Bio & CV
Kate Arthur (b. 1985) 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 EXHIBITIONS, FAIRS & COMPETITIONS
2020: Midland (solo), Everard Read/CIRCA, Cape Town
2020: The Portrait Show, curated by Musa Nxumalo, Everard Read/CIRCA, Johannesburg
2020: Another kind of blue, curated by Amé Bell, David Krut Projects, KKNK National Festival (online)
2020: Art for Books: The Clarke’s Bookshop Fundraising Auction, Clarke's Bookshop (online)
2019: In the flesh (solo), Rust-en-Vrede Gallery, Durbanville
2019: The invisible realm of possibility, curated by John McNorton, FIAP Jean Monnet, Paris
2019: Gloss, Infecting the City: Public Arts Festival, Institute for Creative Arts, Cape Town
2019: Kind of blue, David Krut Projects, Johannesburg
2019: Anon, curated by Sarah Jayne Fell, Pop Up Place, Cape Town
2018: Saltwater (solo), Cubicle Series, Everard Read/CIRCA, Cape Town
2018: Cape Town Art Fair, Clarke's Bookshop, Cape Town International Convention Centre, Cape Town
2018: Sunday Service, curated by Heinrich Groenewald and Brett Charles Seiler, GUS, Stellenbosch
2018: BOTANICA, curated by Adele van Heerden, Art.b Gallery, Bellville
2018: SAME SAME, Gallery One11, Cape Town
2018: Body Politic: Transformation (performance), Theatre Arts Admin Collective, Cape Town
2018: Rain Dance, The Voorkamer Gallery, Chandler House, Cape Town
2017: Sanlam Portrait Award (winner), Rust-en-Vrede Gallery, Durbanville
2017: People and Portraiture, Everard Read/CIRCA, Cape Town
2017: Pop Up // Joburg, Warren Editions, 44 Stanley, Johannesburg
2017: Array, curated by Isabella Kuijers, The Gallery at Taj, Cape Town
2017: A Panel of Patrons, Julia Meintjes Fine Art, Tokara Winery, Stellenbosch
2017: Potblou Blou Pot, Woordfees Festival, Stellenbosch University Gallery, Stellenbosch
2017: Cape Town Art Fair, Warren Edition, Cape Town International Convention Centre, Cape Town
2016: Things You Can Tell (solo), The Voorkamer Gallery, Chandler House, Cape Town
2016: Barclays L’Atelier Western Cape Exhibition (regional finalist), Rust-en-Vrede Gallery, Durbanville
2016: Turbine Art Fair, Warren Editions, Turbine Hall, Johannesburg
2016: HB, The Voorkamer Gallery, Chandler House, Cape Town
2016: Fugly, The Voorkamer Gallery, Chandler House, Cape Town
2016: Opening Exhibition, Loading Bay Gallery, Durban
2016: BUZZART2016, KZNSA Gallery, Durban
2015: Sanlam Portrait Award (Top 40), Rust-en-Vrede Gallery, Durbanville
2015: THAT ART FAIR, Salt River Parkade, Cape Town
2015: P!nk, The Voorkamer Gallery, Chandler House, Cape Town
2015: Anthropology III, Breathing Space Gallery, Durban
2015: Min of Meer ’n Meermin / More or Less a Mermaid, Kamersvol Geskenke, City Hall, Cape Town
2015: He Sells Seascapes By The Seashore, The Voorkamer Gallery, Chandler House, Cape Town
2015: Wet Paint, The Voorkamer Gallery, Chandler House, Cape Town
2015: Frida Mash-Up, Alex Hamilton Studio Gallery, Cape Town
2014: Drawingrooms (solo), City Soirée, 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
2008: ABSA L’Atelier Awards (finalist), Johannesburg
2008: Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Museum Biennale (finalist), Port Elizabeth
2007: Sasol New Signatures Competition (finalist), Pretoria Art Museum, Pretoria
2007: Rhodes University Student Exhibition, Department of Fine Art, National Arts Festival, Grahamstown
2006: Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Museum Biennale (finalist), Port Elizabeth
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
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'