Art Cologne 2025

Art Cologne never fails to impress. This year I spotted seven new artists worth writing about. Jiri Georg Dokoupil's Ohne Titel shows phallic like vessels in warm royal blue. They appear filled with liquid and engage in tubular gymnastics and form an equally harmonious display.  Jerry Helle's Rain on My Glasses explore juxtapositions as though fire and nature were brought together under one sitting. They blend well and contrast gleefully on the white background. Robert Janitz's Luz en el Tiempo is a lyrical play on the scale of James Narres. His colours blend together and swirl brilliantly on the canvas in a luminous shape. Jenny Michel's Map Mutations Kansas is an ingenious abstract work with great a colour scheme. Jordan Rubio's My first cigarette is a spooky take on a figure living in a hellish existence. Meanwhile Luka Stadler's Maikel brings to mind Wolfgang Tillmans' photography. Half-naked and homoerotic it challenges nature with the hidden. Dotted with white specs we see a heavenly figure before us. Michelle Jezierski's Shadow reminds me of Jeffrey Gibson's early work where he used tape and spray paint to create his geometric line works. Ms. Jezierski is no different but she does so in a more muted and feminine spirit. Her colours are robust, tasteful and do little to hide the skyline that we can see behind the line work. 

1 Jiri Georg Dokoupil, Ohne Titel, 2024, Czech

2 Jerry Helle, Rain on My Glasses, 2025, Cameroonian

3 Robert Janitz, Luz en el Tiempo, 2024, German

4 Jenny Michel, Map Mutations Kansas, 2024, Austrian

5 Jordan Rubio, My first cigarette, 2025, French

6 Lukas Stadler, Maikel, 2025, German

7 Michelle Jezierski, Shadow, 2025, American

The Best of Art Toronto 2025

Here is my take on Toronto's art fair for 2025. You might recall artists Darlene Cole and Vicki Smith from interviews I conducted here on this blog. Both of whom sell really well and whose works I truly admire. Their works revel in a deep sense of nostalgia and youthful beauty and we see a quiet sense of movement in both. By contrast Rick Rivet's Mountain Cougar displays a bold Native work. It's a beautiful painting by an extremely talented artist. Robert Marchessault's Agadez and Line Busch's Untitled display a harmonious contrast of colours. Their work is really aesthetically pleasing and would be a great fixture in any environment. Meanwhile Gavin Lynch's and Cori Creed's works celebrate the Canadian landscape in different styles. Mr. Lynch uses a sort of graphic element to show the overwhelming power of a forest while Cori Creed wants to show a more joyful aspect of the Canadian wilderness. Erin Armstrong is a celebrated painter whose work circulates at art fairs tremendously. She has a unique style that relishes in a new kind of aesthetic. It's neither beautiful nor unpleasant. Rather it speaks its own language and you can instantly tell it's her work. Sebastien Gaudette is a new artist on the Canadian art market. His work is reminiscent of Damien Hirst. I particularly like his take of ink drops on graphic paper. Manolo Valdes' Femme au turban is a mystical rendering of a female without a proper identity. We know very little about this figure save and except that its steeped in nature as shown by the halo within the confines of her turban. 

1 Rick Rivet, Mountain Cougar, 2025, Native Canadian

2 Manolo Valdes, Femme au turban, ca. 2000, Spanish

3 Robert Marchessault, Agadez, 2025, Canadian

4 Line Busch, Untitled, 2025, Danish

5 Cori Creed, Fracture and Flow, 2025, Canadian

6 Erin Armstrong, Fleur, 2025, Canadian

7 Sebastien Gaudette, Trouve a l'atelier, 2025, Canadian

8 Darlene Cole, Dance in a Storm, 2025, Canadian

9 Gavin Lynch, Land of Feeling, 2025, Canadian

10 Vicki Smith, Flourishing, 2025, Canadian

1-54 London 2025

Here is a glimpse of what art was on offer at the annual 1-54 London art fair for 2025. It was an impressive group of work from the African Continent and here are some of my favourite selections. 

1 Afeez Onakoya, Untitled V, 2025, Nigerian

2 Gavin Goodman, Thando 5, 2024, South African

 3 Bev Butkow, calligram, 2025, South African

4 Sahlah Davids, Trousseau, 2025, South African

5 Ayobami Ogungbe, Off all People, 2024, Nigerian

6 Amina Rezki, Untitled, 2025, Moroccan

7 Girma Berta, Streets of Turmi, Ethiopia_2, 2024, Ethiopian

8 Eliane Aisso, Imole, 2025, Beninese

9 Kemboury Bessane, Enfants soleil, 2023, Senegalese

10 Lavar Munroe, What do you care where I come from, 2025, Bahamian

11 Simon Richard Ojeaga, Otuo Dance IV, 2025, Nigerian

Cinthia Sifa Mulanga, Barbies Pulling on Barbies, 2025, Congolese