10 In-Demand Works on Artsy This Week

In this weekly series, Artsy’s Curatorial team offers a look at the artworks that are currently gaining traction among collectors on Artsy. Looking at our internal data, we offer a selection of works that Artsy members are engaging with through inquiries, bids, page views, and saves. 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.

Peter Uka, Leaning in (2020)

Nigerian figurative painter Peter Uka’s works were highly sought-after last week by collectors on Artsy who placed a flurry of inquiries on his work, most notably on this portrait uploaded to the platform by Galerie Voss. The work is included in the artist’s upcoming solo show with the gallery, “Inner Frame,” opening on Friday. Uka’s work centers around his memories of past events and encounters, using a realistic style to capture both models from actual photos and his own remembered impressions.

Browse available works by Peter Uka.

Nicolas Party, Untitled (2018)

Works by Nicolas Party have been in constant demand all year. His artworks perform well at auction as well as at online fairs; for example, one of his works sold from Xavier Hufkens’s online viewing room at Art Basel in Basel. This piece, Untitled—created from marble in neutral colors atypical of Party’s trademark style—is featured in Hauser & Wirth’s new viewing room on Artsy, and received a run of inquiries after its launch.

Browse available works by Nicolas Party.

Hayv Kahraman, Fold (2020)

Los Angeles–based figurative artist Hayv Kahraman has seen demand for her works steadily increase this past year. This particular work, uploaded by Pilar Corrias Gallery in London, saw a considerable amount of interest over the past week. The piece featured in the gallery’s spring online show “Not Quite Human: Second Iteration.” The presentation is centered on a number of new works by the artist that depict women in contorted shapes and explore the objectification of foreign women by the West.

Browse available works by Hayv Kahraman.

Lucien Smith, You Will Always Be Beautiful to Me (2012)

Painter Lucien Smith creates his work using a free-form approach that leans heavily on improvisation. Smith is known for embracing the errors and accidents that occur on his canvases. This approach is perhaps most evident in his “rain paintings,” wherein Smith sprays paint onto canvases with fire extinguishers. Smith was considered an early adopter of the Zombie Formalism movement of the early 2010s. This particular work was uploaded to Artsy by Blond Contemporary and received increased attention by collectors this past week, with several inquiries placed.

Browse available works by Lucien Smith.

Eser Gündüz, Ghost Vector (2020)

Based in Istanbul, Eser Gündüz has moved through a number of phases in his practice: from a focus on the key elements of drawing, to a study of architectural drawing and language (having previously studied architecture at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University), and finally to an embrace of abstraction, both as a new direction and a synthesis of his work to date. Completed this year, Ghost Vector shows the artist’s latest ideas and techniques. It was uploaded to Artsy by Abstract Gallery and saw a surge of inquiries following Gündüz sharing the work on his Instagram account.

Browse available works by Eser Gündüz.

Thierry Noir, Heads (2018)

This work by French artist Thierry Noir was uploaded to Artsy earlier in the summer by Stowe Gallery and received a flurry of interest this past week. Noir is famous for being the first artist to paint on the Berlin Wall back in 1984. It was a revolutionary act: Noir wanted to make the structure appear ridiculous by covering it in colorful and comic depictions and, as painting on the wall was forbidden, he had to paint quickly and with as little color as possible. His simplistic style and use of bright hues have since become symbolic of the artist’s work. Similarities can be seen between Noir’s work and that of British street artist Stik, whose simple stick figures with bright backgrounds very often appear on the side of buildings in London.

Browse available works by Thierry Noir.

Yoon Hyup, Window Seat 1 (2020)

This work by Seoul-born, New York–based artist Yoon Hyup was featured in his most recent solo show, titled “Kaleidoscope,” at StolenSpace Gallery. The artist pays homage to his South Korean roots by incorporating in his works the country’s traditional color spectrum, where each color (red, yellow, blue, black, and white) represents one of the five elements of the universe. Earlier this year, the artist was tapped by Nike Skateboarding to collaborate on a capsule collection.

Browse available works by Yoon Hyup.

Dee Dwyer, Misunderstood (2017)

Washington, D.C.–based photographer Dee Dwyer attempts to to highlight the beauty and adversity faced by the subjects in her images. This piece was featured in the recent sale “Washington Project for the Arts: HIGH FREQUENCY Benefit Auction 2020” on Artsy and was subject to high bidding activity. The work ultimately sold above its high estimate. Dwyer’s most recent body of work focused on the Black Lives Matter protests between May and June in Washington, D.C.

Browse available works by Dee Dwyer.

Banksy, Banksquiat (Black) (2019)

In advance of the “Tate Ward: By Collectors For Collectors” sale on Artsy, this Banksy editioned piece has been saved a number of times by collectors over the past week in anticipation of the upcoming auction. The piece, created by one of today’s most well-known artists, pays a playful homage to another great artist of our time: Jean-Michel Basquiat.

Browse available works by Banksy.

Adriana Varejão, Azulejão Português (2018)