Norman Catherine

Artist Biography

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

C 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

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

1993 VeniceBiennial, Venice, Italy

GraphicGraphicaCreativa, Jyvaskyla, Finland

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