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 her most recent solo exhibition, Bend to Her Will, 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, parody Western masterpieces from Michelangelo, Henry Moore, and Warhol to Pierneef and take a refreshing look at these pivotal references from a woman’s perspective.

Born in Cape Town in 1975, 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.

“My earlier works relied heavily on processing found imagery, rethinking associations and creating new fictions. These works were often an amalgamation of historic references with private narratives and forms part of a process of investigating pathologies and deconstructing the past. My primary intention is to construct subtle paradoxes by introducing a quite humour, either formally or materially.”

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

OTHER

2015         Aardklop Festival artist

2009         Ampersand fellowship, New York

2005         Curator: ‘Sweet Nothings’, Bell-Roberts Gallery, Cape Town

2005         Nominated for a Kanna Award, KKNK

2003         Winner of the 2003 ABSA L’Atelier

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

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