Cape Town based gallery StateoftheART is pleased to announce the 10 artists shortlisted for the inaugural StateoftheART Gallery Award 2018.

After careful consideration of several hundred entries by artists from around South Africa, the judges have shortlisted 10 artists working across a number of mediums including sculpture, painting and printmaking. The work of the shortlisted artists will go on show in a special exhibition at StateoftheART’s Cape Town gallery from 06 – 22nd September 2018 for the final round of judging.

The winner will be awarded a R10 000 cash prize and a solo exhibition with the gallery in 2019.

For further details on the Award, to be invited to the opening event or to arrange a viewing, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Shortlisted artists:

Jo Roets; Janna Prinsloo; Anna-Carien Goosen; Nadine Hansen; Lezanne Kotze; Adele Van Heerden; Anina Deetlefs; Lebogang Mabusela; Tina Teles; Chloe Obermeyer.

…ENDS…

Notes to the editors
The members of the StateoftheART Gallery Award jury are Mirjam Asmal, director of the AVA; Mandy Conidaris, visual art consultant, art writer, and visual arts educator; Carol Hodes, curator and collector; Masixole Ncevu, award-winning artist and photographer; Jennifer Reynolds, founder of StateoftheART. 

About the Award
StateoftheART launched the inaugural StateoftheART Gallery Award in February 2018, to unearth undiscovered talent by artists from around South Africa and provide a platform for artists to gain industry recognition and boost their career. Five respected people involved in the art industry have selected the shortlist of 10 finalists whose work shows originality, a strong signature in a South African context, and technical skill.

About StateoftheART
Established in 2010, StateoftheART is a boutique gallery specialising in affordable contemporary art by early and mid career South African artists. The gallery offers an online ‘click-to-buy' service for collectors unable to visit in person.

For further media information/interview opportunities please contact
Jennifer Reynolds on 072 4709272 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Andrea Stallbom on 061 129 1899 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

StateoftheART launched its inaugural art award in February this year. The regional competition sets out to unearth the most exciting undiscovered contemporary artists from across South Africa and offers entrants the chance to win a R10,000 cash prize and a solo exhibition with the gallery in Cape Town in 2019.

We are delighted to announce the Award jury of five respected people from the visual arts industry who will be selecting the overall winner; an artist with a unique 'signature' within a South African context; an artist possessing creative excellence, original ideas and technical skill above all else.

The StateoftheART Gallery Award jury are:

Mandy Conidaris, a co-founder and the sole director of outoftheCUBE, an online visual arts platform established in 2013 to offer an alternative and credible exhibiting space for artists and printmaking studios. Mandy worked for five years in the Visual Arts Department at UNISA (Pretoria), and her experiences there led directly to the formation of outoftheCUBE. Her specific area of interest lies in South African prints, and she has 25 years of experience as an independent art consultant specialising in fine art print.

Masixole Ncevu, currently living and working in both Johannesburg and Cape Town. Ncevu completed an advanced course in photography at Vega and was awarded the Vega School of Brand Leadership Advanced Photography Award in 2015. His images of people and scenes from everyday life are deeply evocative and resound with multiple nuanced readings. Over the years, photography has played a fundamental role in shifting and reforming the way in which Masixole sees the world around him. His penchant for shooting street scenes and people has led to many unexpected encounters and experiences with strangers, which has allowed him to recognize his own prejudices and move beyond these. Ncevu has already gained international attention and having recently returned from a residency in Austria, is shortlisted for the August Sander Prize in Germany.

“Though still young and finding his place in South African photography, Ncevu is an important “voice”, and a good example of how problematic street and ethnographic photographers can approach documenting people’s lives: with honesty and integrity” – Russell Grant for Mail & Guardian

Mirjam Asmal, who has been the director of the AVA Gallery since 2015. Originally from the Netherlands, Mirjam completed a Bachelors degree in International Management before obtaining her Masters in the History of Art, specialising in Indian contemporary art, from the University of Amsterdam. She has worked for numerous art galleries in Europe including the Royal Hibernian Academy Gallagher Gallery in Dublin, Ireland and the Foundation for Indian Artists in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. On arrival in South Africa Mirjam joined the Association for Visual Arts in Cape Town as Gallery Custodian. In 1997 she obtained a mandate from the Swiss Arts Council, Pro Helvetia, to set up and run Pro Helvetia Liaison Office South Africa, promoting exchange between Switzerland and Southern Africa in all disciplines of art. In the function of Head of Pro Helvetia Liaison Office South Africa, Mirjam initiated or facilitated around 500 arts exchange projects in the period 1998-2007. Between 2006 and 2009 she held the post of Managing Director of CAPE Africa Platform, producing large-scale biennale exhibitions in Cape Town, debating platforms in the Southern African region, and a Young Curators Programme and Arts Awareness Programme. From 2010-2013 she was the Programme Manager Arts, Culture & Heritage at !Khwa ttu San Centre.

Carol Hodes, who has been collecting art since 1977 - her first purchase was an Amos Langdown painting. She describes herself not as a collector but rather an art lover and self-confessed "art-o-holic". Hanging or placing art is Carol's form of creativity and in 2014 she was invited to curate the group exhibition 'From The Heart' at the Christopher Moller gallery. Carol's art aquisitions are instinctual and diverse - and not limited to South Africa as she owns many works by artists living working in the USA, Hungary, France, Belgium, Ukraine, Spain and more.

StateoftheART is the brainchild of Jennifer Reynolds. Before founding the gallery, Jennifer's career spanned the financial markets and technology sectors, which included 18 years with news and information vendor Reuters in both South Africa and Europe.  Ready for a new challenge outside of the financial markets, she relocated to Cape Town to pursue her passion for art, launching StateoftheART online in 2010, and opening a physical gallery in the city centre in March 2013.

About
The StateoftheART Gallery Award is dedicated to supporting artists resident in South Africa, giving them an opportunity to develop their creative ideas and contributing to their personal and professional growth. It is an opportunity for the artists to exhibit their work in a prestigious and highly visible space in the heart of Cape Town, and to raise their profile.

Unlike other competitions there is no participation fee, and entries will be assessed on a variety of criteria. Our aim is to find artists with a unique 'signature' within a South African context; to showcase artists whose work shows significant potential, who have interesting ideas, a relevant message and who demonstrate skillful execution.

This regional competition sets out to unearth the most exciting undiscovered contemporary artists from across South Africa and offers entrants a chance to win a R10,000 cash prize and a solo exhibition with the gallery in Cape Town in 2019.

Entries to the Award, which may include paintings, drawings, sculpture, photography and prints, are invited from artists living and working South Africa, and is open until midnight on the 15 July 2018. Participants must submit 4 signature works and be aged 18 or over to qualify. Entries must be submitted digitally using the StateoftheART Gallery Award online submission form.

For more information

Visit the StateoftheART film channel https://youtu.be/XbG-RxEwjIU

StateoftheART Gallery: https://www.stateoftheart-gallery.com/

2018 marks ten years since the University of Johannesburg’s (UJ) Department of Jewellery Design and Manufacture (in the Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture), embarked on a new mission – to develop self-starting designers with a competitive advantage in the challenges of the 4th Industrial Revolution.

In that time, the programme has evolved and blossomed, through a focus on the production of original work, into one of the most advanced jewellery design programmes in the country.In collaboration with the UJ Art Gallery and UJ Arts & Culture, the University of Johannesburg’s Jewellery Department brings you our most innovative exhibition yet: The 300 Art Ornaments Exhibition. This is a showcase of all levels of student work, where the viewer has the unique experience of being able to contribute to the experiential learning of each student, while buying original and interesting jewellery pieces at affordable prices in all manner of different materials, and aesthetics. Three of the department’s well-respected alumni, Maryse Castel (of MYCreations), Reon Davids (designing for Zurie Designer Jewellery), and Cailin Ernst (of Cailin Ernst Handmade Designer Jewellery), will be adding their current work to the exhibition, allowing the viewer to see first-hand the progression of their unique design styles.

Joining this endeavour is the Thuthuka Jewellery Project, spearheaded by Carola Ross. Thuthuka introduces a fun and fresh opportunity for new and different designs from Further Education and Training (FET) colleges and skills development incubators around the country.

The exhibition will open at the UJ Art Gallery on the 16 May 2018 at 17:30 for 18:00, with an all-black and no jewellery dress code, and will then run until 30 May 2018, with opportunities for walkabouts with the curators.

For more information, please feel free to call the UJ Department of Jewellery Design and Manufacture on 011 559 1125 or the UJ Art Gallery on 011 559 2099/2556.

About UJ Arts & Culture

UJ Arts & Culture, a division of the Faculty of Art, Design & Architecture (FADA), produces and presents world-class student and professional arts programmes aligned to the UJ vision of an international university of choice, anchored in Africa, dynamically shaping the future. A robust range of arts platforms are offered on all four UJ campuses for students, staff, alumni and the general public to experience and engage with emerging and established Pan-African and international artists drawn from the full spectrum of the arts.

In addition to UJ Arts & Culture, FADA (www.uj.ac.za/fada) offers programmes in eight creative disciplines, in Art, Design and Architecture, as well as playing home to the NRF SARChI Chair in South African Art & Visual Culture, and the Visual Identities in Art & Design Research Centre. The Faculty has a strong focus on sustainability and relevance, and engages actively with the dynamism, creativity and diversity of Johannesburg in imagining new approaches to art and design education.