(b. 1974 Cape Town, South Africa)

‘Reality is always shifting and, as an attempt to make sense of it, so am I.’ – Liza Grobler

Through her participatory environments, Liza Grobler explores the interactions between the physical presence of the viewer, the space in which the work is experienced and the constructed form. Her installations explore the relationship between inner and outer landscape as an experiential rather than a conceptual space. The viewer is encouraged to travel with her into an imaginary world where everything is in flux, and anything is possible.

The objects, images and installations are constructed through collaboration, interaction and exchange. Gallery exhibitions, projects and interventions are integrated components that cross-reference one another. She has attended residencies in Norway, Finland, the United States, Mexico, Switzerland, Belgium and France. Her work is included in numerous corporate and private collections, including the Francis Greenburger Collection (USA), Frans Masereel Centrum (Belgium), Benetton Collection (Italy) and Nando's International (UK, Australia and USA).

To date, she has had a number of acclaimed solo exhibitions and initiated numerous site-specific and collaborative interventions in South Africa and abroad.

Qualifications

1999 Master’s Degree in Visual Arts (cum laude), Stellenbosch University

1996 Bachelors Degree in Visual Arts, Stellenbosch University

Selected Site-Specific Projects

2018
Portal at a divided fountain, immersive installation in dialogue with percussionist Heinrich Kruse, RU, New York
Rose Window, Commissioned by the Spier Collection for the Material Gains exhibition, US Museum, Stellenbosch
A place in the Sun; African Leaders Conference, Stellenbosch

2017
Seven Looms of Silence, commissioned by Trenery Group AW-17 at Keyes Art Mile, Johannesburg

2016
Barbed Wire Paradise, an immersive drawing, StudioGrob, Woodstock

2015
Mexican Pink, Maravatio, Mexico
Diary of a Nanosatellite video included in Forever Now - launch of the Golden Record into Deep Space

2014
Cape Town World Design Capital 'Accidental Art' Public artwork for Nando's on Kloof Street, South Africa

2013
Big Brother is Stunned, Woodstock Industrial Centre, Cape Town, South Africa

2012
From Mooi Uitsig to Mooiuitsig: an Artventure, commissioned by Lien Botha for Hangklip Art Week

2010
Cocoon, Nirox Sculpture Park, Cradle of Humankind, Johannesburg
Imagination: for humans – ‘The Laboratory for Recycled Revolutions, curator: Isa Suarez, Greatmore, Cape Town, South Africa

2009
The 1-day Residency project in conjunction with ‘Visitor’ with 14 visiting artists, Irma Stern Museum, Cape Town
Gift, a picnic and lace making performance with Pierre Fouché, Cape Town

2007
Afrikan Tähti/ Star of Africa - public intervention after a Finnish board game, in collaboration Jeanne Hoffman, Rauma, Finland
C-Units, in collaboration with Jeanne Hoffman, Big Bay, South Africa
Icarus project, in collaboration with Norman O’ Flynn, Cape Town, South Africa

2006
Soft Rock Project, Sunset Beach, Cape Town, South Africa
Teardrop Project, Solothurn, Switzerland, South Africa
Heritage Cache, a site-specific group project coordinated by Cobus van Bosch and Arlene Amaler-Raviv, Cape Town, South Africa

2005
Groeisel no. 2, a crocheting performance and installation at the Aardklop Arts Festival, curated by Abrie Fourie, Potchefstroom, South Africa

2004
D.I.E.N.S. in collaboration Pierre Fouché, Norman O’Flynn and Johan Thom, a street intervention, KKNK, Oudtshoorn, South Africa

2003
Excess: Proudly South African, in collaboration with Jesus Macarena-Avila, Cape Town, South Africa

2002
Momentary Monument, in collaboration with art students, Rauma, Finland
Music Concrete-YDEsire Art Night, in collaboration with Jeanne Hoffman, the Cape of Good Hope Castle, Cape Town
Fantastic Rubbish, a mixed media installation, World Summit on Sustainable Development, Johannesburg, South Africa

2001
R.I.P, in collaboration with Jeanne Hoffman, Durbanville, South Africa
Forest Cross, Dalsãsen forest, Norway

1999
Oos Wes, Tuis Bes, curated by Mark Coetzee and Leze Hugo, Oudtshoorn Arts Festival, Oudtshoorn, South Africa

Works included in the following corporate collections:

Ellerman House (Cape Town), Hollard (Johannesburg), Silo Hotel (Cape Town)
Nando's (United Kingdom, United States, South Africa), Spier (South Africa)
MAPSA collection (South Africa), Frans Masereel Centre (Belgium)
Francis Greenberger Collection (Artomi), City of Cape Town Collection (South Africa)
Luciano Benetton Collection (Italy)
Telkom Collection (Johannesburg) and in private collections in South Africa, France, Ireland, Switzerland, United States, Mexico, Spain, Germany, England and Norway.

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Selected Solo Exhibitions

2021
Disobedient Landscapes, Uitstalling, Genk, Belgium

2020
Voices from a Divided Fountain, site-specific installation at 139 Albert, Woodstock, in association Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa

2019
a rainbow in my pocket, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa

2018
En die groen gras groei daar om, Aardklop Festival, Potchefstroom

2017
Ripples of Perception, CIRCA Gallery Johannesburg, South Africa
Maybe Time Can Fold, CIRCA Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
Unframed Section CTAF Fair, Everard Read CIRCA Booth, Cape Town, South Africa

2015
If you go down to the woods today, Everard Read Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
Playlist, CIRCA Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

2014
Blindfolded Line, Dancing Through Time, a national touring exhibition: Oliewenhuis Museum (Bloemfontein), KZNSA Durban, Johannesburg Art Gallery Johannesburg, South Africa

2013
Interrupted Daydreams, Spier, Stellenbosch, South Africa

2012
White Termite, Brundyn & Gonsalves, Cape Town, South Africa

2010
Visitor (The Square): a Solo Exhibition in Two Parts, iArt Wembley Project Space and iArt Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa

2009
Visitor, Irma Stern Museum, Cape Town, South Africa

2007
9 Chicks & a Dick, AVA, Cape Town, South Africa

2005
Groeisel #1, Outlet, Pretoria, South Africa

2004
Play with me, AVA, Cape Town, South Africa

2003
I can't see the wood for the trees, so I'm taking a line for a very long walk, João Ferreira Gallery, Cape Town

2002
Almost a Valentine, Chelsea Gallery, Wynberg, South Africa

2000
The Garbage men wear gloves, Chelsea Gallery, Wynberg, South Africa

Selected Group Exhibitions

2020
Investec Cape Town Art Fair, with Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa
TINY, Everard Read, Johannesburg, South Africa
STILL, Everard Read, South Africa & UK
Matereality, IZIKO South African National Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
Hard, but Soft, curated by Pierre le Riche, Glen Carlou, Stellenbosch, South Africa

2019
hybrid narratives, hybrid histories, U10 Art Space, Belgrade, Serbia
Verf dit swart / Paint it Black, Modern Art Projects South Africa, Aardklop Festival, Potchefstroom, South Africa
Forward? Forward! Forward…., Stellenbosch University centenary exhibition, US Museum, Stellenbosch, South Africa
CONTEXT Art Miami, with Everard Read, Miami, USA
Winter, Everard Read Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa

2018
Buffer Zones, video art nights, Platform Project Space, Vaasa, Finland
Common Threads, international textile exhibition, 99 Juta, Johannesburg
FLUX, Free State Festival, Bloemfontein
In the Forest of the Night, CIRCA Gallery, Johannesburg
Winter Show, Everard Read Cape Town
100, AIUD, Romania
INC Art Collection Celebrate 10 years, Haitian American Museum of Chicago, Chicago

2017
Smokey Signals from the Groot Karoo, MAPSA Richmond and CIRCA Cape Town
Romulus Rebus: Imaging Empires, Priest Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
African Abstraction, Everard Read Gallery, London, South Africa
SocialFabrics SA, finissage Cape Town, South Africa

2016
Coriolis Effect: Migration and Memory, KHOJ Studios, New Delhi
Women’s work, South African National Gallery, curated by Ernestine White Town, Cape Town, South Africa
Winter Collection, Everard Read Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
The Space Between/The Noise Behind, a two person show with Norman O'Flynn, Fried Contemporary, Pretoria
Ímago Mundi, Luciano Benetton Collection', New York, USA
Cape Town Art Fair, Everard Read CIRCA Gallery Booth, Cape Town, South Africa

2015
ADDIS Video Art Festival, Ethiopia
San Juanita Project: Re-examining borders, Haitian American Museum of Chicago, Chicago, USA
Homage, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa
Ímago Mundi – Luciano Benetton Collection, Venice, Italy
Nando's Rites and Duties, Constitution Hill, Johannesburg, South Africa
Decor-Z, Spier Estate, Stellenbosch, South Africa
Constructions, GRID International Photography Biennial, Cape Town, South Africa
Empire, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa
Forever Now, at MOMA FOMA, New Media Festival, Tasmania

2014
Winter Sculpture Show, Nirox Foundation, Krugersdorp, South Africa
Open Studios at the Cite Internationale des Arts, Paris
International Union of Architecture World Congress, Durban, South Africa

2013
5 Years in Print, Warren Editions, Cape Town, South Africa
Chance favours the Connected Mind, collaboration with Barbara Wildenboer, Amelia Johnson Contemporary, Hong Kong
Stellenbosch Revisited, co-curated by Marna Hattingh and Liza Grobler for Die Woordfees, Stellenbosch, South Africa

2012
Tjorts/Cheers! drawings after a poem by Danie Marais, curators: Marna Hattingh and Liza Grobler, AVA, Cape Town

2011
Alptraum, Travelling drawing exhibition: Berlin, Los Angeles, Cape Town
Open Books, iArt Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
Collection 13, SMAC Art Gallery Cape Town, South Africa

2010
Divisions: Aspects of South African Art (1948-2010), SMAC Gallery, Stellenbosch, South Africa
The Menippean Uprising, curated by Pierre Fouché and Hentie van der Merwe, Blank Projects, Cape Town, South Africa
Frans Masereel Centre Annual Printmaking Show, Kasterlee, Belgium
Twenty Years of South African Sculpture, curated by Andrew Lamprecht, Nirox Sculpture Park, Cradle of Humankind, South Africa

2008
The Bijou Burns Again, UCA Gallery, Observatory, South Africa
Women in Craft, Spier Estate, Stellenbosch, South Africa

2007
Common Ground, Lönnstrom Contemporary Art Museum in collaboration with Jeanne Hoffman, Rauma, Finland
South African Art on Paper, Gallery Barry Keldoulis, Sydney, Australia
TACT, Artspace, Pretoria, South Africa

2006
STEEK, a two-person exhibition in collaboration with Barend de Wet, Blank Projects, Cape Town, South Africa
ROEM, curated by Sandra Hanekom, interactive sculptures for ‘Die Storm’, KKNK, Oudtshoorn, South Africa
Flesh! curated by Chris Diedericks, KKNK, Oudtshoorn, South Africa
the blank paper project as part of Cape 07, Blank Projects, Cape Town, South Africa
Just like home in collaboration with Norman O’ Flynn, Solothurn, Switzerland
2006 travelling exhibition, coordinated by Norman O’Flynn, Bell-Roberts Contemporary, Cape Town & Art on Paper, Johannesburg, South Africa

2005
Of Want and Desire, João Ferreira Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
Cape Biennale at blank projects, curated by Andrew Lamprecht, Cape Town, South Africa
The 5th International Florence Biennial for Contemporary Art, Fortezza de Bastilica, Florence, Italy
Synergy, Michaelis Collection contemporary beaded designs- a history of beads in Africa, Iziko Museum, Cape Town

2004
Stolen Affections, Goethe Institute, Bahai, Brazil
Artomi, New York, USA
The Art of Drawing, Durbanville Cultural Centre, Durbanville, South Africa

2002
Low Rider, Polvo Art Studio, Chicago, USA

2000
Majority Rules, Free Gallery, Glasgow, Scotland, UK
YEA-R 2000, Chelsea Gallery, Wynberg, South Africa

Biennials

2015
GRID International Photography Biennial, work featured on catalogue cover, Castle of Good Hope, Cape Town

2005
Cape Biennale at blank projects, curated by Andrew Lamprecht, Cape Town
The 5th International Florence Biennial for Contemporary Art, Fortezza de Bastilica, Florence, Italy

Greg Schultz