A Gallery of Figurative Artists
The following gallery of figurative artists contains a collection of incredibly talented and influential creatives who inspire me in my work. I will often reference them in my classes, and peruse their galleries and websites to motivate my practice.
These are painters, sculptors and mixed media artists who have (or had) a strong drawing practice as a base for other work they have done. This compilation of artists will be ongoing.
This article called The Rise of Figurative Painting: 6 Contemporary Artists to Know by Rosie Lesso (MA Contemporary Art Theory, BA Fine Art) from May 2021, is a good look at some of the history that paved the way for today’s figurative painting, as well as some examples of influential contemporary figurative artists.
Another great read is Discover: The Best 25 British Contemporary Figurative Painters by Julien Delagrange in Contemporary Art Issue (CAI). Many of my favourite figurative artists are included in this list. This article includes a YouTube overview, which I will link here: British Contemporary Figurative Painting: 25 Artists in the 21st Century.
