“Artists on Our Radar” is a monthly series focused on five artists who have our attention. Utilizing our art expertise and Artsy data, we’ve determined which artists made an impact this past month through new gallery representation, exhibitions, auctions, art fairs, or fresh works on Artsy.
Iris Yehong Mao paints fantastically colorful floral visions. These lush scenes call to mind Monet’s “Water Lilies” and the impastoed vigor of Van Gogh—but in a near-psychedelic color palette. The artist’s work is currently featured in the two-artist show “Inner Landscapes” at LATITUDE Gallery in New York.
The longer one looks at Mao’s oil-and-acrylic paintings, the more pleasurably disorienting they become. As blossomy bits of landscape give way to sweeps of color, unseen horizons give the paintings the sensation of a fever dream. The painting Fallen stars in the rain forest (2026) feels like looking at plant life underwater, the plants slowly swaying in tides.
Now based in Los Angeles, Mao graduated from Shanghai Academy of Arts and Crafts in 1996 and School of Fine Arts, Shanghai University in 2000. Recent group shows include “Unbridled: Horsin’ Around” at LATITUDE Gallery in 2026, “Earth to Sky” at SHRINE in New York in 2025, and “Rosebuds and Sidewalk Ends” at Real Tinsel and Evil Twins Gallery in Milwaukee in 2024.
