Top image: Photography by Derek Ridgers

Populations are exploding, technologies advancing and new creative communities emerging. New generations of creative talent are shaking up the system and the established gatekeepers are looking to ride the wave. The onslaught of the digital age is bringing with it a new universe of communicative potential and whether artists are driven to harness it or react against it, the works surging forward as a result are pushing established boundaries of perception and creative potential.

Welcome to HERO Art Month – our essential, multifaceted guide to this current art shake-up. Throughout October, we’re exploring what’s happening at the epicentre of this global community: from the ground up, the artists themselves and the key figures witnessing the evolution of the ideas, trends and movements defining this art generation.

We’ve plugged into a web of critical art voices to grab the word on today’s art scene – intimately, expansively, globally. Switch on and stay tuned over the next few days: this is the world through the eyes of those at the vanguard of today’s art scene.