(b. 1988 Cape Town, South Africa)

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‘My paintings draw their inspiration from a photographic starting point. My intention though is not to recreate a photograph, but rather to allude to what is referenced. My work deals a lot with memory and the recollection of time and events or encounters passed. I try to paint in a way that evokes the unreliability of memory but also the dream-like feeling we give it, especially if that memory is positive. Hence I paint in a way that is vague or potentially non-descriptive but which leaves visual cues as to what may or may not be there.’ - Swain Hoogervorst, 2024

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Swain Hoogervorst is based in Cape Town. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Arts from Vega (2010). He was selected as a top 100 finalist in the ABSA L’Atelier Competition in both 2013 and 2015. Residencies include Schildersweek in the Netherlands (2013), Arteles Creative Centre in Finland (2015) and, most recently, Mas des Graviers in France (2019) and, most recently, Cité internationale des arts in Paris (2022).

Hoogervorst has participated in exhibitions both nationally and internationally. His first solo exhibition Inside Out was at the AVA Gallery in Cape Town (2014). Searching Eudaimonia (2017) marked his solo debut at Everard Read in Cape Town, followed by In Between Spaces (2020) and Time is a Long Thin Hand (2022) at Everard Read in Franschhoek. Hoogervorst curated an international group show, The Invisible Thread (2023), at the AVA Gallery, Cape Town. Hoogervorst is represented by Everard Read in South Africa and in the UK. His work can be found in private collections (in the UAE, US, UK, Brazil, France, Australia, Germany and Belgium) and public collections, including the Spier Arts Trust in South Africa.