BRETT MURRAY

(b. 1961 Pretoria, South Africa)

Transgressive ideas and imagery push and shift boundaries and, if effectively used and charged, can result in cathartic understandings and fresh reflections. Works and ideas that divide and challenge are interesting to me. I am drawn to this thin edge of the wedge, but not exclusively. In reflecting on what is unfolding, I hope to articulate a very personal understanding and an idiosyncratic psychological sense of place, and begin to describe who I am with this anomalous vision. Paradoxically, through this critique and comic exposure, I actually begin to define a preferred ideal in which I would like to live.

I think we live in interesting times, where conversations are becoming more and more polarised, and the rights and the wrongs of your political positions are becoming more difficult to define, and there’s a big grey area in the middle. Often what an artist can do is prick holes in that divide and I think some of my work does sometimes do that – and it’s potentially uncomfortable. I continue to feel the urge to expose the absurdities of the powerful through satire. Through my work I hope to explore my jaundiced love/hate relationship with South Africa’s unfolding democracy. Inevitably, it seems, current works are darker in tone and often register closer to tragedy than comedy. - Brett Murray

Brett Murray is a South African artist known primarily for his satirically incisive sculptures and ‘The Spear’, a wildly infamous portrait of the nation’s past president, Jacob Zuma. His work functions as an introspective stock-take on the artist’s positionality within the social climate of South Africa at a particular moment, with which he aims to entertain.

Murray has a Master's degree in Fine Art from the Michaelis School of Fine Art at the University of Cape Town (1989) and was the winner of the prestigious Standard Bank Young Artist Award in 2002. Referred to by critic Brenda Atkinson as "the dark prince of South African pop (art)", Murray is one of the country's most popular visual artists, using recognisable media images with the addition of a subversive and bitterly funny twist.

Spanning bronze, steel, plastics, print, video and marble, Murray's work grapples with the wars of cultures, the clash between Afro- and Eurocentrism, the old and the new South Africas, identity politics and the ways in which political discussions have been shaped for the worse by social media.

Brett Murray studied at the University of Cape Town, where he was awarded his Masters of Fine Arts degree in 1988 with distinction. The title of his dissertation was ‘A Group of Satirical Sculptures Examining Social and Political Paradoxes in the South African Context’. As an undergraduate, he won Irma Stern Scholarships in both 1981 and 1982. He won the Simon Garson Prize for the most Promising student in 1982 and was awarded the Michaelis Prize in 1983. As a postgraduate student he received a Human Sciences Research Council bursary, a University of Cape Town Research Scholarship, the Jules Kramer Grant and an Irma Stern Scholarship.

He has exhibited extensively in South Africa and abroad. From 1991 to 1994 he established the sculpture department at the University of Stellenbosch, where he curated the show ‘Thirty Sculptors from the Western Cape’ in 1992. In 1995 he curated, with Kevin Brand, ‘Scurvy’, at the Castle of Good Hope in Cape Town. That year he co-curated ‘Junge Kunst Aus Zud Afrika’ for the Hänel Gallery in Frankfurt, Germany.

In 1999, Brett co-founded, with artists and cultural practitioners Lisa Brice, Kevin Brand, Bruce Gordon, Andrew Putter, Sue Williamson, Robert Weinek and Lizza Littlewort, ‘Public Eye’, a Section 27 company that manage and initiate art projects in the public arena with the aims to develop a greater profile for public art in Cape Town. They have initiated projects on Robben Island, worked with the cities health officials on aids awareness campaigns and initiated outdoor sculpture projects including ‘The Spier Sculpture Biennale’. He curated ‘Homeport’ in 2001 which saw 15 artists create site specific text based works in Cape Town’s waterfront precinct. Public Eye have interfaced with cultural funding bodies as consultants and hosted multi-media events across the city.

Murray was included on the Cuban Biennial of 1994, and subsequently his works where exhibited at the Ludwig Museum of Contemporary Art in Germany. He was included on the group show, ‘Springtime in Chile’ at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Santiago, Chile. He was also part of the travelling show ‘Liberated Voices, Contemporary Art From South Africa’ which opened at the Museum for African Art in New York in 1998. His work formed part of the shows ‘Min(d)fields’ at the Kunsthaus in Baselland, Switzerland in 2004 and ‘The Geopolitics of Animation‘ at the Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporaneo in Seville in Spain in 2007. He won the Cape Town Urban Art competition in 1998 that resulted in the public work ‘Africa’, a 3.5 metre bronze sculpture, being erected in Cape Town’s city centre.

He was awarded the Standard Bank Young Artist of the Year in 2002. He won, with Stefaans Samcuia, the commission to produce an 8 x 30 meter wall sculpture for the foyer of the Cape Town International Convention Centre in 2003. In 2007 he completed ‘Specimens’, a large wall sculpture for the University Of Cape Town’s medical school campus. In 2011 he produced the public artwork ‘Seeds’ for The University of Bloemfontein and in 2013 he was commissioned to produce the 7 meter bronze ‘Citizen’ for the Auto & General Park in Johannesburg.

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2022     Limbo, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa

2021     Hide, Everard Read, Johannesburg, South Africa

            Limbo, Everard Read, London, UK

2019     Hide, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa

2017     Again Again, Everard Read & CIRCA, Johannesburg, South Africa

2015       Again Again, Goodman Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
2012       Hail to The Thief II, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
2010       Hail to The Thief, Goodman Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
2009       Crocodile Tears II, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
2007       Crocodile Tears, Goodman Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
2006       Sleep Sleep, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, SA and João Ferreira Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa 
2003       Us and Them, Axis Gallery, New York, USA 
2002       Standard Bank Young Artist of the Year Award exhibition, White Like Me:
                National Arts Festival, Grahamstown, South Africa
                King George VI Art Gallery, Port Elizabeth, South Africa
                Tatham Art Gallery, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
                Durban Art Gallery, Durban, South Africa
                Johannes Stegmann Art Gallery, Bloemfontein, South Africa
                South African National Gallery, Cape Town, SA Standard Bank Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
2001       Hero, Bell-Roberts Contemporary, Cape Town, South Africa
2000       I love Africa, Bell-Roberts Contemporary, Cape Town & Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa 
1997       Own, Hänel Gallery, Cape Town, SA and The Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
1996       Brett Murray: New Sculptures, Gallery Frank Hänel, Frankfurt, Germany
                White Boy Sings the Blues, Rembrandt van Rijn Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
1989       Satirical Sculptures, Market Theatre Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2020      Staring Straight to the Future, online exhibition, Everard Read, UK & South Africa

                Masterpiece online, with Everard Read, London, UK

2019     IncarNations, Bo Zar, Brussels, Belgium

2018     Investec Cape Town Art Fair, Everard Read, Cape Town, SA

2017     Investec Cape Town Art Fair, Everard Read, Cape Town, SA

             FNB Johannesburg Art Fair, Everard Read, Johannesburg, SA

             Bronze, Steel & Stone II, Everard Read, London, UK

2016       FNB Joburg Art Fair, Everard Read, Johannesburg, SA

                New Revolutions, Goodman Gallery Cape Town & Johannesburg, SA
                Graphica, Southern Guild, Cape Town, SA
                The Armory Show, Goodman Gallery, New York, USA
2015       56th International Art Exhibition -la Biennale di Venezia, South African Pavilion, Italy
                Slow Violence, Stellenbosch University Art Gallery, SA
2014       Cape Town Art Fair, Goodman Gallery, SA
                Design Days Dubai, Southern Guild, UAE
                My Joburg, Kunsthalle Lipsiusbau, Dresden, Germany
2013       C-16: A Group Exhibition, Goodman Gallery, Cape Town, SA
                My Joburg, La Maison Rouge, Paris, France
                Art Basel- Hong Kong, Goodman Gallery, China
                Collectable South African Design’, Collective.1 Design Fair, New York, USA
                Cloud 9, Dean Projects, Kuwait City, Kuwait
                Design Days Dubai, Southern Guild, Dubai, United Arab Emirates 
                Editions, Goodman Gallery, Cape Town, SA
                et.al, Nirox Projects, Johannesburg, SA
                Heavy Metal, Southern Guild, Cape Town, SA

                The Armory Show, Goodman Gallery, New York, USA

                Art Palm Beach, Dean Projects, Florida, USA
                The Loom of the Land, Michael Stevenson Gallery, Johannesburg, SA
                Summer Show, Casa Labia Gallery, Cape Town, SA

2012       Art Miami, Dean Projects, USA
               Art Basel Miami, Goodman Gallery, USA
              Spring Show, Goodman Gallery, Cape Town, SA
              Sensing the Subject, a selection of Piet Viljoen’s art collection, The New Church Museum. Curated by Penny Siopis, Cape Town, SA 
              The Art of Banking: celebrating through collections’, Standard Bank, Johannesburg, SA 
              FIAC, Paris, France
              Johannesburg Art Fair, Goodman Gallery, SA
              Our Fathers, AVA Gallery, Cape Town, SA
              Recollect, Southern Guild, The Woodstock Foundry, Cape Town, SA

2011       Impressions From South Africa, 1965 to Now, Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA
               Thinking Around, Tokara, Stellenbosch, SA
               Art Basel Miami , Goodman Gallery, USA
               A Natural Selection: 1991-2011, The AVA Gallery, Cape Town, SA
               Southern Guild 2011, Johannesburg Art Fair, SA
               Persona, Johans Borman Fine Art, Cape Town, SA
               The Johannesburg Art Fair, Goodman Gallery, SA
               Editions, Goodman Gallery Projects, Arts On Main, Johannesburg, SA
               The Armory Show, Goodman Gallery, New York, USA

2010       Art Basel Miami, Goodman Gallery, USA
               The Lie of the Land: Representations of the South African Landscape, Iziko Michaelis Collection, Cape Town, SA
               Divisions: Aspects of South African Art 1948 -2010, SMAC Gallery, Stellenbosch, SA
               In Other Words, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, SA
               Halakasha, Standard Bank Gallery, Johannesburg, SA
               Winter Show, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, SA
              Twenty - South African Sculpture of the Last Two Decades, Nirox Sculpture Park, Gauteng, SA
              1910 to 2010: From Pierneef to Gugulective, South African National Gallery, Cape Town, SA
              Spier Contemporary, Cape Town City Hall, SA

2009       The Marks We Make, Goodman Gallery, Cape Town, SA
               Strengths and Convictions: The life and times of the South African Peace Prize Laureates,
               South African National Gallery, Cape Town, SA 
               Dada South? Exploring Dada legacies in South African art 1960 to the present, Iziko SA National Gallery, Curated by Roger van Wyk and                 Kathryn Smith, Cape Town, SA
               Registration, Joao Ferreira Gallery, Cape Town, SA
               Forward March, Spier, Stellenbosch, SA
               Words!, AVA, Cape Town, SA
               Life Less Ordinary, Djanogly Art Gallery, Lakeside Arts Centre, University Park, Nottingham, UK
              The Other Mainstream II, 
Selections from the Collection of Mikki and Stanley Weithorn
              Arizona State University Art Museum
              Johannesburg Art Fair,The Goodman Gallery, SA
              Nirox Foundation Outdoor Sculpture, Gauteng, SA

2008       Johannesburg Art Fair, The Goodman Gallery,SA 

2007       Lift Off II, Goodman Gallery Cape, Cape Town, SA 
               Cape 07, Biennale, Cape Town, SA 
               Turbulence, HANGAR-7, Salzburg, Austria 
               The Geopolitics of Animation, Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporaneo, Seville, Spain 

2006       Art Basel Miami, USA: The Goodman Gallery 

2005       Art Basel, Basel, Switzerland: The Goodman Gallery booth, SA 
               Dorp Street Gallery, Stellenbosch, SA 
               Imprints, Axis Gallery, New York, USA 

2004       Post Pop, Moja Modern, Johannesburg, SA 
               Min(e)dfields, Kunsthaus Baselland, Switzerland
               Identity, Fortis Circus Theatre, Scheveningen, Holland
              A Decade of Democracy, Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town, SA 

2003       Literally and Figuratively: Text and Image in South African Contemporary Art, Stevenson, Cape Town, SA 
              Absolutely/Perhaps, Simon Mee Fine Arts, London, UK 
              Mettle and Paint, Mettle Headquarters, Johannesburg, SA 
              Retreks, Video projections, Fotografins Hus, Stockholm, Sweden 
              Space Repurposed, Red Bull Music Academy, Cape Town, SA 
              Art City, Cell-C, Johannesburg, SA ‘Picnic’, Bell-Roberts Contemporary, Cape Town, SA 

2002       Liberated Voices: Contemporary Art from South Africa, The University of Arizona Museum of Art, curated by Frank Herreman. Tucson,                     Arizona, USA

                I.D./Ology, Axis Gallery, New York, USA
                Con/Text, Axis Gallery, New York, USA
                Broadcast Quality:The Art of Big Brother, SABC TV, SA 

2001       Liberated Voices: Contemporary Art from South Africa, The Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Centre for Visual Arts at Stanford University,                             California, USA. Curated by Frank Herrema
               World Wide Video Festival, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
               Body: Rest and Motion, Oudtshoorn Festival, SA 

2000       Liberated Voices: Contemporary Art from South Africa, The Austin Museum of Art, curated by Frank Herreman, Austin, Texas, USA
               Cast, Bronze Age Gallery, Cape Town, SA
               Retreks: How the other half…, Animated Video Projection, Johannesburg, SA 
              Collaboration, Bell-Roberts Contemporary, Cape Town, SA 
              Returning The Gaze, Cape Town One City Festival, SA 

1999       Visit, Natal Society of the Arts, Durban ,SA
               Liberated Voices: Contemporary Art from South Africa, Museum for African Art, New York, USA
              New Worlds: Contemporary Art from Australia, Canada and South Africa, Canada House, London, UK
              (Toured: Edmonton Art Gallery, Edmonton, Canada; Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa: Australian Centre for                            Contemporary Art, Melbourne.) 

1997       Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, re-launch, SA 
               Fin de Siecle, Lyons, France 
               Cologne Art Fair, with Gallery Frank Hänel, Germany
               30 Minutes, Robben Island Museum, Cape Town, SA 
               District Six Public Sculpture Project, Cape Town, SA 
               Smokkel, 2nd Johannesburg Biennale Fringe, SA 

1996       Vita Art Now, Johannesburg Art Gallery, SA
                New Sculptures, Gallery Frank Hänel, Frankfurt, Germany 
                Anima-L: Der Mensch im Tier - Das tier im Mensch, Eislingen Kunstverein, Germany 
                Cologne Art Fair, with Gallery Frank Hänel, Germany 
                Groundswell, Mermaid Theatre, London, UK

1995       The Laager, Johannesburg Biennale, SA 
               Scurvy, The Castle, Cape Town, SA
               The Scurvy Show, Newtown Galleries, Johannesburg,SA 
               Venice Biennale, Malcolm Payne’s installation, Italy 
              Spring time in Chile, Museum of Contemporary Art, Santiago, Chile 
              Junge Kunst Aus Zud Afrika, Galerie Frank Haenel, Frankfurt, Germany 
              Panoramas of Passage: Changing Landscapes - South Africa, Albany Museum, Grahamstown, SA
              Frankfurt Art Fair, Gallery Haenel, Germany
             Cologne Art Fair, with Gallery Frank Hänel, Germany

1994       Banquet, Standard Bank Gallery, Johannesburg, SA 
               5th Cuban Biennale, Wilfredo Lam Museum, Havana, Cuba 
               Ludwig Museum of Contemporary Art, Aachen, Germany 
              Contemporary Art from South Africa, Deutsche Aerospace Gallery, Otobrun, Germany
               Exit, Metlife Association Of Art, Cape Town, SA
              Staff Exhibition, University of Stellenbosch, SA

1993       Vita Art Now, Johannesburg Art Gallery, SA
                Volkskas Competition, Metlife Association Of Arts, Cape Town, Durban, Pretoria and Johannesburg, SA
               Aids, Metlife Association of Arts, Cape Town, SA
               Limits Of Liberty, Wits Theatre, Weekly Mail Anti-Censorship Exhibition, Johannesburg, SA

1992       Volkskas Competition, Metlife Association Of Arts, Cape Town, Durban, Pretoria and Johannesburg, SA
               Staff Exhibition, University of Stellenbosch, SA
               Other Visibilities, Newtown Gallery, Johannesburg, SA
               Curator of ‘40 Sculptors From The Western Cape’, Stellenbosch University, SA

1991       Passages and Transitions, Newtown Gallery, Johannesburg, SA
               B and B with Barend De Wet , Association of Art, Cape Town, SA

1990       Vita Art Now, Johannesburg Art Gallery, SA

1988       Art and Militarism, Michaelis Gallery, University of Cape Town, SA

1986       About Time: Towards a People’s Culture Cultural Festival, University of Cape Town, SA. Banned by the Apartheid State
               Art For Peace, Baxter Theatre, Cape Town, SA

1985       Group Show for the opening of ‘Gallant House’ club and art centre, Johannesburg, SA

1984       Aches and Pains, Market Theatre Gallery, Johannesburg, SA

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

Iziko, South African National Gallery, Cape Town, SA
Johannesburg Art Gallery, SA 
Durban Art Gallery, SA
Tatham Art Gallery, Pietermaritzburg, SA
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, SA
University of Cape Town, SA
University of South Africa, Pretoria, SA
University of Bloemfontein, SA
Sandton Municipality, Johannesburg, SA
DirectAxis Collection, Cape Town, SA
BHP Billiton Collection, Johannesburg, SA
MTN Collection, Johannesburg, SA
Sasol Collection, Johannesburg, SA
South African Breweries, Johannesburg, SA
South African Broadcasting Corporation, Johannesburg, SA
The South African Reserve Bank, Johannesburg, SA
Vodacom Collection, Cape Town, SA
Nando’s Art Collection, Johannesburg, SA
Sindika Dokolo African Collection of Contemporary Art, Luanda, Angola
Red Bull, Salzburg, Austria 
Collection of Mikki and Stanley Weithorn, USA
The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, USA
The New Church Museum, Cape Town, SA