(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:

2023

Head to Toe, CIRCA on Jellicoe, Johannesburg, South Africa 

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

Now & Then Retrospective, Polokwane Art Gallery

Now & Then Retrospective, Durban Art Gallery         

2004  

Urban Mutations, Moba Art Gallery, Brussels

Now & Then Retrospective, Pretoria Art Museum

Now & Then Retrospective, Oliewenhuis Art Museum, Bloemfontein

2002    

Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg

2000   

Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg

1995  

Espace XL,  Luxembourg

1994  

Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg

1993  

Spot-On Gallery, Windhoek, Namibia

1991  

Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg

1987    

Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg

1986              

S.A. Association of Arts, Pretoria

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

Gallery 21, Johannesburg (100 works from Pelmama Collection)

Area-X Gallery, New York, USA

1985  

Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg

1984  

S.A. Association of Arts, Windhoek, Namibia

1982  

Gowlett Gallery, Cape Town

Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg    

1980  

Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg    

1979  

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

1978  

Kunsthandel SIAU,Amsterdam, Holland

Gallery 21, Johannesburg

1977  

No 13 Abel Road Gallery, Johannesburg

1976  

Gallery 21, Johannesburg

1974              

Goodman-Wolman Gallery, Cape Town

1973  

Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg    

1972  

Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg

1971  

N.S.A. Gallery, Durban

1970  

Motif Gallery, East London

1969  

Herbert Evans Gallery, Johannesburg

 

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2015              

Winter, Everard Read, Cape Town

2014              

Summer of Sculpture III, Mount Nelson Hotel and Everard Read, Cape Town     

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

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, Holland

2003  

Brett Kebble Awards, Cape Town

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

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 Circustheatre, Scheveningen, Holland