Art in America's 2025 "New Talent" issue features 20 emerging artists chosen by the magazine's editors, including Nico Williams, Bint Mbareh, Justin Allen, Agnes Questionmark, and Brooklin A. Soumahoro. The issue also includes a postmortem on figurative painting by Barry Schwabsky, an essay on spiritual art by Eleanor Heartney, a symposium on art's purpose with seven artists, and a tribute to the late Jaune Quick-to-See Smith by Emmi Whitehorse. Other sections cover Suzanne Valadon, Hito Steyerl's book, and a debate between art fairs and biennials.
The issue arrives amid the early months of the second Trump administration, with cuts at the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The artists featured respond to political turmoil through humor, critique, and persistence—Nico Williams beads everyday objects to provoke "booming Native laughter," while Agnes Questionmark creates unflinching trans-themed work. The issue frames artistic practice as a vital form of resistance and cultural survival in a time of institutional threats and social fear.