New Contemporaries 2009

As always, it's tempting to look for trends among this annual pick of art school grads - photography is strong again - and to spot any established artists to which the work of some of these new kids on the block bears more than a passing resemblance - this year examples include Wolfgang Tillmans and John Stezaker. Both Tillmans and Stezaker were on the selecting panel, evidence perhaps for an unconscious integration of ego with artistic judgement. That's not a criticism, as any judgement based on such a small sample of a young artist's work can, to a large extent, only be subjective.

So with that in mind, here's my pick of the pick. Amanda Wasielewski for the sense of both loss and community that comes across in her video that documents the switching off of America's last analogue telephone system, told through radio news coverage and the voices of the system's now bereft phone hackers (phreaks). Jack Vickridge, for the supreme confidence with which his rough sculptural objects made of wood, card and clay assert their sense of place and status. Andrew Curtis, for his brooding black-and-white photo etchings of suburban streets, menaced by the shadowy presence of flora introduced to Britain during the heyday of Empire, including Araucaria Araucuna (commonly known as the monkey puzzle tree).

Special mention goes to David Price, whose etchings of complex fantasy landscapes seem almost too accomplished for their surrounding company and to Sam Burfurd, Susanne Ludwig and Jack Newling, whose selected works left me wanting to see more.