SANELL AGGENBACH

BIOGRAPHY

AGGENBACH, SANELL PROFILE
SANELL AGGENBACH
(b. 1975 Cape Town, South Africa)
 

Sanell Aggenbach’s work deals primarily with the intersection of history and private narratives by considering the process of recall and interpretation. Her work displays an accomplished virtuosity as she moves comfortably between the various disciplines of painting, printmaking and sculpture.

Since 2003, Aggenbach has focused mainly on subverted feminine tropes and feminist themes. In recent work she subtly and mischievously reframed the hobbyist art of flower arranging by appropriating the traditionally masculine art of Japanese Ikebana. Her sculptural work, primarily in bronze, parodies Western masterpieces from Michelangelo to Henry Moore and Warhol. Aggenbach takes a refreshing look at these pivotal references from a woman’s perspective.

Aggenbach currently lives and works in Woodstock, Cape Town. Her explorative work has secured her many achievements including winning the Absa L’Atelier Award in 2003. Her work is represented in numerous public and private collections, including Sasol, Absa, Spier, SABC, Red Bull (Austria), the South African National Gallery, 21C Museum in Kentucky (USA) and Anglo Gold.

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
 
2026      NeoNature, Everard Read, Johannesburg, SA
2025      PAST LIVES / NEW WORKS, Everard Read, Cape Town, SA
2023      Nightshade, WHATIFTHEWORLD, Cape Town, SA
2021      The Great Lulllll, WHATIFTHEWORLD, Cape Town, SA
2019      The Heart Has Many Rooms, Everard Read, Johannesburg, SA
2017      Bend to Her Will, WHATIFTHEWORLD, Cape Town/Johannesburg, SA
2015      Atopia, NWU Gallery, Potchefstroom, SA
2013      Familia Obscura, Brundyn Gallery, Cape Town, SA
2011      SOME DANCE TO REMEMBER SOME DANCE TO FORGET, Blank Projects, Cape Town, SA
2009      Graceland, Gallery AOP, Johannesburg, SA
2008      Sub Rosa, João Ferreira Gallery, Cape Town, SA
2007      Perfectly Still, Absa Gallery, Johannesburg, SA
2005      Fools Gold, Bell Roberts Contemporary, Cape Town, SA
2003      Blank, AVA, Cape Town, SA
2001      From A Netherworld, Bell-Roberts Gallery, Cape Town, SA
 
 
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
 
2026      Investec Cape Town Art Fair, with Everard Read, Cape Town, SA
2025      The Armory Show, with Everard Read, New York, USA
              RMB Latitudes Art Fair, with Everard Read, Johannesburg, SA
              Investec Cape Town Art Fair, with Everard Read, Cape Town, SA
              10 Years | Summer 2025, Everard Read, London, UK
              Motherhood, Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
              Art Düsseldorf, with Mario Mauroner Contemporary Art, Düsseldorf, Germany
2024      Inner Sanctum, Everard Read, Johannesburg, SA
               Winter Collection, Everard Read, Franschhoek, SA
              FNB Art Joburg, with Everard Read, Johannesburg, SA
              The Night, Mario Mauroner Contemporary Art, Salzburg, Austria 
2023      If You Look Hard Enough You Can See Our Future, African American Museum, Dallas, USA
              Bitches Brew, Everard Read Johannesburg, SA
2022      Seeds of the Fig, Reservoir & Whatiftheworld X Krone, Twee Jonge Gezellen, Tulbagh, SA
2021      Between Strangers, Nuweland Gallery, Netherlands
2020      Against Interpretation? Everard Read Gallery, London, UK
              Over The Rainbow, Red Bull Hangar-7, Salzburg, Austria
2019      MERDELAMERDELAMERDELAMERDELAMERDELAMER, curated by Kendell Geers, Mario Mauroner Contemporary Art, Vienna, Austria
2018      In the Forests of the Night, Everard Read, Johannesburg, SA
2015      Foreign Bodies, Whatiftheworld, Cape Town, SA
2014      20 Years of Democracy, Appalachian State University, North Carolina, USA
2012      Positive Tension, Whatiftheworld Gallery, Cape Town, SA
              Seeing Eye, Brundyn + Gonsalves, Cape Town, SA
              Paint I, SMAC Gallery, Cape Town, SA
2011      Alptraum, Deutscher Künstlerbund, Berlin, Germany
2010      Twenty, contemporary public sculpture, Nirox, Johannesburg, SA
2007      Arcadia, AVA Gallery, Cape Town, SA
              Turbulence, Hangar-7, Salzburg, Austria
2005      Sweet Nothings, new photographic work, Bell-Roberts Gallery, Cape Town, SA
2004      2nd Spier Outdoor Sculpture Biennial, Stellenbosch, SA
2003      YDESIRE, Castle of Good Hope, Cape Town, SA
2001      Micro/Macro, South African Printmakers, Xchanges Gallery, Victoria, Canada


AWARDS & FELLOWSHIPS
 
2015      Aardklop Festival artist, Potchefstroom, SA
2009      Ampersand fellowship, New York, USA
2003      Winner of the 2003 Absa L’Atelier, SA
1999      Selected for the UNESCO-Aschberg Residency programme, Sanskriti Kendra, New Delhi, India


PERMANENT COLLECTIONS
 
Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town
Absa Collection
Anglo Gold South Africa
Hollard Collection
Sasol Collection
Spier Collection
Didata
SABC
Labour 24 Pty Ltd
Red Bull Collection, Salzburg, Austria
New Church Museum
21C Museum in Kentucky


SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
 
2025      Sanell Aggenbach 
2013      Familia Obscura
2009      Graceland Catalogue
2007      Turbulence, Hangar-7, Austria
              Sanell Aggenbach Catalogue
              Artinvestor, Germany
              Art South Africa  Vol. 5, Issue 04; Page 82 (Review)
2005      Cape Town Month of Photography
2004      2nd Spier Sculpture Biennale Catalogue
              Sasol Art Museum, University of Stellenbosch
2003      ABSA L’Atelier Catalogue
              Art South Africa  Vol. 02, Issue 01; Page 14 (Review)
2002      Spier Sculpture Biennale Catalogue