The Prodigal Son Returns: Abstract Art on the Rise Again in New York
By Anna Marweld
For most of the decade, New York’s galleries and art fairs have been commanded by figuration. Portraits and narrative scenes were seen in gallery windows and auction house salerooms. However, after a period of dormancy, abstraction is returning to popularity, foregrounding the effective capabilities of colour and shape. Broad, expressive brushwork and fields of colour are becoming the norm, replacing the figurative painting practice.
The reason some of these works feel new is the context in which it is being presented–it feels urgent and new in a post-market wilderness. It cannot be defined as Neo-Expressionism or even Neo-Neo-Expressionism. Labelling it as new, despite its fresh feeling, would be missing the point, however—some of the work being shown is decades old.
One of the catalysts for this rising interest in abstraction is the art world’s interest in rediscovery, with attention turning to artists who have not yet cemented themselves in the art historical canon. The works of previously overlooked artists, often from underrepresented groups, are now being revisited.
Oliver Lee Jackson, Painting (5.23.89), 1989.
Image courtesy of Andrew Kreps Gallery and the Artist.
Oliver Lee Jackson’s show at Andrew Kreps Gallery in Tribeca serves as a perfect example of this phenomenon. Jackson, active since the 1960s, has only recently emerged into the blue-chip gallery world. Figures melt away into blossoms of colour, merging body parts like shapes transpiring from marble. Jackson’s previous exclusion in the New York art canon can be attributed to New York centrism. Working in St. Louis first, and moving to California in the 70s, Jackson has remained outside of New York since.
Cynthia Hawkins, Chapter 3: Maps Necessary for a Walk in 4D #3, 2024.
Image courtesy of Paula Cooper Gallery and the Artist.
Another example of the return to abstraction can be found at Paula Cooper Gallery, where works by Cynthia Hawkins are being shown. Hawkins primarily produces abstract paintings and sculptures, exploring colour dynamics and nature, astronomy, and geometry. She has always been intrigued by the nature of space–what is known, and that which is unknown. We see planar realities on her canvases. Hawkins’ painted maps come apart at the dimensional seams, with messy scrawls of oil sticks, her work becoming a textural playground where elements disassemble and come together again. Chaotic and fractured, her work encapsulates the desire for abstraction that is pushing figuration out.
There is no simple answer to the question that is often asked in the art world: what is driving this shift in taste? Are dealers seeking new inventory? Is this merely market recalibration? Is this rediscovery a genuine effort to include artists previously overlooked? If this trend prevails, as usual, it depends largely on if these works will sell, and collectors take to this abstractive return. Importantly, this is a welcome change from the market-governed conformism, heralding (or, re-heralding) an era of breaking with tradition and embracing the vitality, curiosity, and freshness that characterises expressive abstraction in art. The rediscovery of artists who were once overlooked or marginalised is reshaping how we understand art history and who gets to be a part of what we know of it. Traditionally having been constructed through a lens of privilege, often clustered around the major art capitals of the world, rediscovery allows us to integrate artists who were ahead of their time or did not align with the narratives of their era. Often unfairly excluded due to systemic bias, rediscovery can become an act of reparation, and act of cultural introspection.
Bibliography
Epps, Philomena. “Is Abstract Expressionism Back?” Art Basel, December 5, 2022. https://www.artbasel.com/news/neo-abstract-expressionism-art-basel-miami-beach-rachel-jones-marley-freeman.
Greenberger, Alex. “Abstract Painting Returns to New York Galleries.” ARTnews, April 5, 2025. https://www.artnews.com/list/art-news/reviews/abstract-painting-returns-new-york-rediscoveries-1234738315/cynthia-hawkins-at-paula-cooper-gallery/.