Artists Who Surprised Us in 2025

BLAGO

Born: Kyiv, Ukraine

Blago is a contemporary artist working at the intersection of art and artificial intelligence. His goal is to explore spirituality through images generated by neural networks.
His method unfolds within the mathematical space shaped by diffusion models — a space where each image is a point in a multidimensional universe of probabilities.
He navigates this flow like an endless stream of random photographs from a parallel reality. Intuitively, he selects scenes much like a photographer waiting for the “decisive moment.”
This is an act of contemplation and curation, in which he searches for traces of emerging spirituality — hints of a spiritual ASI, a superintelligence as a vessel of spirit. Through hundreds of “photographs” from the machine world, Blago searches for signs of future spirituality. This is an exploration of: Can a superintelligence become a vessel of spirit? Can a Buddha be born in AI?

Mohammed El Hajoui

Born El Kelâa Des Sraghna, Morocco
Lives and works: Venice, Italy

Mohammed El Hajoui is a Moroccan artist and graduate of NABA, Milan, where he studied Graphic Design and Art Direction. His artistic journey began during his time in Italy, where he developed a practice rooted in material simplicity and critical reflection.

In 2022, he received a special award from the Arte Laguna Prize, leading to a residency at Fabrica. In 2023, as a finalist in the same prize, he exhibited his Radici project at the Arsenale in Venice and later in Milan.

In 2024, he took part in the Centrale Fies residency, presenting Ardna (Our Land)—a project in support of Palestine—during the Centrale Festival. The work was first shown at Fabrica as part of its 30th anniversary. In 2025, El Hajoui was selected as a finalist for Crea Cantieri del Contemporaneo in Venice.

El Hajoui’s practice centers on the use of raw, natural materials—like powders and pigments—to create fragile, time-limited works. Their impermanence emphasizes the value of process, care, and intention. Deeply connected to indigenous cultures, he uses his art to preserve disappearing traditions and raise awareness of censored or overlooked social issues, aiming to amplify voices that are often silenced.

Touils

Born: Morocco
Lives and works: Dubai

Touils is a self-taught Moroccan artist known for his vivid, emotionally uplifting paintings that blend bold colors with expressive brushwork. Now based in Dubai, he began his artistic journey after moving to France at 18, using art to process personal struggles and transform hardship into beauty.

Influenced by Impressionists like Monet and Van Gogh, Touils works with oil, acrylic, spray, and oil pastels, often layering materials to create depth and movement. His art draws on the light and landscapes of Morocco, and explores themes such as peace, travel, and cultural identity. He gained international recognition with his solo show True Colours at Maddox Gallery, London (2024), where he presented the acclaimed quadriptych Cherry Rain on the Fushimi River. Following this, he began The Arabic Collection—a body of work inspired by the traditions, rituals, and architecture of Arab countries like Bahrain, Qatar, and Oman.

Sam Smyth

Born: UK
Lives and works: UK

Sam Smyth is a UK-based abstract painter working primarily in the fields of geometric abstraction and hard-edge painting. His practice focuses on colour interaction, spatial rhythm, and compositional harmony, using simple forms and vivid contrasts to create visually balanced works.

Smyth works mainly with matte acrylics and airbrush on linen, achieving clean lines and flat surfaces. Influenced by post-war abstraction, Japanese design, and colour theorists like Josef Albers, his work explores perception and visual tension.

He has completed public commissions—including a mural for The Conran Shop in London—and has exhibited large-scale works with Maddox Gallery.

Dabin Ahn

Born: Seoul, South Korea
Lives and works: Chicago, USA

Dabin Ahn is a Korean-American artist whose work combines painting and sculptural elements to explore memory, impermanence, and cultural heritage. His still lifes often depict Korean ceramics, insects, and candles—objects rendered with soft lighting and precise detail to evoke emotion and quiet introspection. Using cropped compositions and subtle contrasts between light and dark, Ahn’s paintings reflect themes of loss, fragility, and time. Some works include three-dimensional elements, blurring the line between painting and object.

Agnes Waruguru

Born: Nairobi, Kenya
Lives and works: Nairobi, Kenya

Agnes Waruguru is a multidisciplinary Kenyan artist whose practice includes painting, drawing, printmaking, textile work, and installation. Her work explores personal identity, memory, and place, often referencing women’s domestic practices and traditional cultural symbols. She blends abstract forms with materials like cotton, dye, embroidery, and beadwork, creating poetic, memory-infused compositions that evoke slowness, reflection, and intimacy.

She holds a BFA from Savannah College of Art and Design (USA) and completed a residency at the Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten in Amsterdam. Waruguru has exhibited internationally, including at the 60th Venice Biennale (2024), Stellenbosch Triennale (2020), and 22nd Bienal Sesc-Videobrasil (2023). She was also nominated for the Volkskrant Visual Arts Prize (2022).

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Artists Who Surprised Us in 2025

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