5 artists to keep an eye on from 2024’s Minneapolis College of Art and Design art sale

The 27th annual Minneapolis College of Art and Design’s art sale was like a mix between a thrift store hunt and a stroll through a gallery.

This year, organizers of the art sale made it easier to navigate by grouping artists together rather than sprinkling their work through the four-day show that ended Nov. 24. The event wasn’t just a chance for artists to sell work but also a place to discover new talent. It included works from current MCAD students and alumni, which precluded current professors or employees unless they attend the school. Here’s a list of artists whose works caught my eye and should catch yours as well.

In her paintings, Minneapolis-based artist J.M. Culver explores memory and the human condition. Her painting “That, There,” a 5-by-5-foot oil and charcoal painting on canvas, portrays a room devoid of people, with a bright blue chair placed in the center of hazy-looking furniture. The painting evokes a sense of memory, but fragmented and maybe even false. Culver got her bachelor’s degree in fine arts from MCAD, and did her graduate studies at Syracuse University in New York. Check out her work on the art sale’s website or jmculver.com.

Shun Yong’s photograph of a woman dressed in white sitting on a red couch jumped out at me. This large-scale portrait, titled “Kit,” captures a subtle moment in time: she’s knitting something in a domestic setting. The photo left me wanting to know more, but also feeling cautious to ask. Yong graduated with a master’s degree in photography from MCAD in 2018. For more info, visit shunjyong.com or the art sale’s website.

In each of artist Troy McCall’s paintings, there is something haunting, eerie or just plain unnerving. “Snow Angels” depicts an idyllic snow-covered sledding hill and a kid carving a snow angel with his body as a girl with a sled walks toward him. But look closer and you’ll see the fear on his face. Why is he scared, though? McCall’s painting lets viewers’ minds wander to various conclusions. The same sinister feeling lurks in paintings of classic American holidays such as Christmas, Halloween and the Fourth of July. McCall graduated with his bachelor’s degree in filmmaking from MCAD in 2008. See more of his work on the art sale’s website or at themccallcompany.com

Illustrator and artist Niky Motekallem’s lush, hyper detail-oriented paintings mostly depict flowers, plants and animals in various moments of beautiful decay. In one illustration, a lavender-colored bunny is wrapped in pink and purple flowers; in another, a gathering of butterflies nestles on aqua-and-green-tinted flowers. At the art sale, Motekallem’s paintings were encased in frames as ornate as the works themselves. The Iranian-American received her master’s degree in illustration from MCAD in 2016. More at nikymotekallem.com or Instagram.com/royalghostmarch.

I uncovered two prints by Minneapolis-based artist Jamie Kubat hidden away on a shelf on the second-floor of the art sale. The hand-carved relief prints depict a crow holding a mushroom next to a sheep skull, and surrounded by plants. In the haunting print “Ghost,” a horse trots through a world of swirling smoke. Kubat graduated from MCAD in 2020 with a bachelor’s degree in drawing and painting. A multidisciplinary artist, Kubat draws on their experiences as an autistic person with a rural upbringing, and displayed works recently at “The Art of Disability Justice Now” at the Mill City Museum. To see more on Kubat, visit the art sale’s website or jamiekubat.com.