Animal Instincts,
(Mixed media 110,9 x 178 cm)

Therapist, 1989
(Acrylic and oil on canvas, wood and metal 154,4 x 64,8 x 54,8 cm)

Norman Catherine

"My chief reason for putting one object next to another is maybe because it should not be there" - Norman Catherine, c1980.

Born: 1949, East London, South Africa.

A highly versatile artist who has worked in a variety of media. Was well-known in the 1970s for his crisp, clinical, air-brushed and surrealist images. More recent works - mainly brightly painted metal cut-outs and assemblages - are cruder, more direct and playful. Has been preoccupied with "the animal in man", and blames men for "all the trouble in the world". Other themes include the South African socio-political situation, sickness and death, and the grotesque world of urban life or the urban jungle. In general, makes searing observations on the human condition in vibrant painterly statements filled with intense energy and urgency. Work is imbued with a zany sense of humour that amuses and shocks at the same time.

Training:

1967-1968: East London Technical College Art School.

Profile:

Moved from East London to Johannesburg in 1969 to work as a commercial artist and has been a full-time artist since 1972. Was afflicted by many diseases and suffered numerous accidents in his childhood which influenced his work, as the idea of injury and death often appear. Began his collaboration with Walter Battiss in 1973 on the Fook Island project - an imaginary territory of the mind with it's own culture and passports. Has worked in, and was influenced by, New York and still visits this city regularly. Lives and works in Hartebeespoort, Gauteng.

Solo Exhibitions:

1969: Herbert Evans Gallery, Johannesburg.

1970: Motif Gallery, East London.

1971: Natal Society of Arts Gallery, Durban.

1972: Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg.

1973: Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg.

1974: Goodman-Wolman Gallery, Cape Town.

1976: Gallery 21, Johannesburg.

1978: Kunsthandel Siau, Amsterdam, Holland.

      Gallery 21, Johannesburg.

1979: Rand Afrikaans University, Johannesburg (Retrospective).

1980: Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg.

1982: Gowlett Gallery, Cape Town.

1984: South West African Association of Arts, Windhoek.

1985: Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg (A Thousand Observations).

1986: Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg (The King of Fook Island).

      South African Association of Arts, Pretoria.

      Area X Gallery, New York, USA.

      Gallery 21, Johannesburg. 

1991: Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg (Recent Works). 

1994: Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg.



Group Exhibitions:

1969: Arts South Africa Today, Durban.

1971: Arts South Africa Today, Durban. 

1972: Galleria d'Arte L'orizzonte, Senigallia, Italy.

1973: Arts South African Today, Durban.

      Galerie Daniel Gervis, Paris, France.

1975: Art 6'75, Basel, Switzerland.

      Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg (South African Sculpture).

1976: Gertrude Posel Gallery, Johannesburg.

      Art 7'76, Basel, Switzerland.

1979: National Museum, Bloemfontein.

      University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.

1980: Johannesburg Art Gallery.

1981: Republic Festival Exhibition, Durban.

1982: University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.

      Ann Bryant Art Gallery, East London.

      University of Stellenbosch.

      Paris American Academy, France.

1983-1984: South African Contemporary Realism (Touring Museum

      Exhibition).

1984: Gallery 150, Durban (with Cecil Skotnes, Henry Moore, Joan

      Mirą and Victor Vasarely and others).

      Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg (with Eugene Jardin).

1984-1985: Africana Museum in Progress, Johannesburg and the

      former West Germany (Tributaries).

1985: South African National Gallery, Cape Town and other major

      art museums in South Africa (Cape Town Triennial).

      Soker Kaseman Gallery, San Francisco, USA.

      Gallery 21, Johannesburg (PELMAMA Permanent Art Collection).

1987: Johannesburg Art Gallery.

      Art 18'87, Basel, Switzerland.

      Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg and Basel Art Fair, 

      Switzerland (with Phatuma Seoka).

1990-1992: Museum of Modern Art, Oxford and other venues in

      England; South African National Gallery, Cape Town (Art

      from South Africa).

1992: South African Association of Arts, Pretoria (The 1990 Art

      Ambassadors).

      Galerie de Lyons, Cape Town (Autumn Salon).

      Primart Gallery, Cape Town (Miniature Tapestries).

      Pretoria Art Museum (New Acquisitions).

  

Awards:

1981: first prize, graphic section, Republic Festival Exhibition.



Collections:

South African National Gallery, Cape Town; Johannesburg Art Gallery; Boksburg

Town Council Collection; Durban Art Gallery; PELMAMA Art Collection,

Johannesburg; Pretoria Art Museum; Walter Battiss Museum, Somerset East, Cape;

University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg; University of South Africa, Pretoria;

University of Stellenbosch; Rand Afrikaans University, Johannesburg; University

of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg; Chase Manhattan Bank, New York, USA; Volkskas

Bank, Pretoria; Premier Milling Corp., Johannesburg; Mobil Art Collection, South

Africa.

Copyright © 2001   iziko museums of cape town