KATE ARTHUR

(b. 1985, South Africa)

Kate is a South African artist whose creative practice includes painting, drawing, printmaking, installation and performance.  While she maintains a longstanding interest in portraiture, identity politics and representations of the body, her recent work moves increasingly into abstraction.  She explores various concepts and emotions through process-led work, valuing intuition, experimentation and play.  She has exhibited in various group shows around the country and in 2017 she won first and second place in the Sanlam National Portrait Award.  Usually based in Cape Town, she is currently taking a break from the city and living in the KwaZulu-Natal village of Hilton.

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2020     

Midland, Everard Read/CIRCA, Cape Town

2019      

In the flesh, Rust-en-Vrede Gallery, Durbanville

2018      

Saltwater, Cubicle Series, Everard Read/CIRCA, Cape Town

2016      

Things You Can Tell, The Voorkamer Gallery, Chandler House, Cape Town

2014      

Drawingrooms, City Soirée, Cape Town

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​SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS AND FAIRS

2020        

The Portrait Show, curated by Musa Nxumalo, Everard Read/CIRCA, Johannesburg

Another kind of blue, curated by Amé Bell, David Krut Projects, KKNK National Festival (online)

Art for Books: The Clarke’s Bookshop Fundraising Auction, Clarke's Bookshop (online)

2019      

The invisible realm of possibility, curated by John McNorton, FIAP Jean Monnet, Paris

Gloss, Infecting the City: Public Arts Festival, Institute for Creative Arts, Cape Town

Kind of blue, David Krut Projects, Johannesburg

Anon, curated by Sarah Jayne Fell, Pop Up Place, Cape Town

2018      

Cape Town Art Fair, Clarke's Bookshop, Cape Town International Convention Centre, Cape Town

Sunday Service, curated by Heinrich Groenewald and Brett Charles Seiler, GUS, Stellenbosch

BOTANICA, curated by Adele van Heerden, Art.b Gallery, Bellville

SAME SAME, Gallery One11, Cape Town

Body Politic: Transformation (performance), Theatre Arts Admin Collective, Cape Town

Rain Dance, The Voorkamer Gallery, Chandler House, Cape Town

2017      

People and Portraiture, Everard Read/CIRCA, Cape Town

Pop Up // Joburg, Warren Editions, 44 Stanley, Johannesburg

Array, curated by Isabella Kuijers, The Gallery at Taj, Cape Town

A Panel of Patrons, Julia Meintjes Fine Art, Tokara Winery, Stellenbosch

Potblou Blou Pot, Woordfees Festival, Stellenbosch University Gallery, Stellenbosch

Cape Town Art Fair, Warren Edition, Cape Town International Convention Centre, Cape Town

2016      

Turbine Art Fair, Warren Editions, Turbine Hall, Johannesburg

HB, The Voorkamer Gallery, Chandler House, Cape Town

Fugly, The Voorkamer Gallery, Chandler House, Cape Town

Opening Exhibition, Loading Bay Gallery, Durban

BUZZART2016, KZNSA Gallery, Durban

2015      

THAT ART FAIR, Salt River Parkade, Cape Town

P!nk, The Voorkamer Gallery, Chandler House, Cape Town

Anthropology III, Breathing Space Gallery, Durban

Min of Meer ’n Meermin / More or Less a Mermaid, Kamersvol Geskenke, City Hall, Cape Town

He Sells Seascapes By The Seashore, The Voorkamer Gallery, Chandler House, Cape Town

Wet Paint, The Voorkamer Gallery, Chandler House, Cape Town

Frida Mash-Up, Alex Hamilton Studio Gallery, Cape Town

2014      

Open City Event Vol. II, Church Square, Cape Town

2008      

Epicene (performance) by Joni Barnard, New Voices Program, National Arts Festival, Grahamstown

2007      

Rhodes University Student Exhibition, Department of Fine Art, National Arts Festival, Grahamstown

2006       

stART Exhibition (co-curator), Student Arts Festival, St Aidan’s Cathedral, Grahamstown

2005      

Rhodes University Student Exhibition, Department of Fine Art, National Arts Festival, Grahamstown

2004      

Rhodes University Student Exhibition, Department of Fine Art, National Arts Festival, Grahamstown

AWARDS

2017       Sanlam Portrait Award (winner), Rust-en-Vrede Gallery, Durbanville

2016       Barclays L’Atelier Western Cape Exhibition (regional finalist), Rust-en-Vrede Gallery, Durbanville

2015       Sanlam Portrait Award (Top 40), Rust-en-Vrede Gallery, Durbanville

2008       ABSA L’Atelier Awards (finalist), Johannesburg

               Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Museum Biennale (finalist), Port Elizabeth

2007       Sasol New Signatures Competition (finalist), Pretoria Art Museum, Pretoria

2006       Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Museum Biennale (finalist), Port Elizabeth

RESIDENCIES

2019       Drawing Research Residency, DRAWinternational (Caylus) and L'AiR Arts (Paris), France

SELECTED ONLINE MEDIA

2018       Jameson Indie Channel, 'Love over fear: Kate Arthur paints tributes to queer bodies'

2017       NBC OUT, 'South African artist furthers queer visibility with body portraits'

2016       Between 10and5, 'Painting queer bodies in Kate Arthur’s latest work'