William Kentridge Hon RA (b. 1955)
William Kentridge Hon RA (b. 1955)
The South African artist William Kentridge is internationally acclaimed for his drawing, films, theatre and opera productions. Born in Johannesburg in 1955, he studied politics and African studies at the University of Witwatersrand, fine art at the Johannesburg Art Foundation and physical theatre at L‘École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq. This multidisciplinary training is incorporated into his work, which often responds to the legacies of colonialism and apartheid.
His aesthetics are drawn from the medium of film’s own history, from stop-motion animation to early special effects. Kentridge’s drawing, specifically the dynamism of an erased and redrawn mark, is an integral part of his expanded animation and filmmaking practice, where the meanings of his films are developed during the process of their making.
From the early 1990s, Kentridge worked closely with Handspring Puppet Company on productions including Woyzeck on the Highveld, Faustus in Africa and Ubu and the Truth Commission. His opera productions include Mozart’s The Magic Flute, Shostakovich’s The Nose, and Alban Berg’s Lulu. In 2017 his acclaimed production of Wozzeck opened at the Salzburg Festival; it will transfer to the New York Met for the 2019-2020 season.
In 2012 William Kentridge made a five-channel video and sound installation, The Refusal of Time, for Documenta 13. It has since been seen in cities around the world and was jointly acquired by the Met and SFMOMA. Two works first shown in 2015, More Sweetly Play the Dance, an eight-channel video projection first seen in Amsterdam, and Notes Toward a Model Opera, a three-screen projection looking at the Chinese Cultural Revolution, have also now toured internationally.
In April 2016, Kentridge completed an ambitious public art project for Rome entitled Triumphs & Laments. This epic 500m-frieze was created by strategically power-washing away the pollution and bacterial growth along the walls of the Tiber River, to leave behind a procession of over eighty silhouetted figures against the newly exposed stone.
Kentridge has exhibited in museums and galleries around the world, including Documenta in Kassel, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Albertina Museum in Vienna, Musée du Louvre in Paris, Whitechapel Gallery in London, Louisiana Museum in Copenhagen. He is the recipient of honorary doctorates from several universities, including Yale and the University of London. In 2010 he received the Kyoto Prize and was appointed an Honorary Royal Academician in 2015. In October 2017, he will receive the Princesa de Asturias Award for the arts.
William Kentridge’s work is held in collections around the world, including: Art Institute of Chicago; Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney; Fondation Cartier pour l‘Art Contemporain, Paris; Istanbul Modern; Kunsthalle Bremen; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Sifang Art Museum, Nanjing; IZIKO South Africa National Gallery, Cape Town; Tate, London and UNISA Art Gallery, Pretoria.
Profile
Honorary RA
Born: 1955 in Johannesburg, South Africa
Nationality: South African
Elected Hon RA: 10 December 2014
Gender: Male
Preferred media: Sculpture, Film making, Graphic design, Engraving, and Animation
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Gallery
Installation view of 'William Kentridge: The Refusal of Time', Parasophia: Kyoto International Festival of Contemporary Culture 2015
William Kentridge, 'O Sentimental Machine', Marian Goodman Paris, 2015
Installation view of 'William Kentridge: Notes Towards a Model Opera', 2015
Installation view of 'William Kentridge: Notes Towards a Model Opera', 2015
Installation view of 'William Kentridge: More Sweetly Play the Dance', EYE Amsterdam, 2015
William Kentridge's 'Lulu' at the ENO, with Nicky Spence and Jeffery Lloyd Roberts, 2016
William Kentridge's 'Wozzeck', 2017
Workshop for William Kentridge's 'Wozzeck', 2017
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Selected CV
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Solo exhibitions
2016-17 William Kentridge: Thick Time, London
2016 Triumphs and Laments: A Project for Rome, Rome
2015-16 William Kentridge: More Sweetly Play the Dance, London, New York
William Kentridge: Notes Towards a Model Opera, Beijing, Johannesburg
2013-15 William Kentridge: The Refusal of Time, New York, Boston, Kyoto, Perth, Johannesburg, Helsinki. Cape Town
2012 William Kentridge: Won’t you join the dance?, Málaga
2011 Chostakovich, Aix-en-Provence
2010 William Kentridge: Breathe, Dissolve, Return, Paris
2008 I am not me, the horse is not mine, Cape Town
2007 William Kentridge: What Will Come (has already come), Frankfurt
2005 William Kentridge: Black Box/Chambre Noire, Berlin
2001 William Kentridge, Paris
1999 Projects 68: William Kentridge, New York
1996 Eidophusikon, Sydney
1994 Felix in Exile, Johannesburg
1993 William Kentridge, Los Angeles
1987 In the Heart of the Beast, London
1981 Domestic Scenes, Johannesburg
1979 William Kentridge, Johannesburg -
Films
2015 O Sentimental Machine
More Sweetly Play the Dance
Notes Towards a Model Opera
2013 Tango for Page Turning
Second-hand Reading
2012 NO, IT IS!
The Refusal of Time (collaboration)
2011 Anti-Mercator
2010 Carnet d‘Egypte
2008 Breathe Dissolve Return
I am not me, the horse is not mine
2007 What Will Come (has already come)
2005 Black Box/Chambre Noire
2003 Learning the Flute
2002 Zeno Writing
2001 Medicine Chest
1999 Shadow Procession
1997 Ubu Tells the Truth
1994 Felix in Exile
1987 Exhibition
1985 Vetkoek/Fête Galante
1984 Salestalk -
Theatre, Performance
2017 Wozzeck
2015-16 Lulu
2014, 2016 Winterreise
2014, 2016 Paper Music
2011-2016 Refuse the Hour
2010-11 The Nose
2008, 2010-11 I am not me, the horse is not mine
2005, 2007, 2009, 2011 The Magic Flute
2002 Confessions of Zeno, with Handspring Puppet company
2001 Zeno at 4am, with Handspring Puppet company
1998, 2004, 2007, 2009 Il Ritorno d‘Ulisse, with Handspring Puppet company
1997, 2015-16 Ubu and the Truth Commission, with Handspring Puppet company
1995 Faustus in Africa! with Handspring Puppet company
1992, 2008-09, 2011 Woyzeck on the Highveld, with Handspring Puppet company
1987 Sophiatown
1984 Dikhitsheneng
1975 Ubu Rex
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