Event information
Norval Foundation presents the first solo exhibition any museum has dedicated to painter Kate Gottgens. Curated by Carmen Joubert and hung in Gallery 1, it brings together sixteen works, both recent and from across the past decade.
Born in Durban, Gottgens graduated from the Michaelis School of Fine Art in 1987. In 2014 she was the only South African named in Thames & Hudson's 100 Painters of Tomorrow, and in 2019 she received the Ampersand Fellowship Award, which led to a residency in New York.
Working mostly in oil on canvas, she draws on found imagery, personal photographs and fragments of daily life. The results resemble unstable dreams or a fading photograph, leaving viewers to fill in the gaps rather than offering a clear answer. The selection includes 2026's Ferrying Souls and 2015's Milk Teeth, alongside Hexing the Air, Sensing the Trap and Her Fine Blades.
Her work has been shown in Belgium, New York and London, and the exhibition can be seen alongside Norval's other current shows and the Sculpture Garden. Free parking is available on site for the first thirty minutes.