DYLAN LEWIS
(b. 1964, South Africa)

Dylan Lewis is Africa’s most internationally renowned living figurative sculptor. Lewis’s primary inspiration is wilderness. At one level his bronze sculptures celebrate the power and movement of Africa’s life forms; at another the textures he creates speak of the continent’s primaeval, rugged landscapes and their ancient rhythms. He works intensively from life, filling books with sketches, notes and drawings. By referring to these in the solitude of his studio, he is able to reproduce the subject’s physical form while exploring their more abstract, deeper meaning.

Now widely recognised as one of the world’s foremost sculptors of the animal form, Lewis initially focused on the big cats. Collectively, his bronzes of felines form perhaps the most powerful commentary on nature and wilderness that has been made by any artist of this era. His cats are far more profound works of art than mere contemporary animalia bronzes. Indeed, they fully interrogate the lithe, almost boneless, grace of these apex predators – creatures that impart by their very presence a palpable tension to any true wilderness. Lewis’s cats are imbued with a unique, dense energy by this artist who, through a lifetime of immersing himself in pristine natural environments, somehow contrives to elevate his sculpture into a homage not only to the singular animals but indeed to their ancient lineages. Lewis’s bronzes fully capture the essence of an organism perfectly adapted to its habitat – the bodily expression of DNA adapting to aeons of inexorable environmental change. In the presence of his art, it does not take long to be affected by the rare brilliance and self-confident virtuosity honed by decades of work both in nature and his studio.  

Where animals were once the artist’s vehicle to express intense emotion, Lewis has gradually shifted vision and focus onto the human figure. Following on the trajectory of earlier themes, Lewis has used the human figure to explore the human psyche – our relationship with our inner wildness. Highly charged emotional human forms have dominated much of this fascinating sculptor’s artistic output since 2007. In exploring male and female figures – with elements of animal anatomy sometimes incorporated – Lewis faces the vital internal battle between our wildness and tameness, ultimately revelling in humankind’s intuitive, authentic nature. Says the artist: ‘The cats held sexuality, violence and power at a time when I couldn’t.’ With hindsight, Lewis’s sequence of sculptures may be seen as illustrating the artist’s journey towards self-acceptance and non-judgement.

Lewis’s sculpture has been avidly collected internationally for decades and this has resulted in two auctions at Christies being wholly dedicated to Lewis’s bronzes. The last Christie’s sale in 2018 achieved a 100% sale result. Dylan Lewis lives in Stellenbosch, South Africa. He has developed a unique sculpture garden where some of his most celebrated sculptures may be viewed within the natural environment that intellectually nourishes their maker. 

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2023 Recent Leopard Maquettes, Everard Read, Franschhoek, South Africa & London, UK

        Exploring our Untamed Nature, private residence exhibitions, Munich & Feldafing, Germany

2021 Apex 2021, Everard Read, UK & South Africa

2020 Chthonios, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa

2019 Shapeshifting, solo auction, Christie’s, London, UK

2018 Recent Busts, Everard Read, Franschhoek, South Africa

2016 FNB Joburg Art Fair, featured artist, Everard Read, Johannesburg, South Africa
2015 Dylan Lewis: A Solo Presentation at Masterpiece, John Martin Gallery, London, UK
        Investec Cape Town Art Fair, featured artist, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa

        Spoor, Everard Read, Johannesburg, South Africa
2014 A Small Collection of Cats, Everard Read Cape Town and Johannesburg, South Africa
        Recent Cat Bronzes, John Martin Gallery, London, UK
2013 ARTLONDON13, Everard Read, Johannesburg Booth, London, UK
        WWF, Everard Read Johannesburg, South Africa

        Untamed, solo auction, Christie’s, London, UK

2011 Predators and Prey II, solo auction, Christie’s, London, UK

2012 Delhi Art Fair, Delhi, India

2010 Untamed, Everard Read, Cape Town (at Oude Bank in Stellenbosch) and Kirstenbosch Gardens, South Africa

2009 Shapeshifting, solo auction, Christie’s, London, UK
        Shape Shifting, Everard Read, Cape Town & Johannesburg, South Africa

2007 Everard Read, Cape Town (at L’Ormarins in Franschoek), South Africa
        Everard Read, Johannesburg, South Africa

2006 ART LONDON6, Everard Read, Johannesburg Booth, London, UK

2004 ART LONDON4, Everard Read, Johannesburg Booth, London, UK

2003 One man exhibition, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa
        ART LONDON3, Everard Read, Johannesburg Booth, London, UK

2001 One man exhibition, Everard Read , Cape Town, The Clocktower Precinct, South Africa
        ARTLONDON2, Everard Read, Johannesburg, South Africa
        One man exhibition, Everard Read, Johannesburg, South Africa

2000 ARTLONDON1, Everard Read, Johannesburg Booth, London, UK
        Toronto International Art & Antiques Fair in association with Miriam Shiell, Canada
        Fine Art, Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Toronto, Canada
        Dallas International Pavilion , USA
        Dallas International Art & Antiques Fair in association with Miriam Shiell , USA
        Fine Art, Dallas International Pavilion, USA

1999 ARTLONDON 2000, Everard Read, Johannesburg Booth, London, UK
        The Port Captain’s Exhibition, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2024 Winter Collection, Everard Read, Franschhoek, South Africa
2021 Oasis, 25th Anniversary Exhibition, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa

2020 Investec Cape Town Art Fair, with Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa

        Bronze, Steel, Stone & Bone, Everard Read, London, UK 

        Us, Everard Read, South Africa & UK

2019 Southern Aspect, Everard Read, London, UK

2018 Bronze, Steel & Stone III, Everard Read, London, UK

2016 Pastoral Abstraction, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa
        Bronze, Steel and Stone, Mount Nelson Hotel & Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa
2015 WINTER, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa
2014 Summer of Sculpture II, Mount Nelson Hotel & Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa
2013 100, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa
        Summer of Sculpture, Mount Nelson Hotel & Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa
2012 Winter Show, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa
        Summer of Sculpture, Everard Read and Mount Nelson Hotel, Cape Town, South Africa     
2011 15th Anniversary, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa
2010 Summer, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa

SELECTED COLLECTIONS

Afrox, Anglovaal, Deutsche Morgan Grenfell, Eskom, Fedlife, First National Bank, HRH The Duke of York, Harvard Capital Management Worldwide, Nissan South Africa, Mr A. Oppenheimer, Mr N. Oppenheimer, Mr C.D. Palmer-Tomkinson, Mr J. Rupert, Mr B. Sangster, Old Mutual Plc, President Nelson Mandela, President George Bush USA, Sir Dennis Thatcher, Sir Richard Brooks, Sir Richard Storey, The Earl of Derby