12 Contemporary Acrylic Artists to Inspire Your Next Secondary Art Project

Finding contemporary artists that genuinely engage secondary students can be surprisingly difficult. Many artist lists rely on the same historical names, but introducing practising contemporary painters helps students see that painting is still evolving and remains relevant today.

Whether you're teaching portraiture, abstraction, landscape or identity, contemporary acrylic artists encourage students to experiment with colour, texture and process while developing increasingly personal responses to their work.

To make planning easier, we've selected twelve contemporary artists whose work translates well into the classroom. Each artist includes suggested year groups, the key themes they explore and a simple project idea that can be adapted for your own lessons.

Find an Artist by Project Theme

Portraiture & Identity

Portraiture remains one of the most popular painting projects in secondary art. These artists move beyond achieving a realistic likeness, encouraging students to think about personality, emotion, identity and representation through colour, mark-making and composition.

Amoako Boafo

Best for: GCSE | Portraiture | Identity

Ghanaian artist Amoako Boafo has become internationally recognised for his expressive portraits celebrating Black identity and representation. Rather than using brushes for every mark, Boafo often paints skin using his fingertips, creating richly textured surfaces that become an essential part of the artwork.

For GCSE students, Boafo demonstrates that portraiture is about far more than capturing an accurate likeness. His paintings encourage discussion around identity, confidence, culture and representation while introducing students to alternative ways of applying paint.

Students can explore

- Expressive portraiture
- Finger painting
- Texture
- Identity
- Limited colour palettes

Classroom idea

Ask students to create a series of portrait studies using different tools including brushes, palette knives, pieces of card and their fingertips. Compare how each method changes the mood and character of the portrait before producing a final personal response.

Claire Tabouret

Best for: KS3 | Portraiture | Colour

French artist Claire Tabouret creates atmospheric portraits using translucent layers of acrylic paint and carefully chosen colour palettes. Rather than relying solely on facial expression, she uses colour to communicate mood, memory and emotion.

Her work provides an accessible introduction to expressive portraiture for younger students, encouraging experimentation while building confidence with acrylic paint.

Students can explore
- Layering
- Colour psychology
- Portraiture
- Mood
- Atmosphere

Classroom idea
Create three quick self-portraits using different colour schemes to communicate contrasting emotions such as confidence, isolation or excitement. Encourage students to discuss how colour influences the way we interpret a face.

Place & Landscape

Landscape projects often begin with observation, but contemporary painters demonstrate that landscapes can also communicate memory, atmosphere and personal experience.

Hurvin Anderson

Best for: GCSE | Landscape | Memory

Hurvin Anderson's paintings often begin with real places before gradually shifting towards abstraction. His work explores memory, belonging and cultural identity through layered colour and simplified forms, making it ideal for GCSE projects centred on place or environment.

Rather than encouraging students to simply record what they see, Anderson's paintings show how colour and composition can communicate atmosphere and emotional connection.

Students can explore

- Landscape
- Memory
- Layering
- Composition
- Atmosphere

Classroom idea
Ask students to photograph a location that is personally meaningful before developing a series of increasingly expressive acrylic studies. Encourage them to simplify shapes and exaggerate colour to communicate mood rather than realism.

Hilary Pecis

Best for: KS3 | Observation | Colour

Hilary Pecis transforms ordinary interiors and streets into vibrant paintings filled with bold colour and intricate pattern. Although rooted in observation, her work demonstrates that artists can reinterpret everyday environments through imaginative colour choices and expressive composition.

Students quickly relate to her work because the subject matter is familiar, making it an excellent starting point for observational painting projects.

Students can explore

- Observation
- Perspective
- Colour
- Pattern
- Composition

Classroom idea
Students photograph a classroom corner, bedroom or kitchen before producing an acrylic painting inspired by Pecis. Encourage them to exaggerate colour while maintaining accurate perspective.

Colour & Expressive Painting

Colour is one of the easiest ways for students to develop their own artistic voice. These artists show that colour doesn't simply describe what we see, it can communicate movement, emotion, atmosphere and narrative.

Flora Yukhnovich

Best for: GCSE | Colour | Narrative

Flora Yukhnovich has gained international recognition for reimagining eighteenth-century Rococo paintings through bold colour, energetic brushwork and expressive acrylic techniques. Rather than copying historical paintings, she uses them as a starting point for creating something entirely contemporary.

Her work is particularly valuable when introducing students to the idea that artists borrow, reinterpret and develop ideas rather than simply inventing everything from scratch.

Students can explore
- Colour harmony
- Movement
- Layering
- Contemporary interpretations of historical art
- Expressive brushwork

Classroom idea
Choose a historical painting and ask students to reinterpret it using a contemporary colour palette. Encourage them to simplify forms, exaggerate movement and create their own visual narrative rather than reproducing the original composition.

Danny Fox

Best for: KS3 | Expressive Painting | Figures

Danny Fox's paintings are energetic, immediate and deliberately loose. Working with confident brushstrokes and simplified forms, he demonstrates that successful paintings don't need photographic detail to communicate character or emotion.

His work is ideal for students who lack confidence because it encourages them to work quickly and trust their first marks rather than continually correcting their work.

Students can explore
- Expressive brushwork
- Simplifying forms
- Limited colour palettes
- Figure painting
- Confidence with paint

Classroom idea
Challenge students to complete a portrait in thirty minutes using only one large brush. Limiting both time and tools encourages confident decision-making and discourages overworking.

Abstraction

Abstract painting often feels intimidating for students because they assume it means painting without purpose. These artists demonstrate that abstraction can communicate memory, movement and emotion just as effectively as representational painting.

Jadé Fadojutimi

Best for: GCSE | Abstraction | Process

Jadé Fadojutimi creates vibrant paintings built through continual layering, editing and experimentation. Rather than planning every detail in advance, she allows each painting to evolve naturally, responding to previous marks and colour relationships.

This process-led approach helps students understand that experimentation is not a mistake, it's an essential part of developing ideas.

Students can explore
- Mark-making
- Colour relationships
- Layering
- Process-led painting
- Abstraction

Classroom idea
Ask students to respond to music, poetry or a personal memory through abstract painting. Over several lessons they should continually add, remove and refine marks while documenting how their ideas develop.

Julie Mehretu

Best for: A Level | Abstraction | Research

Julie Mehretu creates complex layered paintings using maps, architectural drawings and gestural marks to explore themes including migration, cities and globalisation. Her work rewards careful research and encourages students to think about abstraction as a visual language rather than simply a style.

She is an excellent reference for independent A Level investigations exploring place, identity or contemporary issues.

Students can explore
- Mapping
- Layering
- Architecture
- Scale
- Abstract composition

Classroom idea
Students collect maps, photographs, drawings and written reflections connected to a place that is personally significant before combining them into a layered acrylic painting that gradually becomes more abstract.

Mixed Media & Surfaces

Acrylic paint works exceptionally well alongside collage, textiles and found materials. These artists encourage students to think about the meaning of the materials they choose as well as the image they create.

Oscar Murillo

Best for: A Level | Mixed Media | Identity

Oscar Murillo combines painting with textiles, found materials and installation to explore identity, migration and cultural experience. His paintings often appear unfinished, demonstrating that visible process can become part of the artwork itself.

Students studying Murillo quickly realise that experimentation and revision are strengths rather than weaknesses.

Students can explore
- Mixed media
- Found materials
- Surface
- Process
- Identity

Classroom idea
Build painted surfaces using recycled fabric, stitched paper and acrylic paint. Encourage students to alter, repair and rebuild their work over several lessons while reflecting on how their ideas evolve.

Mark Bradford

Best for: A Level | Surface | Process

Mark Bradford creates richly textured abstract paintings using found posters, newspapers and urban materials. Layers are repeatedly added, sanded back and rebuilt, creating surfaces that reveal fragments of history beneath the paint.

His work demonstrates that materials themselves can communicate meaning, making him an excellent artist for students interested in social commentary and process-led practice.

Students can explore
- Surface texture
- Collage
- Layering
- Found materials
- Social themes

Classroom idea
Students collect printed materials connected to a chosen issue before building layered mixed-media panels. Sanding and scraping back the surface reveals hidden layers that become part of the final composition.

Why These Artists Work so Well

One thing all eight artists share is that they encourage students to make decisions, rather than simply follow instructions.

Instead of asking:

"Can you copy this painting?"

they naturally lead to questions like:

- Why has this artist chosen these colours?
- How does texture affect meaning?
- Which techniques could I adapt for my own work?
- How can I develop this idea further?

Those are exactly the kinds of questions that lead to stronger sketchbooks and more original outcomes.

Painting Beyond the Canvas

Not every painting has to stay on a flat canvas. These artists challenge students to think differently about scale, space and visual communication, making them particularly useful for more ambitious GCSE and A Level projects.

Katharina Grosse

Best for: A Level | Installation | Scale

Katharina Grosse has transformed contemporary painting by taking it beyond the canvas. Using spray-applied acrylic paint, she covers buildings, landscapes and everyday objects with bold colour, encouraging viewers to experience painting as an environment rather than simply an image.

While most schools won't have the space to recreate installations on this scale, her work helps students question what a painting can be and where it can exist.

Students can explore
- Installation
- Scale
- Colour
- Space
- Site-specific art

Classroom idea
Working in small groups, students design a temporary painted installation using cardboard structures, recycled materials or display boards. Encourage them to think about how colour changes the experience of moving through a space rather than simply decorating an object.

Nina Chanel Abney

Best for: KS3–GCSE | Symbolism | Graphic Composition

Nina Chanel Abney combines simplified figures, bold colour and graphic shapes to explore contemporary society. Her paintings often deal with complex themes, but their visual clarity makes them highly accessible for secondary students.

Rather than focusing on realism, Abney demonstrates how artists can communicate ideas using symbols, composition and colour. This makes her an excellent artist for introducing visual storytelling and encouraging students to simplify rather than overcomplicate their work.

Students can explore
- Symbolism
- Graphic composition
- Flat colour
- Simplified figures
- Visual storytelling

Classroom idea
Ask students to create a painting about an issue that matters to them using symbols and simplified shapes instead of detailed realism. This could link to themes such as community, identity or the environment.

Choosing the Right Artist

Every contemporary artist offers something different. Selecting the right reference depends on the aims of your project and the confidence of your students.

What Student Can Learn from Contemporary Acrylic Artists

Although every artist in this guide has a unique style, together they demonstrate that painting is about much more than technical skill. They encourage students to experiment, question and develop their own visual language.

Studying these artists also helps students build the skills required throughout secondary education, from experimenting with materials at KS3 to producing independent, research-led investigations at A Level.

Final Thoughts

Introducing contemporary acrylic artists into your curriculum doesn't mean replacing the great masters. Instead, it broadens students' understanding of painting by showing that artists continue to explore new ideas, materials and ways of working.

Whether students are building confidence with colour at KS3, developing personal responses for GCSE or undertaking independent investigations at A Level, contemporary practitioners provide fresh perspectives that feel relevant to today's learners.

Even introducing one or two of these artists into an existing scheme of work can encourage more ambitious experimentation, richer discussions and more original outcomes. Most importantly, they help students see that painting isn't simply about recreating what already exists, it's about using colour, materials and ideas to communicate something uniquely their own.

Continue Exploring Painting on the Creative Corner

If you're planning a painting unit, you may also find these resources useful:

- Choosing the Right Canvas: History, Types and Artist Tips | Specialist Crafts
- Step by Step Lesson Plan: Mastering Watercolour Techniques with Sweets | Specialist Crafts
- Stretching the Story: How Concertina Sketchbooks Help Students Develop Visual Narratives | Specialist Crafts
- Brush Reference Guide | Specialist Crafts