Gabrielle Kruger

Exhibitions

Biography

Gabrielle Kruger was born in 1993 in Cape Town, where she currently lives and works. After graduating summa cum laude from Stellenbosch University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2015, she went on to be awarded her Masters in Fine Arts from Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town in 2018.

Kruger’s unique practice involves harnessing the materiality of acrylic paint to create complex, layered, 3-dimensional installations of plant-like forms. Freeing the paint from the surface of a canvas or board, the artist interrogates the constructedness of both the tradition of landscape painting, and the modern natural environment itself. These works expose the complexity of the distinction between natural and synthetic, between plant, paint and plastic, hinting at the difficult relationship between humanity and our natural environment in the Anthropocene era.

Recent solo exhibitions include Ungrounding Landscape, Michaelis School of Fine Art (UCT), Cape Town, South Africa (2018), and Growing Intrusions, University of Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch, South Africa (2015).

Kruger has exhibited widely within South Africa, including in such group exhibitions as Untitled 6.99, 99Loop Gallery, Cape Town (2018); SS17, Gallery Momo, Cape Town (2017); Growing Gatherings, 99Loop Gallery, Cape Town (2017); Between t[here] and then here and there, Michaelis Galleries, Cape Town (2017); Lady Bush, Cavalli Gallery, Somerset West (2017); Untitled 3.99, 99Loop Gallery, Cape Town (2016); Kingdom, Cavalli Gallery, Somerset West (2016); Dreams Amongst Other Things, Salon91, Cape Town (2015); Scape, University of Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch (2015); The Life of an Object, University of Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch (2013); and The Poetics of Space, The Sasol Art Museum, Stellenbosch (2013).

In 2018, she was awarded a Certificate of Excellence from the 33rd Chelsea International Fine Art Competition, and will be participating in the collective exhibition at Agora Gallery, New York, NY, USA.

Education

2018

Master of Fine Arts, Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.

2015

Bachelor of Fine Arts, University of Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch, South Africa.

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2018

Ungrounding Landscape: MFA Graduate Exhibition, Michaelis School of Fine Art (UCT), Cape Town, South Africa.

2016

Growing Matters: MFA Review Exhibition, Michaelis School of Fine Art (UCT), Cape Town, South Africa.

2015

Growing Intrusions: BAFA Graduate Exhibition, University of Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch, South Africa.

Two person Exhibitions

2017

Growing Gatherings, Gabrielle Kruger and Kevin Krankental, 99Loop Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa.

Selected Group Exhibitions

2018

Intersection, Tyburn Gallery, London, UK. (forthcoming)

Chelsea International Fine Art Competition, Agora Gallery, New York, NY, USA. (forthcoming)

Untitled 6.99, 99Loop Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa.

2017

SS17, Gallery Momo, Cape Town, South Africa.

Between t[here] and then here and there, Michaelis Galleries, Cape Town, South Africa.

Lady Bush, Cavalli Gallery, Somerset West, South Africa.

Jan van Riebeeck Alumni Exhibition, Welgemeend Manor House, Cape Town, South Africa.

Naturalis, NEO, Kleine Valleij Estate, Wellington, South Africa.

2016

Untitled 3.99, 99Loop Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa.

Kingdom, Cavalli Gallery, Somerset West, South Africa.

2015

GRADEX 2015, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa.

Dreams Amongst Other Things, Salon91, Cape Town, South Africa.

Scape, University of Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch, South Africa.

2014

Drive Through Thursday, public drawing performance curated by Vulindlela Nyoni, Stellenbosch, South Africa.

2013

The Life of an Object, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa.

The Poetics of Space, The Sasol Art Museum, Stellenbosch, South Africa.

Biography & Press

2018

Roussos, Alexia, Fake ferns: Gabrielle Kruger disrupts art world with new show, 10and5.com, 17 April 2018.

Awards

2018

Certificate of Excellence, 33rd Chelsea International Fine Art Competition, USA.