NORMAN CATHERINE

(b. 1949 East London, South Africa)

In 1969, at the age of twenty, Norman Catherine held his first solo exhibition, which featured oil paintings on wood, bone, wire and an assortment of found objects. His art has since undergone several metamorphoses, from the pristine airbrush paintings of the 70s to the frenzied, ritualistic mixed media works of the early and mid-80s, the wire sculptures and tin can works of the late 80s, and the primitive-futuristic paintings of the early 90s, which provided the seeds for his pre-millennial menagerie of anthropomorphic beasts. In the thirty years spanning his past and present output, Catherine s visual trademarks have included rough-edged comical and nightmarish forms, rendered in brash cartoon colours. His idiosyncratic vision – a combination of dark cynicism and exuberant humour, as well as his innovative use of everyday materials – has secured his place at the forefront of South African contemporary art.

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2013 Incognito, CIRCA on Jellicoe, Johannesburg, South Africa

2006  Now & Then Retrospective, Johannesburg Art Gallery

Dualities, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg

2005 Now & Then Retrospective,Stellenbosch Art Gallery

Now & Then Retrospective,Nelson Mandela Metro Art Gallery, Port Elizabeth, Polokwane Art Gallery, Durban Art Gallery, South Africa         

2004 Urban Mutations, Moba Art Gallery, Brussels, Belgium

Now & Then Retrospective, Pretoria Art Museum, South Africa,, Oliewenhuis Art Museum, Bloemfontein, South Africa

2002    Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

2000   Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

1995 Espace XL, Luxembourg, South Africa

1994  Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

1993  Spot-On Gallery, Windhoek, Namibia, South Africa

1991  Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

1987     Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

1986    S.A. Association of Arts, Pretoria, South Africa

Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg (Fook Island-Walter Battiss Commemoration Exhibition)

Gallery 21, Johannesburg (100 works from Pelmama Collection), South Africa

Area-X Gallery, New York, USA

1985   Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

1984  S.A. Association of Arts, Windhoek, Namibia

1982   Gowlett Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa

Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

1980 Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa    

1979   Rand Afrikaans University, Johannesburg (Retrospective exhibition 1969-1979), South Africa

1978  Kunsthandel SIAU, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Gallery 21, Johannesburg, South Africa

1977  No 13 Abel Road Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

1976 Gallery 21, Johannesburg, South Africa

1974    Goodman-Wolman Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa

1973   Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa    

1972 Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

1971   N.S.A. Gallery, Durban, South Africa

1970  Motif Gallery, East London, South Africa

1969 Herbert Evans Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

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

2017 Off the wall: A Group Sculpture Show, Everard Read Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

2015    Winter, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa
2014    Summer of Sculpture III, Mount Nelson Hotel, Cape Town, South Africa     

2013 It’s New, It’s Now, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minnesota, USA                         

2012  Impressions from South Africa: 1965 to Now, Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA         

2011   Art Monaco 11, Grimaldi Forum, Monaco

Entre de Cultura Contemporania de Barcelona, Spain

Water – the [Delicate] Thread of Life , Standard Bank Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

2007  Local Racism, Global Apartheid , CCCP, Barcelona Spain

2006  1er Salon d Art Contemporain Africain , Brussels, Belgium

2004    Identity - The ID of South African Artists  Exhibition, Scheveningen, Netherlands

2003 Brett Kebble Awards, Cape Town, South Africa

Art 34 Basel, Switzerland

2002   Passport to South Africa, Centro Culterale Trevi, Bolzano, Italy

Natural Born Painters, Galerie W, Paris, France

L humour dans i art contemporain, Espace Belleville, Paris, France                

Zeignössische Kunst aus Südafrika, Bayer AG, Leverkussen, Germany

1998 Included in United Nations Portfolio:  “New York - Artists Salute Gerard Schroeder”

1997  South Africa, Kohn Turner Gallery, Los Angeles, USA

Fin de Siecle, Michel Luneau Art Gallery, Nantes, France

1996  Simunye, Adelson Galleries, New York, USA

Modern Konst i Afrika, MalmöKonsthall, Malmö, Sweden                

Common and Uncommon Ground, Atlanta, USA

Chicago Art Fair, Chicago, USA (May)

Art 27 96, Basel, Switzerland

Eight from South Africa, Centre for the Arts, Yerba Buena Gardens, San Francisco, USA 

Colours, Zeignössische Kunst aus Südafrika, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, Germany

1995   Seven Stories About Modern Art in Africa, Whitechapel Art Gallery, London, UK         

On The Road, Delfina Studio Trust Gallery, London

Mayibuye i Afrika, Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, UK

Kunsthal, Rotterdam, Netherlands

Panoramas of Passage: Changing Landscapes of South Africa, Meridian Cafritz Galleries, Washington, Touring USA (Dallas, Atlanta, Detroit and Wilberforce,Ohio)

1994 In Full Color, Les Sacks Fine Art, Los Angeles, USA

Cuban Biennial, Havana, CUBA & Ludwig Forum, Aachen, Germany     

1993    Venice Biennial, Venice, Italy                          

Graphica Creativa, Jyvaskyla, Finland

1991  AA Life Vita Art Exhibition, Johannesburg, South Africa

1990-1 Art from South Africa, Zabalaza Festival, Oxford Museum, Oxford, UK (touring exhibition)

1990    Voices from South Africa, Contemporary Art against Apartheid, Stuart Levy Gallery, New York, USA

1989  Art 20 89, Basel, Switzerland

1987 Art 18 87, Basel, Switzerland

1986  Pictures of People, Area-X Gallery, New York, USA                    

1985 Tributaries  Exhibition, Johannesburg & Germany (BMW-sponsored touring exhibition)

Soker-Kaseman Gallery, San Francisco, USA

1981  Defense Art Gallery, Paris, France

Art EXPO, San Francisco, USA

Art EXPO, Los Angeles, USA

1975  Art 6 75, Basel, Switzerland

1973  Galerie Daniel Gervis, Paris, France

1972 Galleria d’Arte L’Orizonte, Senigallia, Italy

AWARDS

1973    Art South Africa Today, Durban (Cambridge Shirt Award)

1981 Republic Festival Arts Exhibition, Durban (lst prize for Graphic Art)

1991   AA Life Vita Art Now 3rd Quarterly Award (Shared with Andries Botha)

2012   SA Academy of Science & Art: Award for Visual Arts.

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

SA National Gallery, Cape Town

Johannesburg Municipal Art Gallery, Johannesburg

Pretoria Art Museum, Pretoria

Durban Art Gallery, Durban

Ann Bryant Art Gallery, East London

Sandton Municipal Art Gallery, Sandton

Oliwenhuis Art Museum, Bloemfontein

The Haenggi Foundation Inc, Switzerland

Pelmama Permanent Art Collection, Johannesburg

University of South Africa, Pretoria

Rand Afrikaans University, Johannesburg

University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg

University of Natal, Durban

Walter Battiss Museum, Somerset East

Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Museum, Port Elizabeth

Roodepoort Public Library, Roodepoort

Department of National Education

Carnegie Art Gallery, Newcastle

Gauteng Legislature, Johannesburg

Tatham Art Gallery, Pietermaritzburg

Constitutional Court of SA, Johannesburg

Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA (MOMA)

Reserve Bank of South Africa

Minneapolis Institute of Arts (Minneapolis, Minnesota)

Brooklyn Museum, New York, USA

Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA

CORPORATE COLLECTIONS

Chase Manhattan Bank, New York, USA

Mobil Court Art Collection, Cape Town

Volkskas Bank, Pretoria

Everite Ltd, Johannesburg

Premier Milling Co, Johannesburg

Trust Bank, Johannesburg

Bankorp, Johannesburg

Standard Bank, Johannesburg

Sasol Art Collection

World Bank, Johannesburg

BHP Billiton, Johannesburg

World Economic Forum, Davos, Switzerland

Union Bank of Switzerland, Sandton

Telkom, Johannesburg

Absa, Johannesburg

Saronsberg Wine Estate Collection, Tulbagh

Vodacom, Cape Town

Berardo Foundation, Portugal

Sanlam Ltd., Bellville

Fortis CircusTheater, Scheveningen, Netherlands