10 In-Demand Works on Artsy This Week: May 6, 2021

In this weekly series, Artsy’s Curatorial and Editorial teams offer a look at the artworks that are currently gaining traction among collectors on Artsy. Looking at our internal data, we share a selection of works that Artsy members are engaging with through inquiries, page views, and saves, plus promising lots in current auctions. The following pieces are culled from recent online auctions and art fairs hosted on Artsy, as well as exhibitions and works added by our gallery partners.

Patrick Eugène, You Ask About The Scars (2019)

Painted as part of Patrick Eugène’s “Moun” series, this mixed-media work is influenced by the artist’s Haitian-American heritage. “Humbled by my trips to Haiti, the resilience displayed by the people who often struggle economically, I was able to draw parallels to the oppression we see here in the U.S.,” Eugène recently told Artsy. The work is featured in Gallery 1957’s presentation at Artsy’s “Newly Represented” show, where it’s attracting a number of inquiries.

Browse available works by Patrick Eugène.

Ayobola Kekere-ekun, The Crown XIII (2021)

This work by the Nigerian artist Ayobola Kekere-ekun is currently featured at Daniel Raphael’s group show “Get a Load of This!” in London. The exhibition, which opened earlier this week and was curated by Mollie E. Barnes, showcases 25 women and nonbinary artists from around the world whose works explore the female form. Made with delicately layered paper, faux pearls, and acrylic paint, Kekere-ekun’s whimsical work has already received a flurry of inquiries.

Browse available works Ayobola Kekere-ekun.

Mikey Yates, Keith Cooking (2021)

For the Filipino-American artist Mikey Yates, capturing family and friends in their day-to-day moments through his paintings is a way to sincerely examine identity. In addition to being included in Taymour Grahne Projects’s presentation in Artsy’s “Newly Represented” show, Yates’s work is also currently featured as part of the curated collection “Already Home: AAPI Artists on Belonging.”

Browse available works by Mikey Yates.

Wladymir Bernechea, Tango (2020)

This painting by the Chilean artist Wladymir Bernechea sold through Isabel Croxatto Galería, where it is part of “Lovesong,” a solo show of the artist’s work. Titled after the British band The Cure’s 1989 hit, the exhibition features 23 paintings by Bernechea that reflect the romantic melancholy of the post-punk anthem.

Browse available works by Wladymir Bernechea.

Anastasia Bay, Portrait III (2021)

The Brussels-based painter Anastasia Bay’s current solo exhibition at She BAM!, which opened on May 1st, has been receiving significant attention from collectors, evidenced by several sold works, including this one. In these new paintings, featuring an entirely yellow palette, Bay builds upon her practice, which riffs on art history’s classical canon of figurative art.

Browse available works by Anastasia Bay.

Jean-Michel Basquiat, Boxer Rebellion (2018)

In the auction “Artsy x Tate Ward: Street Art Now,” this 2018 reprint of a 1982 work by Jean-Michel Basquiat is expected to perform well. Part of an edition of 60, other prints of this work have sold for over $55,000 at auction in recent years. The work’s title and subject matter refer to the anti-imperialist insurrection that occurred in China from 1899 to 1901.

Browse available works by Jean-Michel Basquiat.

Martin Wong, Meyer’s Hotel (1980–81)

Given the work’s significance, this Martin Wong masterpiece currently on auction at Bonhams’s “Post-War & Contemporary Art” sale is likely to achieve its estimate of $150,000 to $200,000. One of the most important works by Wong to surface at auction, the painting is a representation of the artist’s state of mind while living in 1980s New York City, including highly personal details from his experiences.

Browse available works by Martin Wong.

Kelly Akashi, Studio Fossil (2021)

This delicate glass work by the Los Angeles–based artist Kelly Akashi has already doubled its $750 estimate at the Venice Family Clinic Art Walk’s benefit auction. Blown out of photosensitive glass, the unique work continues Akashi’s experiments with glassmaking and photographic processes.

Browse available works by Kelly Akashi.

Yayoi Kusama, Sun (1953)

Though relatively intimate in scale, this early work on paper by Yayoi Kusama bears remarkable historical significance. Painted while the artist was studying art in Kyoto in her early twenties, the study is one of the few remaining works from this period of Kusama’s life; she destroyed the majority of these works prior to moving to the United States. This painting, currently featured in the Bonhams auction “Kusama: The Collection of the Late Dr. Teruo Hirose,” is one of the few remaining examples. The work comes from the collection of Dr. Teruo Hirose, a Japanese surgeon in New York who offered medical assistance to artists in exchange for their works. Among those artists was Kusama, who relied on Dr. Hirose and his wife, Shigeko Hirose, for both medical care and camaraderie when she arrived in New York City and formed a deep, decades-long friendship with the couple.

Browse available works by Yayoi Kusama.

Beeple, The Everydays – The 2020 Collection (2020)