine art trends 2021

10 Fine art trends 2021

If you thought 2020 fine art trends brought in a new era, 2021 fine art trends are doubling down and marking a digital evolution of seismic proportions. Get on board for this revolutionary shift while you still can. Art is going digital in ways never thought possible.

The iconic artist and styles that built and sustained fine art will no doubt remain relevant. But in line with making fine art accessible and streamlining it into the homes of all who wished to curate personal collections, fine art continues to get a digital facelift, with a side of pandemic. And you can’t exclude street arts’ influence in where we’re heading.        

Cryptocurrency becomes widely adapted by entertainers and artists alike, and nature naturally takes its rightful place on the canvases of many. As with the surge towards the digital, comes a fervor to finetune connection with the earth we coexist with. 

 

Fine art trends of 2021 have no choice but to merge with the internet of things and emerge easier to reach and to own. And oh how well she adapts and falls in line with her evolutionary calling. 

Come with me, and discover how fine art lives and where it’s been this year.

1 Street art stretches the imagination above the pandemic

Discussing and describing their work
Corrie Mattie the LA HOPE DEALER

 

Fine art is again imitating life as many artists find themselves infected creatively with a need to fight back against covid-19 with their own brand of truth. The honesty has made some artists inadvertently gain notoriety and has certainly added another layer to how we navigate public health crisis and the artist role in it. Corrie Mattie has made a name for herself by accident and as she has delved out hope in the hue mustard yellow from buildings to city pavement, box trucks, masks, and hats. 

describing and talking about their work

Quiet Compassion by Flavio Galvan

She’s merged words, clean minimalist yellow backdrops, and cartoon versions of herself in messages for a bright tomorrow. Others have shown love to first responders and found romantic ways to display the new mask-wearing normal such as MAC Fine Artist Flavio Galvan’s Quiet Compassion from a pandemic-themed, original series of acrylic and oil paintings. Many have also depicted famous paintings from the Last Supper to Mona Lisa in “if they were here now” satirical and joking fashion. 

Speaking and explaining their job
Pony Wave

 

Street art is taking over in more ways than just the pandemic.  Fine artists are also finessing the energy of guerilla art and statement pieces.

talking and describing their work
Camouflage Girl by David Fredrik 

 

This same street edge can be seen in the paintings of MAC Fine Art artist, David Fredrik. His paintings utilize heavy typography and channel the grit of street art with just as loud of a statement. You’ll catch hints of graffiti, typography, raw textures, graphic layers, and geometric lines. 

Street art has its roots in graffiti, such that its influence will be hard to miss. Graffiti dates back to the 1960s early 1970s and was an offshoot of the hip-hop movement. Largely the Black and Latin boroughs of New York City like Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Queens and smaller neighborhoods within them like Bedford-Stuyvesant are credited with having most of the influence over its inception and how it eventually reached other neighborhoods, parts of America, and the world. Graffiti artists were known as “writers” and “taggers” and some of the most iconic and influential artists came out of the graffiti movement e.g. Jean-Michel Basquiat and Darryl “Cornbread” McCray. 

Some like Basquiat, evolved beyond the art form while others stayed true to the contemporary graffiti that birthed them. After all, the point of tagging your distinct signature was so that you were seen in as many places as humanely possible. You wanted to be known, to be seen, to immortalize yourself. The graffiti art culture has tried to determine who the first tagger was and where his tag was located and much of this notoriety is given to Corn Bread. But it has been a challenge between Taki 183 and Julio 204. There is potential that the seed of graffiti then was planted in Philadelphia which was home to Corn Bread but New York City is where graffiti artist and lecturer Eric Felisbret said, “graffiti culture blossomed, matured, and most clearly distinguished itself from all prior forms of graffiti.”

“We have long since got accustomed to understanding art history as a succession of epochs […] But at the same time there has always existed something outside of official art history, a unruly and recalcitrant art, which takes place not in the sheltered environs of churches, collections or galleries, but out on the street.” 

-Johannes Stahl, Art Critic & Curator

This is how the prestigious subway and train graffiti was iconized. Because subways and trains covered so much ground, it was important to get your name on these to spread your influence and increase your visibility. It was also frowned upon by the wider graffiti artist community when writers would tag walls.  

Because as Sociologist Richard Lachmann explained, “ the added element of movement made graffiti a uniquely dynamic art form,” and  “Much of the best graffiti was meant to be appreciated in motion, as it passed through dark and dingy stations or on elevated tracks.” 

2  NFTs and the emergence of crypto art 

conversing and outlining their work
Beeple NFT Collage

 

So you might be wondering what NFT is or even crypto, NFT stands for Non-fungible token and crypto is short for cryptocurrency or digital asset. NFTs derived from the same technology that created the mother of all cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin, and her alternative coins known as altcoins. alternative digital asset. Altcoins and NFTs are just some of her babies, with some slight differences.

According to Robyn Conti, “NFTS are created, or “minted”  from digital objects that represent both tangible and intangible items, including like Art, GIFs, Videos, Sports Highlights, Collectibles, Music…,” etc.

NFTs are gaining popularity as blockchain technology expands. NFTs have been around for a few years now but became popularized by the forward-thinking, trading card maker Topps which made its way onto the crypto scene when its trading cards went digital and introduced themselves with the WAX blockchain and cryptocurrency–WAXP. Its first release allowed users to purchase and hold NFT’s of the popular physical card series, Garbage Pail Kids.

Forbes defines the difference between NFTs in terms of fungibility. A fungible token is one that can be traded or bought and sold in exchange for another. They also hold dollar value. One dollar for one dollar so when Bitcoin was valued at one dollar, one dollar bought you one whole bitcoin as opposed to its $50k+ valuation today. NFTs on the other hand are one of a kind and cannot be exchanged for another one. Garbage Pail Kids NFTs for instance each hold their own value. Some can sell for thousands while others can resell on the blockchain for cents despite the value of the cryptocurrency WAXP, that was used to purchase them. 

Today, artists, influencers, creators, and musicians are releasing their own NFTs, which are often limited run, and can be stored on a user’s private crypto wallet protecting them as they rise in value. Artists are garnering millions in the wake of this epic technology. The utility of NFTs is part of their allure, as the Washington Technology Industry Association refers to them as have the ability to create digital scarcity. For more about NFTs and how they work,  check out Unstoppable Domains and or Coindesk.  

3 Art purchasable with cryptocurrency

Crypto art is also known as NFTs has compelled investors to invest hundreds to millions in NFT art according to Business Insider. Even Banksys work was purchased and burned on camera to be turned into a one-off NFT. Digital artist, Mike “Beeple” Winklemann’s has also gotten in on the crypto craze. His NFT sold for over $69m. The draw to NFT creation and sales is said to be due to the rising value of bitcoin, the pandemic, and sales. 

You can purchase NFT’s in USD which transfers to the cryptocurrency needed to purchase it. Or if you already own cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or Ethereum NFT art is readily accessible on sites like NFThive, WAX.io. If you missed a limited run, you will also find NFTs up for resale on alternative markets such as Atomic Market, OpenSea, Decentraland, and Superworld where you can purchase virtual real estate included but not limited to the very land that Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), 11 W 53rd St, New York City, New York 10019, United States sits on.

It’s hard to say what’s better to own the digital art or the digital real estate the art lives in. 

You be the judge.

4 Minimalism Maximized 

talking and describing their work
LMN by Angela Gebhardt

 

Minimalism isn’t just living with a 10 piece wardrobe nor is it as simple as home decor, feng shui phenom. Its place in the fine art world was cemented in 1960s New York City. It honored simplicity in photography, sculpture, and paintings. It was called Minimal or ABC art.

Takes advantage of massive white spaces and holds true to the idea that less is so much more especially in an overstimulated world.  When art consumers can focus on the concept immediately it makes for deeper, most instant digestion and less information fatigue. 

Angela Gebhardt does a lovely job of this in LMN.

There is an inherent intellectualism when minimalism is allowed to take shape. The truth and transparency of the work is allowed to stand. It becomes difficult to ignore. It is like being alone in an empty room. The moment to the onlooker could seem bare or incomplete but the mind of the seated person is a busy, existential place. Minimalism allows the conversation to come alive and the questions of life to either be answered or lead to, one more question. Either way, there is progress. 

According to Britannica, the original intent of minimalism was just that. The artists who shifted to minimalism weren’t keen on the avant-garde art forms that were gestural, spontaneous, and guttural. They wanted a more impersonal work that was substantiated by the artwork itself, not by busy lines, textures, and too many colors; e.g. smoke and mirrors. This meant work had to be reduced down to bare bones so they relied on 2D, hard edges, simple forms, and straight or linear lines. The art was about the art, nothing more and nothing less.

5 Colored pencils get penciled in 

conversing and outlining their work
Star Gazer by Morgan Davidson

 

The use of colored pencils is not a fresh take on art but there has been a swell of their usage this year. The colored pencils have been a part of the artist’s pandemic grab bag to get through and mix up their style. Some artists strictly utilize colored pencils for their work while others chose to dabble for lack of other materials or simply to try a little bit of what they used in the past.

Historically, colored pencils date back to Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome when they would use crayons made out of wax, though there isn’t necessarily great documentation of its first utilization. This was the earliest marked usage of something similar to the colored pencil which first was used in the 19th century to mark items. Some of the first colored pencils were created by the German company Staedtler. Johann Sebastian Staedtler created the colored pastel pencil circa 1834. The first colored pencils were made between 1901 and 2000s and were actually meant to be used for art–Faber Castell made these in 1924. Today they are one of the foremost art brands for budget-quality colored pencils and other art supplies for beginners. 

And according to how the Colored Pencil Society of America (CPSA) defines a colored pencil, they are some of the most reliable tools artist use as they must come in a solid or hard form, have to withstand harsh brushing, and not be able to be brushed off, while also drying completely.

What makes colored pencils both a good choice for artists and a dependable coloring and drawing tool are its components. The pigments within the colored pencil have a few binders which keep it sure and archival in nature: wax, oil, water-soluble gum, and combinations of the three. The binder and pigment are and how it is divided out is what is the greatest determination of the quality of the colored pencil states the CPSA. The more binder that is present, the more dry the material. Minimal binder materials are soft pastels and pastel pencils. While a softer material has more binder than pigment and is not so dry such as oil bars, oil pastels, and water-soluble paint sticks. 

6 Realism goes 3D

talking and describing their work
Madonna in White by Benito Cerna

 

The purpose of realism in fine art can be implied by the name. When an artist moves to create works of art so realistic you wonder if it’s actually been painted or drawn, you’ve probably happened upon realism. There are some artists who also aim for hyperrealism that almost jumps out and touches the viewer and looks more like a photo than a painting or a sculpture. They are meant to look true to life. And sometimes these true-to-life pieces hinge on the surreal so much it stimulates the imagination in ways that push all of the limits of what we think is real.

Benito Cerna did this in his painting Madonna in White. He aims to create incredibly intense and realistic paintings in honor of the feminine. 

Realism has its history in 17th-century history painting. It was actually an exclusive art genre regulated by the European Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture. It determined who was good enough to paint these monumental artworks as it was also deemed not just a “high” art but the “highest” form. And essentially this was the natural selection of artists, you had to be the strongest of the strong to be allowed to paint historic art. This brings back the iconic narratives like The Last Supper, The Creation of Adam, and Liberty Leading the People. Other history narratives would be drawn from literature, mythology, and other marked achievements of humanity from deep in the archives of human history. These works are still celebrated. 

Ironically, most artists get their start in realism. Often as children in even just a grade school art class, you are pushed to work in still life, to draw pictures of bananas and apples in bowls,  to draw self-portraits, architecture, landscape, and animals. It is the foundation from which artists launch into other styles like expressionism, abstraction, cubism, or art deco. 

7 Use of embroidery and other craft media

conversing and outlining their work
Golden Beach 4 by Patricio Gonzalez Bezanilla

 

The use of crafts or textiles, fabrics, embroidery, knitting needles, and needlework, in art, is not avant-garde but covid-19 has been given a nod for helping artists reinvigorate their works with household items and other crafts they may not have used before or just not very often. 

They have in large part,  been merged into existentialism and reinterpretation of the self. It has been most often seen in portraiture or figure paintings and is coined “Craft Figuration”  and mostly implored when exploring iterations of identity and the body. Unlike the former history paintings, the use of crafts was not seen as impressive or worthy of celebration but its resurgence is proof that the art world is not always defined by arbitrary highs and lows. 

According to Tate, craft is defined as ” a form of making which generally produces an object that has a function: such as something you can wear, or eat or drink from.  Using craft in art in the past would immediately bring down the quality of a painting or sculpture because what was often created with craft now was deemed to have a “domestic function”. 

In the past, craft was considered to be a lesser form of art than painting and sculpture because the objects made had a domestic function. They were also creative techniques that tended to be practiced by women, which contributed to their lesser status. The re-evaluation of this idea of craft being fused with fine art painting or sculpture began to be questioned in the 1800s. Was there a real difference if art and craft were fused? On their own was there a difference between art? What made craft unique? This looked like merging the distinctive aesthetic and artist eye to home decor like wallpaper design stated Tate. The 20th century then pushed the envelope of what could be done with the barriers between “high” art and “low” art were removed for the sake of “art for art sake”. With the bold line no longer visible, artists could be artists without anxiety over acceptance or worthiness.

Craft and fine art, when allowed to be free moves borderless through countries, people, and histories and develops the works we say now in contemporary fine art.

talking and describing their work
Ascension City by Gustavo Marino

 

According to Jacqui Palumbo, this form of art is “depicting cultural histories and personal experience, speaking to a diverse range of cultures and their diasporas. From embroidered portraits and collaged figures to bodies sculpted from clay, discover a curated selection of recently made works by artists embracing craft figuration.”

We see the use of craft media in Golden Beach 4 by Patricio Gonzalez Bezanilla. And in Ascension City by Gustavo Marino. Marino uses textiles majorly. He worked in textile designs for nearly a decade so he can’t help but utilize it in his paintings. So he relies heavily on tapestries, weaving, and texture to develop his personal style.

8 Nature Feelings 

conversing and outlining their work
Dejando atras los recuerdos by Antonio Guerrero

 

Nature is taking a front seat because when you can’t go out, the next best thing is to bring the outside in. 

With relentless lockdowns and whole countries still at maximum security, globally the need for sunlight and nature is amplified. More time on our hands and time indoors sent many an artist on forced sabbatical to find creative ways to quench this ever-growing hunger and send natural artwork to the four corners of any space. 

Moving towards the natural is a natural development for 2021. On one hand, because that’s where most artists first dip their toes into the waters of art–the world directly around them. Recreating what is known, what is seen, what can be touched, and our most sensory observations tend to be the first sketches, drawings, or paintings that make it into a sketchbook. To bring this instinctual bond back into the forefront, as we are forced to disconnect from the world we knew, could not be strange but perhaps telling of what has been missing.

Artists have found unique ways of playing with this relationship between humanity, nature, reality, and the dream world by fusing waterscapes and landscapes, into dreamscapes. 

Antonio Guerrero did this in a fantastical and phantasmal way in his work Dejando atras los recuerdos. Merging the surreal and the real, his piece depicts the way we disconnect and reconnect to the world we are inextricably linked to and almost not at all. 

talking and describing their work
Jet Stream by Richard Currier

 

Richard Currier also captures the gloriousness that is the oceans dance with the sun and billowing clouds, in his oil painting Jet Stream. You can almost feel the sun’s warm glow and that first, fresh beam of light piercing through you when you take the smallest of glances. It truly is breathtaking. 

9 Contemporary African art explosion 

conversing and outlining their work
Protected Garden by Harouna Ouédraogo

 

African artists are undeterred by the digitization of art and art sales, as they gain exposure at the pace of the first world. Through various exhibitions, competitions, and websites designed to make art prints accessible their work is being discovered, curated, and celebrated.

Some have since made American their home in search of more access to opportunities in the art world but ensure their nation’s heritage is not lost on their work. Nigerian artists especially take center stage emerging onto the fine art scene-setting trends of their own, without borders and boundaries. Working in texture, prints, patterns, deconstruction, abstraction, distortion, body, identity, and the love of blackness, like West African-born Harouna Ouédraogo. 

talking and describing their work
Child’s Play by Thandiwe Muriu

 

Africa has long since been a mecca of history, fervor, and resource, and its deep richness glows from the paintings, sculptures, photography, and mixed media artwork of some of the most captivating, talented, and celebrated contemporary African artists to date. It is customary to see the use of textiles, bright colors and, prints. It has been past due for the spotlight to be on indigenous artists of Africa. As galleries invite contemporary African artists to showcase their collections, their works speak for themselves and boldly so, stating why they should have been included all along. 

10 Body positive art gets bolder

conversing and outlining their work
Figure 3 by Bill Buchman

 

Very Well Mind defines body positivity as and its foundational goals as “the assertion that all people deserve to have a positive body image, regardless of how society and popular culture view ideal shape, size, and appearance.” And the movement itself serves to: “ (1) challenging how society views the body, (2) promote the acceptance of all bodies (3) help people build confidence and acceptance of their own bodies, and (4) address unrealistic body standards.”

The history of the body positive movement begins with the 1969 Fat Acceptance Movement spurned husband irate at the way his wife was being treated because she was fat. In response, he printed and circulated an article written by Lew Louderbach who wrote about the unfair ways he was being treated for being a fat man. Thus the began the movement. The movement centers fat acceptance and uprooting fat-shaming culture and discrimination which proselyting that because of your large size or heavier weight you are less than. In fighting back against fat-shaming and fat-discrimination, The National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance was born, circa 1969 with a 1973 Fat Manifesto which demanded “equal rights for fat people in all areas of life.” With their organization-wide specific goals according to the NAAFA as “ NAAFA will be a powerful force for positive social change. Using our collec­tive will, talents and resources, we will improve the world — not just for fat people, but for everyone. We are committed to adding size diversity to the equation, ensuring all people across the size spectrum are valued and respected.”

Body positive artwork took on an even more realistic shape in 2020 and continues to take up space on the canvases of many honoring the body in all of its sizes, shapes, textures, and colors. The goal? Normalize what is already normal. Bill Buchman, Figure 3 does this with vibrant effortlessness, coloring the curves of the mixed media, full-figured woman with the energy of confidence she no doubt possesses, one would feel confident just beholding it. 

He makes use of spatter, lines, and a light backdrop which emphasizes the boldness of the figure even more allowing the observer to take her in, positively. And again is Bill Buchman fashion he has, as he says of his work, added to his collection of “symphonies of space, form, and color.” The painting frees women to do the same as they look themselves in the mirror.

Fineart is not shy about adaptation

Our world is moving fast, and fine art always flows and grows sometimes at autobahn speeds. Ever adaptable as she is fine, she moves in and out of every space fearlessly. Proving without pretentiousness, she is here, still pivoting with absolute poise. So even as fine art trends from 2020 will no doubt bleed into 2021, they’ll continue to elevate. Make no mistake about it.

The fine art world doesn’t have to reinvent the wheel as much as it simply mixes up the paints and the textures a little or a lot. Just as Eugene Delacroix stated,  “What moves men [and women] of genius, or rather what inspires their work, is not new ideas, but their obsession with the idea that what has already been said is still not enough.”

There is always more.