5 Artists on Our Radar in December 2025
Art
Dec 2, 2025 10:06PM
Imogen Allen
Born in 1997 in Cornwall, England, Imogen Allen is a British painter who creates ethereal, dreamlike paintings of flora and fauna. Her work invites viewers to contemplate their own perception, particularly focusing on the intricate hues and patterns of butterfly wings. Allen's sensitivity to nature and its textures is deeply rooted in her upbringing near the wild moorlands of southwest Cornwall.
Allen's recent activities include a busy year of exhibitions. She is currently showcasing new paintings at NADA Miami with Megan Mulrooney, following her recent two-person exhibition, 'Imago,' at Soho Revue in London. Her work is also featured in the annual 'TERRA' exhibition across heritage sites in Burgundy, France, and a group show at Blue Door Gallery in New York.
Allen's artistic journey began at Camberwell College of Arts in London, and she has participated in residencies in Brazil, Australia, and the U.K. Her talent was recognized with the Young Penwith Artist of the Year award in 2024, and she has exhibited widely, including solo presentations at Penwith Gallery in Cornwall and Unit in London.
Elian Almeida
Born in 1994 in Rio de Janeiro, Elian Almeida is a Brazilian artist who challenges the representation of historically marginalized figures in Brazilian visual culture. Through his work, he presents these figures as protagonists, drawing inspiration from historical photographs and reimagining them with vibrant palettes, celestial motifs, and pop culture references.
In a recent dual show with Alberto Pitta, 'Carnival, Struggle and Other Brazilian Stories,' Almeida continues his exploration of Afro-Brazilian identity. He delves into myth, folklore, and everyday rituals as intersections of history and imagination. His work, 'Land of the Holy Cross (A Latin Scale after Albert Eckhout),' features a woman carrying a vessel encountering a peacock, symbolizing beauty, power, and spiritual presence, all set within a lush, dreamlike landscape.
Almeida's artistic education includes a BA in fine arts from the University of Rio de Janeiro Institute of the Arts. He has exhibited extensively in Brazil, including group shows at the Museu de Arte Moderna (MAM Rio) and Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo. His work is held in institutional collections, such as the ICA Miami and El Espacio 23 (Jorge M. Pérez Collection).
Ektor Garcia
Born in 1985 in Red Bluff, California, ektor garcia is an artist who explores the interplay of disparate materials. His sculptures, inspired by traditional crocheting techniques practiced by his grandmother in Mexico, are on display in his first institutional solo show at the San José Museum of Art in California. Garcia's sculptures are suspended from the ceiling and propped against walls, creating a unified vision of his material experimentation.
In a recent group show at Rebecca Camacho Presents in San Francisco, garcia presented works that transformed and reconstructed previous sculptures. His method is characterized by fluidity and transformation, rejecting the traditional, hands-off approach to finished artworks.
garcia's nomadic approach to creating natural-looking sculptures often takes him outside the studio, to locations like beaches and parks. He holds a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and an MFA from Columbia University in New York. In addition to the San José Museum of Art, he has a current solo show at Galerie Nordenhake in Stockholm and previously exhibited in the 2024 Whitney Biennial.
Eny Lee Parker
Born in 1989 in São Paulo, Eny Lee Parker is a New York-based designer who primarily works with clay. Her ceramic objects, featuring rounded edges and glazed surfaces that catch natural light, evoke a sense of softness and elegance. Parker's designs include sconces resembling calla lilies, floor lamps rising like stems, and vases balanced on bulbous bases.
Parker's current solo exhibition, 'A Soft Place to Land,' showcases a selection of these organic designs at Hannah Traore in New York. The gallery's back room is transformed into a welcoming sanctuary, enhanced by plush red carpet, accentuating the elegant whimsy of the works.
Parker's artistic journey began in Los Angeles, where she later attended the Savannah College of Art & Design, obtaining her BFA, MA, and MFA. She established her eponymous Brooklyn-based design studio in 2017 and has collaborated with brands such as Lulu and Georgia.
Jesse Zuo
Born in 2000 in Beijing, Jesse Zuo is a New York-based artist whose figurative paintings are characterized by the interplay of flesh and light. Zuo's work focuses on the soft contours of the body, rendered with exquisite detail. Dainty hoops glint on delicate earlobes, glossy nails catch the light, and dappled sun dances across exposed skin.
Zuo's paintings combine the sensuality of boudoir portraiture with the technical rigor of photorealism. They also carry an air of mystery, often featuring an unidentified subject with long, braided hair, who may be the artist herself, though her face is rarely shown. This subject is both close and distant, exposed and anonymous.
Zuo's artistic education includes a BFA and MFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York. She has exhibited with galleries such as Latitude and Hashimoto Contemporary in New York and sobering in Paris. Her work will also be featured in a group show opening this month at Copenhagen's V1 Gallery.
