ATH New Release: The Great Book of Art Makers – Pre-Order Your Copy Now!
Some art books are made to be read once and placed back on a shelf. Others feel like objects we want to keep close, return to, and discover something new in each time we open them.
The Great Book of Art Makers 2026 belongs to the latter.
Created as a collector’s edition for those who are drawn not only to contemporary art, but also to the stories, practices, and people shaping it, the book brings together a carefully selected group of artists, award winners, and conversations that offer a thoughtful glimpse into the art being made today.
And the experience begins before the first page.
The edition has been designed as a layered physical object, with a refined jacket featuring gold-foil detailing and a distinctive cut-out that frames the artwork beneath it. Remove the jacket and another cover is revealed, giving the hardcover its own visual identity and making the book feel less like a conventional publication and more like a collectible piece in its own right.
Inside, Remus Grecu graces the cover, with a dedicated conversation offering a closer look at his practice. The edition also brings together Guest Curator Sonia Borell and conversations with Julia Collins, Carolina Pavia, and Anne Siems, alongside an award section celebrating Feyzan Alasya, Yoh Ko, and Dominika Łuszcz, recognised as Award Winner, 1st Runner Up, and 2nd Runner Up.
Together, these pages create a publication that celebrates contemporary art from several angles: through the work itself, through the voices of the artists, and through the stories and ideas that shape their practices.
For collectors, that sense of discovery extends to the book itself. From its substantial presence to the carefully considered cover construction and finishing details, The Great Book of Art Makers 2026 is designed to be experienced in person.
It is the kind of art book that belongs on a beautiful shelf, on a coffee table, or within a growing personal library of contemporary art. A book to open for the artists, stay for the stories, and return to long after the first reading.
About The Project
The story of The Great Book of Art Makers begins with a simple but meaningful idea: to recognise creative excellence wherever it is found, and to give artists a place within the wider story of contemporary art.
Conceived by the Arts to Hearts Project, the International Artist Award was created to celebrate outstanding emerging and mid-career artists whose work reflects originality, innovation, and a meaningful contribution to the evolving art world. The initiative brings together artists from across the globe, creating an opportunity to discover practices that might otherwise remain beyond our immediate view.
Submissions were invited across multiple disciplines, including painting, sculpture, photography, digital media, installation, and interdisciplinary practices. A panel of art professionals reviewed the entries, considering the individual vision, ideas, and creative approaches that make each artist’s work distinctive.
What makes this project especially meaningful is its intention to look beyond a single moment of recognition. The Great Book of Art Makers is the first edition of what will become an annual tradition, documenting and publishing a selection of artists recognised through the International Artist Award.
Each volume is designed to become both an archive and a resource. A record of the creativity shaping our time, and a reference for curators, collectors, institutions, and anyone interested in discovering new voices in contemporary art.
Through this initiative, the Arts to Hearts Project continues its commitment to creating meaningful opportunities for artists across borders. By bringing their work and stories together in one considered publication, the project helps connect creators with audiences while offering readers a closer look at the practices shaping the future of art.
The inaugural edition is therefore more than a showcase. It marks the beginning of a growing legacy, one that celebrates global creativity, preserves the work of artists, and creates a space for their stories to be shared for years to come.
Theme of The Book: Many Voices, One Collection
Every artist arrives at their practice differently. Some begin with memory, some with observation, material, research, intuition, or experimentation. There is no single path into contemporary art, and this edition embraces that beautifully.
The International Artist Award 2026 does not ask artists to work within a predetermined theme. Instead, it invites them to submit work that most honestly represents their current practice, creating room for different disciplines, ideas, mediums, and perspectives to exist alongside one another.
With no thematic boundaries to follow, artists are free to show us what they are thinking about, making, questioning, and discovering right now. The focus remains on the strength and individuality of the work, with submissions considered for their originality, conceptual depth, technical execution, and distinct artistic vision.
The result is a collection that feels wonderfully varied. Across painting, sculpture, photography, mixed media, digital art, installation, textile, and interdisciplinary practices, the featured artists offer different ways of seeing and understanding the world.
Together, these voices create a snapshot of contemporary art today, not shaped by one subject, but by the many ideas and perspectives that make the art world so endlessly interesting.
Heartfelt Conversations With Our Artists
Art becomes even more special when we get to hear the voice behind it.
Throughout The Great Book of Art Makers 2026, we step beyond the finished artwork and into the thoughts, experiences, questions, and creative journeys that shape each practice. These conversations offer a more personal way of meeting the artists featured in this edition, allowing their ideas and stories to sit alongside the work itself.
We begin with a conversation with cover artist Remus Grecu, followed by conversations with Guest Curator Sonia Borell, Julia Collins, Carolina Pavia, and Anne Siems. Each brings a different perspective on making, seeing, and living with art.
The book also gives us the opportunity to meet the artists recognised through this year’s International Artist Award: Award Winner Feyzan Alasya, 1st Runner Up Yoh Ko, and 2nd Runner Up Dominika Łuszcz.
Together, these conversations make the book feel wonderfully personal. They remind us that behind every artwork is a person, a way of seeing, and a story that continues long after the work leaves the studio.
Our Guest Curator: Sonia Borell
We are delighted to have Sonia Borell as the Guest Curator for The Great Book of Art Makers 2026. Her perspective brings another thoughtful layer to this edition, helping shape a collection that feels diverse, considered, and deeply connected to the artists it celebrates. In her conversation within the book, Sonia shares more about her approach to art, curation, and the ideas that guide her work.
Meet Our Cover Artist: Remus Grecu
Remus Grecu grew up with the quiet certainty that he would spend his life making images. Today, the Romanian painter works primarily in oil on linen, creating works that move between portraiture, landscape, still life, and something more difficult to name.
His paintings often feel cinematic. Figures become presences, rooms carry atmosphere, and carefully composed scenes leave enough space for the viewer to wonder what might have happened before or after the moment we are seeing.
Grecu’s process has also carried this cinematic instinct into the studio. Earlier in his practice, he would photograph scenes he had constructed, refine and reimagine those images digitally, and eventually use them as a foundation for his paintings. While his process has evolved, that way of thinking about composition, staging, light, and atmosphere continues to find its way into his work.
His earlier paintings often leaned towards darker, more restrained palettes. Over time, light began to enter more freely, bringing a different kind of openness to the work without taking away its sense of mystery.
In his conversation for The Great Book of Art Makers 2026, Grecu takes us further into this world, speaking about his evolving process, photographing people close to him, the personal stories that have found their way into his paintings, and the cinematic way of seeing that continues to shape his practice.
It is a fitting place to begin, with the artist whose work graces the cover and whose paintings invite us to look a little longer before deciding what we are seeing.
Our Award Winners
The International Artist Award 2026 celebrates artists whose work brings its own perspective, energy, and voice to contemporary art. This year’s selected artists remind us just how many different ways there are to create, question, and see.
Feyzan Alasya: Cash Award Winner
Feyzan Alasya is the Cash Award Winner of the International Artist Award 2026. Their work takes its place within a collection that celebrates originality and individual artistic vision, marking this recognition as an important moment in their creative journey.
Yoh Ko: 1st Runner Up
Yoh Ko, named 1st Runner Up, joins this year’s award-winning artists with a practice that reflects the breadth and individuality at the heart of the International Artist Award. Their recognition adds another distinct voice to this inaugural collection.
Dominika Łuszcz: 2nd Runner Up
Dominika Łuszcz, recognised as 2nd Runner Up, completes this year’s award-winning selection. Alongside Feyzan Alasya and Yoh Ko, their work contributes to a collection that celebrates artists for the unique perspectives they bring to contemporary art.
Together, these three artists represent the spirit of the award: making space for different voices, different practices, and different ways of looking at the world.
Meet Our Selected Artists
Beyond our award winners, The Great Book of Art Makers 2026 brings together an inspiring group of selected artists whose work adds to the richness and diversity of this collection. From different places, backgrounds, disciplines, and creative practices, each artist brings something entirely their own to these pages. Together, they make this book a celebration of the many ways contemporary art can be imagined, created, and experienced, offering readers the chance to discover new voices and spend time with work that deserves to be seen, remembered, and revisited.
A Book To Keep Close
We hope you enjoy The Great Book of Art Makers 2026 as much as we enjoyed bringing it together. Every page holds a little piece of the artists, their stories, their ideas, and the wonderful variety of contemporary art being made today.
We hope you take your time with it. Pause over the artworks, read the conversations, discover an artist you had never encountered before, and perhaps return to a few pages again and again.
Most of all, we hope this becomes the kind of book that finds a special place in your art library, one you are happy to keep close, share with others, and come back to whenever you need a little inspiration.
Thank you for being part of this celebration of art makers, and for helping these voices travel a little further into the world. Here’s to the artists, the stories, and all the beautiful things still waiting to be created.
Pre-order your copy of The Great Book of Art Makers 2026 today and bring this beautiful collection of contemporary art into your own library.
