Zombie Formalism

In 2014, the artist and critic Walter Robinson coined the phrase “Zombie Formalism” to describe a new trend in abstract painting. Early-career painters like Oscar Murillo, Lucien Smith, and Seth Price experienced a meteoric rise in the art market for their gestural, abstract works. Their paintings were purchased from galleries then quickly resold at auction, for much higher sums. While the market for “Zombie Formalism” cooled around 2016, many of these artists continued to make waves. Below, discover available works by the abstract painters who rose to prominence in the past decade.