WILLIAM KENTRIDGE


As a first-hand witness to one of the twentieth century’s most contentious struggles, the dissolution of apartheid, William Kentridge’s work is imbued with political and social commentary. Best known for his drawings, prints and animated films, Kentridge contrasts old ideals with new desires in post-Aparthied South Africa. Through the constant act of drawing, erasing and photographing, Kentridge uses stereoscopic viewers and creates optical illusions with anamorphic projection, extending his drawings into three dimensions.

Born in 1955 in Johannesburg, South Africa, William Kentridge attended the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (1973–76), Johannesburg Art Foundation (1976–78), and studied mime and theater at L’École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq, Paris (1981–82).

Kentridge’s work has been exhibited widely including the Tate Modern, London (2012), the Louvre, Paris (2010), the Centres Pompidou, Paris (2002), the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C. (2002), and the Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels (1998). He has participated in a number of international biennales and in Documenta X (1997) XI (2002) and XIII (2012) as well as the Venice Biennale (2005, 1999 and 1993). He has been the recipient of numerous prizes including the Kyoto Prize, the Oskar Kokoschka Award, Vienna, and the Carnegie Prize to name a few. He has received honorary doctorates from institutions including the Royal College of Art, London; Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa; and the University of the Witwatersrand.

His opera and theater works have appeared at Brooklyn Academy of Music; Standard Bank National Arts Festival, Grahamstown, South Africa; and Festival d’Avignon, France. His production of Dmitri Shostakovich’s opera, The Nose, premiered in 2010 at the Metropolitan Opera, New York in conjunction with a three-year international touring retrospective organized by San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Museum of Modern Art, New York (2009).

William Kentridge lives and works in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Click here to read the review by Sarah Milroy published in Canadian Art


William Kentridge works courtesy of David Krut Projects, NY.

For more information contact
barbara@becontemporary.com

Kentridge Coffee Pots
William Kentridge, Universal Archive (Twelve Coffee pots), 2012
linocut on non-archival pages from Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, each page mounted on arches velin, edition of 30
43.5" x 43"

Kentridge Nine Typewriters
William Kentridge, Universal Archive (Nine Typewriters), 2012
linocut on non-archival pages from Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, edition of 20
43" x 57.6"

Kentridge Lekkerbreek
William Kentridge, Lekkerbreek, 2013
linocut printed on non-archival pages from Britannica World Language Dictionary, mounted to Arches, edition of 24, 67" x 42.5"

Kentridge Universal Archive
William Kentridge, Universal Archive (19), 2012
linocut printed on non-archival pages from Shorter Oxford Dictionary, mounted on Velin Arches, edition of 20
10.6" x 13.7"

Kentridge Universal Archive
William Kentridge, Universal Archive (13), 2012
linocut printed on non-archival pages from Shorter Oxford Dictionary, mounted on Velin Arches, edition of 20, 13.7" x 10.6"

Kentridge Universal Archive (34)
William Kentridge, Universal Archive (34), 2012
linocut printed on non-archival pages from Shorter Oxford English Dictionary paper torn and fragments mounted on Velin Arches, edition of 20, 13.7" x 10.6"

Kentridge Universal Archive
William Kentridge, Universal Archive (52), 2012
linocut printed on non-archival pages from Shorter Oxford Dictionary, mounted on Velin Arches, edition of 20, 13.7" x 10.6"

Kentridge Nose 1
The Nose Opera (Nose 1), 2007
drypoint, engraving, sugarlift aquatint
13.7 x 15.7 in, edition of 50

Kentridge Nose 4
The Nose Opera (Nose 4), 2007
drypoint, engraving, sugarlift aquatint
13.7 x 15.7 in, edition of 50

Kentridge Nose 5
The Nose Opera (Nose 5), 2007
sugarlift aquatint
15.7 x 13.7 in, edition of 50

Kentridge Nose 10
The Nose Opera (Nose 10), 2008
drypoint, engraving, sugarlift aquatint
13.7 x 15.7 in, edition of 50

Kentridge Nose 11
The Nose Opera (Nose 11), 2008
drypoint, engraving, sugarlift aquatint
13.7 x 15.7 in, edition of 50

Kentridge Nose 12
The Nose Opera (Nose 12), 2008
drypoint, engraving, sugarlift aquatint
13.7 x 15.7 in, edition of 50

Kentridge Nose 13
The Nose Opera (Nose 13), 2008
drypoint, engraving, sugarlift aquatint
13.7 x 15.7 in, edition of 50

Kentridge Nose 14
The Nose Opera (Nose 14), 2008
engraving, sugarlift aquatint
15.7 x 13.7 in, edition of 50

Kentridge Nose 15
The Nose Opera (Nose 15), 2008
drypoint, engraving, sugarlift aquatint
15.7 x 13.7 in, edition of 50

Kentridge Nose 16
The Nose Opera (Nose 16), 2008
drypoint, engraving, sugarlift aquatint
15.7 x 13.7 in, edition of 50

Kentridge Nose 17
The Nose Opera (Nose 17), 2008
drypoint, engraving, sugarlift aquatint
15.7 x 13.7 in, edition of 50

Kentridge Nose 18
The Nose Opera (Nose 18), 2009
drypoint, engraving, hardground, sugarlift aquatint
15.7 x 13.7 in, edition of 50

Kentridge Nose 19
The Nose Opera (Nose 19), 2009
drypoint, engraving, hardground, sugarlift aquatint
15.7 x 13.7 in, edition of 50

Kentridge Nose 20
The Nose Opera (Nose 20), 2009
drypoint, engraving, sugarlift aquatint
15.7 x 13.7 in, edition of 50

Kentridge Nose 21
The Nose Opera (Nose 21), 2009
engraving, sugarlift aquatint
15.7 x 13.7 in, edition of 50

Kentridge Nose 22
The Nose Opera (Nose 22), 2009
drypoint, engraving, sugarlift aquatint
15.7 x 13.7 in, edition of 50

Kentridge Nose 23
The Nose Opera (Nose 23), 2009
drypoint, sugarlift aquatint
13.7 x 15.7 in, edition of 50

Kentridge Nose 25
The Nose Opera (Nose 25), 2009
drypoint, etching, sugarlift aquatint
15.7 x 13.7 in, edition of 50

Kentridge Nose 27
The Nose Opera (Nose 27), 2009
drypoint, etching, sugarlift aquatint
15.7 x 13.7 in, edition of 50

Kentridge Nose 28
The Nose Opera (Nose 28), 2009
drypoint, engraving, sugarlift aquatint
15.7 x 13.7 in, edition of 50