PETER VAN STRATEN

Peter van Straten was born in 1972 in Johannesburg. He lives and works in Cape Town.
Tragicomedy is Peter van Straten. Few contemporary South African painters have managed to combine such painfully poignant, personal truths with the outrageous misfortune and hilarity of the human conundrum, by magnifying the foibles and follies of brave, clueless protagonists in grave, forbidding landscapes. Van Straten’s socio-political farces avoid overt finger-pointing, and so delve into the heart of what it is to be human. He investigates paradoxes: futility and hubris; creativity and destruction; design and coincidence; indifference and longing, and all from the very personal stance of a bemused yet defiant soul assaulted by the complex stimuli that constitute life.

"Nothing ruins a grandiose sense of self like a hyperactive sense of irony. I am prevented therefore from uttering with any seriousness an ambition that is non-the-less heartfelt: to celebrate, with a single iconic image, each uniquely intriguing facet of human existence. This task would of course take many lifetimes, and while I might conceivably have many lives it is doubtful whether I would remember my task from one life to the next; becoming instead the postmaster at Wellington, then a bureaucrat in Bangladesh, followed by a housewife in Durban – each without the slightest interest in illustrating the human condition. For this reason I am driven by a deep sense of urgency in this lifetime – straining against the undertow of time to expand my understanding of the light bulb moments I am determined to illustrate. Luckily for me I find the story of Sisyphus more amusing than tragic, and my favourite word in the English language is Nympholepsy, which, to paraphrase the Oxford dictionary, is ecstasy or madness caused by pursuit of the unattainable.

If anything it is reassuring to know that one's journeying will never be threatened by something as crass as destination, and it is pure bliss to paint that journey."- Peter van Straten

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS:

2022    Towards the Astonishing Edge, Everard Read Franschhoek

2021     Obsession of Art, Netherlands.

2020     The Obsessioin Gallery, Netherlands.

2019     Rivers of Life Obsession of Art Gallery, Netherlands

2018     Magic by Image - Obsession of Art Gallery, Netherlands.

2017     Spotlight on Peter van Straten - 20th solo exhibition, at The  Obsession of Art Gallery, Netherlands.

2012     Encounters on the Edge, Knysna Fine Art, Knysna

            An invitation from the depths, Casa Labia Gallery, Cape Town

2011     The man on the street, Everard Read, Cape Town

2008     The Bends, Knysna Fine Art Gallery

             The Silence and the bell, Irma Stern Museum, Cape Town

2007     Mystic Eye, I-Art Gallery, Cape Town

             Luminous mysteries David Brown Fine Art – Johannesburg.

2003     Intimate History of Everything, Knysna Fine Art, Knysna

2002     Buckle your Seat-belt, Dorothy ....., Knysna Fine Art, Knysna

2001     Namaste as part of the “Walking the Street” Festival - Observatory

2000     Third I Gallery

1999     To Hell with Reality, Intecaf, Observatory, Cape Town
            Stellenbosch Chelsea Gallery, Wynberg  

             Clouds, Amani Wine farm, Stellenbosch

1998     Chalk Farm Gallery, London Labuschagne Residence, Durbanville

1997     Chelsea Gallery, Wynberg Arts Association, Bellville

1996     Ad-verts at Primart, Claremont

1993     Mellville Visual Arts Foundation, Melville
 

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS:

2021    Return Exhibition with Bowen Boshier, Cape Gallery.

            Reco/Verso group exhibition, Breytenbach Centre, Wellington.

            Persistance of Vision, Knysna Fine Art.

2020    Wild, wild life, Glen Carlou Gallery, Paarl 

2018    Everard Read Winter Group Exhibition

            20th Anniversary, Knysna Fine Art Gallery.         

            Drought, Artvark Gallery, Kalk Bay.

            Illusive Reality, Cape Gallery, Cape Town.

2017    Dream now, dream not, the annual Winter Solstice Exhibition, The Cape Gallery
            Reality Check, Everard Read, Cape Town

            Hieronymus Bosch in Africa Exhibition, Woordfees, Stellenbosch

            Summer Show, Everard Read Gallery, Cape Town

            Moor Gallery Franschoek

2016    A Certain Kind of Madness exhibition, Imibala Gallery, Somerset West

            Break the Spell – Spreek die Woord exhibition – Woordfees, Stellenbosch

            Spotlight on Peter van Straten – Obsession of Art Gallery,  Netherlands.

            Vernissage, Moor Gallery Franschoek

2015    Exhibition with Paula Vize and B. Ernest Manfunny at The Cape Gallery

            Contemporary Masters exhibition, Obsession Of Art Gallery, Netherlands

            Kunstenaar as Outeur, Klein Karoo Kunstefees

            Exhibition with Bowen Boshier: Cape Gallery

            Equus, Cavali Estate, Stellenbosch

            BYOID, Knysna Fine Art, Knysna

            Woordfees, D Street Gallery, Stellenbosch

2014    Threshold, annual Winter Solstice exhibition at The Cape Gallery

            Grande Provence Estate, Franschoek

            Groot Constantia wine estate, Cape Town

            Re-phrase/de-code, D Street Gallery, Stellenbosch

            Ressessie, Klein Karoo Kunstefees

            Magicus, D Street Gallery, Stellenbosch

            Cavali Estate

2013     Possessed, Everard Read, Cape Town

             Summer show: Everard Read Gallery, Cape Town

            D street Gallery

2012     Winter exhibition, Everard Read, Cape Town
             Wild Life - Subtle connections, Cape Gallery, Cape Town
             Other Worlds, Intoto, Johannesburg

2011     15th Anniversary, Everard Read, Cape Town
            Art in mind, Brick Lane Gallery, London

2010     Threshold, Everard Read, Cape Town

2009     Sex, Power & Money, Everard Read Cape Town

             The City Everard Read Gallery, Cape Town.

2008     Beyond Matter, Menier Chocolate Factory Gallery, London

2007     These Four Walls, Cape Town

2006     David Brown Fine Art Johannesburg.

2004     '10' celebrating a decade of democracy, Everard Read, Cape Town

2001     Grafiti Gallery, Cape Town
            Telling Tales', Third I Gallery
            Tastings - Klarity Gallery

2000     Artists from the Cape, Old Arts Gallery, University of Pretoria
            Catharsis, Johannesburg
            Falling Awake, collaborated with Heel Arts Collective for the Once City Many Cultures Festival,     Cape Town

1999     Lightworkers Conference - New York, USA

             Peter Visser Antiques    

1998     Peter Visser Gallery, Cape Town

1995     With Gail Catlin - Primart, Claremont

1992     Grahamstown Festival

AWARDS:

2011   Finalist, Sovereign Art Award Africa

1992   Murati Award for Best Student

1989   Sanlam Student Art Award
 

COMMISSIONS:

2010   Landscapes on the walls of the Da Vinci Hotel, Sandton, Johannesburg

2000   Statue of the Virgin for the Roman Catholic Church, Kimberley

1997   Two works for the home of Mr Mac Maharaj

PUBLICATIONS:

2021  Publication in Holland of “Achtbaan” book, with Stef Bos.

2013  Short story “Ventriloquist Voice” adapted for theatre by Callum Tilbury, and performed at The Little
          Theatre, UCT    

2007  Magazine feature: Habitat Magazine (November/December issue)

2005  Contributer to “The Creative Block,” Hollard insurance, Johannesburg.

          Interviewed for “Kuns Kafee” SABC3.

2003  Contributes drawings to “Fooding about with  Topsi”- an artists’ recipe  book by renowned chef
          Topsi  Venter.

          Included in “The Collector’s Guide to Art and Artists in South Africa”

2001  Launches satirical newspaper  “The Observer”

          Featured on first Episode of “Innertainment” - SABC

          Featured as first “artist of the week” at launch of Global Arts Information

          Featured artist in first publication of “AHUM” magazine.

          Short stories included in “Urban One,” published by Spearhead.