6 Contemporary Women Artists You Should Know

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July 8, 2024

Contemporary art is buzzing with incredible talent, especially from some amazing women artists who are making waves. In this post, I'm excited to introduce/reintroduce you to six contemporary women artists you should know. Their work is as diverse as it is inspiring—from beautiful quilts that mix old and new styles to a stunning portrait of the First Lady. Each artist brings something unique to the table, and I can't wait for you to discover their incredible creations.

Image via Holly Warburton

Image via Mount Holyoke College Art Museum

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Calida Rawles

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Image via Calida Rawles

Calida Rawles (b. 1976, Wilmington DE; lives and works in Los Angeles, CA) is a hyper-realist, figurative painter whose work delves into themes of identity, race, and social politics. She is renowned for her ethereal paintings depicting Black bodies floating in submarine landscapes filled with bubbles, ripples, and refracted light.

For Rawles, water symbolizes both physical and spiritual healing, as well as historical trauma and racial exclusion. She harnesses this complex duality to create a new space for Black healing and to reimagine her subjects beyond racialized tropes. Through her titles and topographical details, Rawles's canvases offer an expansive vision of strength and tranquility in today’s turbulent times.

Image via Calida Rawles

Roxy Peroxyde

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Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm is a self-taught painter based in Montreal, Canada, whose work is collected and exhibited internationally. She is best known for her vivid contemporary interpretations of classic paintings, which she describes as "witnesses to how times change but people stay the same." Hauenherm's art captures timeless human experiences through a modern lens, resonating with audiences around the world. Her guiding principles are reflected in her artist statement: "Truth over ego, growth over comfort, spirits over prestige."

Image via Artsy

Holly Warburton

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Holly Warburton is an illustrator and animator based in Bath. She is currently working full-time as an Art Director for an animation project. Holly finds her greatest inspiration in the people and places she encounters daily. These everyday experiences fuel her creativity and shape her work

via Holly Warburton

Jordan Casteel

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Image via Jordan Casteel

Image Via Jordan Casteel

Jordan Casteel (b. 1989, Denver, CO) is an incredible artist who got her BA in Studio Art from Agnes Scott College in Decatur, GA, in 2011, and her MFA in Painting and Printmaking from Yale School of Art in New Haven, CT, in 2014. In 2020, she had a fantastic solo exhibition called "Within Reach" at the New Museum in New York. The exhibition came with a beautifully illustrated catalogue that included interviews and essays by well-known figures like Thelma Golden, Dawoud Bey, Lauren Haynes, and Amanda Hunt.

Image via Jordan Casteel

Bisa Butler

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Bisa Butler is an award-winning African American textile artist known for her vibrantly stunning, larger-than-life quilted portraits that captivate viewers worldwide. Born in Orange, New Jersey, and raised in South Orange, Butler’s artistic talent was recognized early when she won a blue ribbon in an art competition at the age of four. She graduated Cum Laude from Howard University with a Bachelor’s in Fine Art, refining her talents under renowned lecturers and experimenting with fabric and collage techniques.

She later earned a Master’s in Art from Montclair State University in 2005, where a Fiber Arts class inspired her to focus on quilt-making. Influenced by her mother and grandmother, Butler created her first portrait quilt for her grandmother and has been dedicated to this art form ever since. Butler also spent over a decade teaching art in Newark Public Schools and Columbia High School in Maplewood, New Jersey.

via My Modern Net

Image via Mt Holyoke College Art Museum

Amy Sherald

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via National Museum of Women in the Arts

Born in Columbus, Georgia, and now based in the New York City area, Amy Sherald captures the contemporary African American experience in the United States through her stunning and intimate portraits. Her work engages with the history of photography and portraiture, encouraging viewers to rethink accepted notions of race and representation and to see Black life as an integral part of American art.

Sherald earned her MFA in painting from the Maryland Institute College of Art and her BA in painting from Clark-Atlanta University. In 2016, she made history as the first woman and first African American to win the grand prize in the Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition from the National Portrait Gallery in Washington D.C.