South Africa has one of the most established art marketplaces on the continent. It is not only a hotspot for street art, but it is also home to some of Africa’s most well-established art infrastructures, including the greatest contemporary collection of African art, Africa’s largest contemporary art fair. Cities like Cape Town and Johannesburg are booming artistic centres with a plethora of magnificent art and galleries, some of which have made a worldwide mark at events like the 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair in London and New York. Local artists and art enterprises, on the other hand, are some of the most important components of this thriving art scene.

Here are some of the most popular South African upcoming artists.

Great Joy Ndlovu

GreatJoy Ndlovu is a Johannesburg-based Zimbabwean artist whose figurative work frequently revolves around portraiture. GreatJoy’s portraits are filled with expressive brushstrokes, pencil work, splashes of colour, and dynamic movement, often reflecting the artist’s own inner emotional world rather than depicting an outward reality. The young artist (b. 1993) has already completed a residency with the Southern African Foundation of Contemporary Art (SAFFCA) and is part of a number of private and corporate art collections, including Trevor Noah’s collection, ABSA Bank, South African Horizons, Envisionit Capital Solutions, and others, making GreatJoy a must-see in the contemporary African art market.

Kris Rossouw

Krisjan Rossouw is a photographer from Cape Town whose most recent work, Culture Club, is a mash-up of African Pop Art and traditional ceremonial clay. Rossouw’s art is full of colour and light, investigating and rejecting conceptions of forced and imagined identities. The collaboration element between model and photographer is a crucial feature of Rossouw’s work, emphasising the discussion and relationship within the creative process, resulting in strong and diverse pictures that honour the people and cultures of South Africa. On Pavillon54, you may see some of Rossouw’s South African artwork.

Chris Soal

Chris Soal is a one of the leading South African  who has already received widespread media notice, received prizes, and even collaborated with Dior on a limited-edition handbag design. He also collaborates with SAFFCA, the South African Foundation for Contemporary Art, which collects and supports South African artists’ work. Soal creates sculptural pieces with unusual materials including toothpicks, bottle caps, and industrial components, which are rich in texture and movement. The artist’s works appear to have a life of their own, flowing from the walls and onto the floors, or boldly bursting into the space of the viewer.

Georgina Gratix

Georgina Gratrix (born 1982 in Mexico) is recognised for paintings with emotive, impasto brushwork and amusing yet unsettling distortions of persons, objects, and landscapes filtered through a colour saturated style. Gratrix has been investigating how the painted picture may both lure and challenge a viewer for over a decade, while producing an instantly recognisable visual language with broad public appeal. Oversized still life paintings of impossibly exuberant flowers and, to a lesser extent, beautiful landscapes reflecting the artist’s home province of KwaZulu-Natal appear alongside portraits of family and friends, as well as art world insiders and social media icons.