(b. 1979 Cape Town, South Africa)

FAITH47

Liberty Du, who is widely recognized as Faith XLVII, is a South African known as one of the world’s most prominent female street artists. 

Her journey into art began on the streets of South Africa in 1979, as a young graffiti writer taking on the name Faith47 (the number being a reference to her grandmothers numerological theorem). In 2006, Liberty began on a nomadic journey which has brought her to create works in 39 countries and, in 2017, saw her relocating to Los Angeles, USA. 

Her evolution from street artist to a multi-disciplinary artist has created a fluid yet solid bridge into the contemporary art world. This explorative approach has led her to develop a broad range of artwork. This ranges from immersive new media installations and hand-sewn wall tapestries deconstructing notions of value and place, to sculptural bronze works investigating hierarchies of power, paintings and a variety of fine art prints. 

The thread of Liberty’s practice can be traced from abandoned structures, landmark 20 story buildings to museums and galleries all the way through to intimate site-specific installations. 

One can observe in Liberty’s approach evidence of her own personal quest, which in turn brings to the forefront much larger concerns of universal social and political complexities. Through the use of these various mediums, Liberty finds a unique series of poetic tones that lend their voice to her expression. There is a longing for a deeper connection to nature, and a resurrection of the divine feminine. There is too the active investigation and questioning of the human condition, its deviant histories and our own inherent existential search.

This all serves to imbue her narratives the ebb and flow between pain and contemplation, imploring us to examine our place in the world.

Today, her artwork can be found in the several private and public collections including: , Universal Studios in Los Angeles, Lighthouse Properties in Philadelphia and the Cyril Ramaphosa Foundation in South Africa,. She has shown at the Calais Museum of Fine Art and the Bernard Magrez Foundation in France, Mana Contemporary and the Brooklyn Museum, both in the USA.

EXHIBITIONS AND PROJECTS

2021

CHANT, solo exhibition, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa

2020

Home, digital exhibition, Void Projects

Staring Straight to the Future, digital exhibition, Everard Read

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

 2019 

Universal Studios Indoor Artwork Commission, Los Angeles, USA

Dictator Art Installation, Columbia

Design Indaba Talk and AURUM Performance, Cape Town, South Africa

The Freedom Piece Group Exhibition- The Pailpat Hotel, Los Angeles, USA

20 Year Anniversary Exhibition, Cory Helford Gallery, Los Angeles, USA

Together Group Exhibition, KP Projects Gallery, Los Angeles, USA

Conquête Urbaine, Calais Museum of Fine Art, Paris, France

United Labor Organization 100 Year Mural, New York City, USA

Maya Angelou School Mural Upliftment Project, Los Angeles, USA

Mural Arts Large Mural Production, Philadelphia, USA

Mural commission, Charlottesville, USA

Projection Mapping Mural, BLINK, Cincinnati, USA

2018 

Cape Town Art Fair, Everard Read CIRCA Gallery Cape Town, South Africa

Short Film Festival CortoLovere, Italy

Mana Contemporary Group Exhibition,

Moniker Art Fair, New York

Grand Opening Mirus Gallery, Denver, USA

Beyond The Streets, Los Angeles, USA

Mural Project, Vancouver, Canada

Mural Project, North Carolina, USA

Artmosphere, Russia

One Way Through, Group Exhibition, Heron Gallery, San Francisco, USA

Elixir, Solo Exhibition, Miami, USA

Moniker Art Fair, London, UK

Destination 131, Paris, France

Summit LA18, Los Angeles, USA

Conquête Urbaine, Paris, France

Women in Street Art, Paris, France

2017

Production for CNN African Voices, Cape Town, South Africa

Cape Town Art Fair, Cape Town, South Africa

Urban Currents, group show, Gallerie Kirk, Denmark

Digard Auction, Tribute to Paris, Paris, France

Magic Cities exhibition, Munich, Germany

Production for ARTE TV, Naples, Italy

UrbanArt Biennale®, UNESCO Voelklinger Huette World heritage site, Germany.

Homeless,  group exhibition curated by Axel Void, Miami, USA

Art Council Public art intervention, New Orleans, USA

Urban Nation Museum, group exhibition and public art intervention, Berlin, Germany

2016

 XX: A moment in time, Saatchi Gallery, London

 Cities of Hope Mural Project, Manchester, UK

Inter|urban Mural Project, Cleveland USA

Freedom as Form Group Exhibition, Wunderkameren Gallery – Milan, Italy

M10 – Urban Nation Museum Group Exhibition, Berlin, Germany

Agitprop, Brooklyn museum, New York, USA

Wynwood Walls, Art Basel, Miami, USA

2015

Aqua Regalia Solo Exhibition, Jonathan Levine Gallery, New York, USA

Pow Wow Taiwan, Taipei, Taiwan

Landfill Meditation Street Intervention, Johannesburg, South Africa

Dragon Tiger Mountain Mural Project, Nanachang, China

Ono’u Mural Project, Tahiti

Festival Mural, Montreal, Canada

The Psychic Power of Animals Street Intervention, New York, USA

Murals for Oceans Expedition Mural Project, Cozumel, Mexico

2014

Aqua Regalia Solo Exhibition, London, UK

Berlin Wall 25th Anniversary Group Show, Paris, France

Library Street Collective Group Show, Basel, Miami, USA

Redux Group Show, Inoperable Gallery, Vienna, Austria

Artscape Mural Project, Malmo, Sweden

5 Sector Mural Project, Glasgow, Scotland

Djerbahood, Djerba, Tunisia

Forest for the Trees Mural Project, Portland, USA

Rencontres Australes d’Imaitsoanala, Antananaraivo, Madagascar

Outdoor Urban Art Festival, Rome, Italy

The Art of Collaboration Wynwood Walls, Basel, Miami, USA

Artesano Mural Project, Rio San Juan, Dominican Republic

2013

Women on the Walls Group Exhibition, Jeffrey Deitch and Wynwood Walls – Miami, USA

Wooster Collective 10 Year Anniversary Show, Jonathan Levine Gallery, New York, USA

XII. Into the Dark Group Exhibition, Unit44, The Victoria Tunnel, Newcastle, UK

Brotkunsthalle Group Show, Vienna, Austria

Beyond Eden Group Exhibition, Thinkspace Gallery, Los Angeles, USA

Anniversary Group Show, White Walls Gallery, San Francisco, USA

Memorie Urbane Mural Project, Gaeta, Italy

Sculptura Viva International Symposium, San Benedetto del Tronto, Italy

Nuart Mural Project, Stavanger, Norway

MAUS Mural Project, Malaga, Spain

Avant-Garde Urbano Mural Project, Tudela de Navarra, Spain

Los Muros Hablan Mural Project, San Juan, Puerto Rico

Pow Wow Mural Project, Hawaii

2012

Fragments of a Burnt History Solo Exhibition, David Krut Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

Antenna Garden Dal & Faith47 exhibition, Rtist Gallery, Melbourne, Australia

International Women, Warrington Museum Group Exhibition, London, UK

Mural Project, Tel Aviv, Israel

Aarhus International Mural Project, Aarhus, Denmark

Group Show, Kulturhuset, Stockholm, Sweden

Mural Project, Sion, Switzerland

Mural Project, Melun, France

Wall Therapy Mural Project, Rochester, New York, USA

Wynood Walls, Miami, USA

2011

Urban Painting Group Show, Milan, Italy

Group Exhibition, Wuppertal Museum, Germany

Group Exhibition, Warrington Museum, London, UK

Gossip Well Told Group Show, Blackall Studio, London, UK

Les murs litinerrance Group Show, Paris, France

Urban Mural Project, Greece

City Leaks Mural Project, Cologne, Germany

Inner Walls Mural Project, Milan, Italy

Batelier Mural Project., Slovakia

2010

Moniker Art Fair, London, UK

Design For Humanity Group Exhibition, Thinkspace, Los Angeles, USA

For Those Who Live In It Group Exhibition, Mu Gallery, Eindhoven, Netherlands

Le Salon Du Cercle De La Culture Group Show, Circle Culture Gallery, Berlin, Germany

Stroke03 Art Fair, Berlin, Germany

Escape Art Fair, Vienna, Austria

Biennial, Sao Paulo, Brazil

Focus10 Art Fair, Switzerland

Urbanus International Mural Project, China

Muao Mural Project, A Coruna, Spain

2009

The Generations Group Show, The Showroom Gallery, New York, USA

Epitaph Solo Show, Mrego, Brussels, Belgium

Four Group Show, 34 Long Fine Art Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa

Artotale International Mural Project, Lueneberg, Germany

2008

The Restless Debt Of Third World Beauty Solo Show, Atm Gallery, Berlin, Germany

1st Internationale Graffiti Bienale, Belo Horizonte, Brazil

Anything Could Happen Group Exhibition, Carmichael Gallery, Los Angeles, USA

2007

Be Girl Be Mural Project, Intermedia Arts, Minneapolis, USA

Pick Of The Harvest Group Exhibition, Thinkspace Gallery, Los Angeles, USA

2006

Lines Of Attitude Group Exhibition and Mural Project, South Africa And Kenya

2005

Subglob Group Exhibition, Orebro, Sweden

Go Gallery Group Exhibition, Amsterdam