DAVE ROBERTSON
Born in Zimbabwe and based in Cape Town, Dave Robertson is a self-taught abstract painter, photographer and printmaker, who spent the early part of his artistic journey working in the film industry as an art director. In between film projects, he would follow his passion for photography, which was primarily a form of social commentary often concerned with documenting marginalised lifestyles. Full Bio below.
DAVE ROBERTSON
Born in Zimbabwe and based in Cape Town, Dave Robertson is a self-taught abstract painter, photographer and printmaker, who spent the early part of his artistic journey working in the film industry as an art director. In between film projects, he would follow his passion for photography, which was primarily a form of social commentary often concerned with documenting marginalised lifestyles. Full Bio below.
SALT RIVER PRINTS
PAINTINGS
EASTSIDE PRINT SERIES
SUBTRACTION PRINT SERIES
PAINTINGS
PAINTINGS
EASTSIDE PRINT SERIES
Dave Robertson Sub Heading
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GROUP EXHIBITIONS – PAINTINGS & PRINTS
2021 “Plane”, Deepest Darkest gallery, Cape Town.
2021 “Up to the mark”, AITY gallery, Franschoek.
2021 “Abstrakt”, Nel Gallery, Cape Town.
2021 “All you need is ” AITY gallery, Franschoek.
2021 “Summer Salon”, Nel Gallery, Cape Town.
2020 Artist Solidarity Assistance Project, Berman Contemporary, Johannesburg.
2020 “Edition 2020”, Alliance Francaise du Cap, Cape Town.
2019 “Today”, Aity Gallery, Franschhoek, Western Cape.
2019 “Turbine Art Fair”, represented by Candice Berman Gallery, Johannesburg.
2018 “Ancillary Axes”, Candice Berman Gallery, Johannesburg.
2018 Twentieth Anniversary show, Artvark gallery, Cape Town.
2018 “Vivid and Vibrant”, Gallery One11, Cape Town.
2017 Inaugural exhibition, Berman Contemporary, Johannesburg.
2017 “Michaelis Silent Auction”, Smith gallery, Cape Town.
2017 “Drought”, Artvark gallery, Kalk bay, Cape Town.
2017 “Cape Town Salon”, AVA Gallery, Cape Town.
2016 “Ephemeral Pleasures”, Moor Gallery, Franschoek.
2016 “Muse Montage”, Eclectica Modern Gallery, Cape Town.
2016 “Materialisation”, Art in the yard gallery, Franschoek.
2016 “A tribute to Rose Korber”, AVA Gallery, Cape Town.
2014 “Great Stock”, AVA Gallery, Cape Town.
2013 “Artreach“, AVA Gallery, Cape Town.
2013 “Proverbs”, Church St. Gallery, Cape Town.
Group Exhibitions Photography :
2019 “Turbine Art Fair”, represented by Candice Berman Gallery, Johannesburg.
2019 “Unspoken Unsaid”, Kalk Bay Modern, Cape Town.
2016 “Broken Chords”, Candice Berman Gallery, Johannesburg.
2016 “Muse Montage”, Eclectica Modern Gallery, Cape Town.
2015 “Twenty: Art in the time of democracy”, University of Johannesburg.
2015 “Twenty: Art in the time of democracy”, Pretoria Art Museum.
2014 Turbine Art Fair, represented by Res gallery, Johannesburg
2014 “20 Years of Democracy”, Appalachian State University, North Carolina, USA.
2014 “Urban Wonderland”, Kalk Bay Modern, Cape Town.
2010 ”Point of Focus”, pinhole photography, Kalk Bay Modern, Cape Town.
2010 ”Bonani Africa Festival”, Cape Castle, Cape Town.
2010 “Spier Contemporary Awards 2010”, Cape Town.
2009 “Spirit of Ubuntu”, Exposure Gallery, Cape Town.
2007 “CT 24”, Focus Contemporary Gallery,Cape Town.
2004 “PhotoLA 2004”, The Perfect Exposure Gallery, Los Angeles, USA.
2002 Exhibition of lithographs: Kim Sacks Gallery, Johannesburg.
2001 “Absolut Cape Town”, Pinnacle Building, Cape Town.
2001 “Collaborative Art”, The Upstairs Gallery, Cape Town.
2000 “Collaboration”, Bell-Roberts Gallery, Cape Town.
Solo Exhibitions Photography :
2015 “Partially Nomad”, THAT ART FAIR, Cape Town.
2014 “Partially Nomad”, Res Gallery, Johannesburg.
2012 “Plakkerskamp 2003 – 2012”, book launch at Chateau de Wiltz, Luxembourg.
2013 “Plakkerskamp 2003 – 2012″, Salle Culturelle Kaundorf, Luxembourg, Europe.
2008 “Rain”, Focus Contemporary Gallery, Cape Town.
2007 “Abstract Egypt”, Focus Contemporary Gallery, Cape Town.
2005 “Remember”, Irma Stern Museum, Cape Town.
2004 “De Dependance”, Smelik & Stokking, Den Haag, Netherlands.
2000 “Metaphysical Photography”, The Upstairs Gallery, Cape Town.
1999 “Colour Spirit”, hand-painted photographs, Jazz Radio, Berlin, Germany.
1998 “Colour Spirit”, hand-painted photographs, ARTCO, Leipzig, Germany.
1998 “Colour Spirit”, hand-painted photographs, Marzahn Library, Berlin, Germany.
1998 “Colour Spirit”, hand-painted photographs, Jojo Centre, Berlin, Germany.
1996 Exhibition of life on the streets of Luanda, Angola for Kandengues Unidos, held in Paris, Angola, Mozambique. Initiated by CIES and the E.U.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS AND PAINTINGS:
2011 “concrete tails and urban trails”, Worldart, Cape Town.
AWARDS
His photographic book entitled, Plakkerskamp, Bonnievale South Africa 2003-2012, won a prize at the Lëtzebuerger Buchpräis 2013, a national book award ceremony, in Luxembourg.
Shortlisted for the Rise Art Prize 2018, for his “Subtraction print series”.
Spier Contemporary 2010 award for “Paper Trails”, a documentary photographic project focusing on informal recyclers in Newtown, Johannesburg.
Robertson’s artworks have been acquired by a variety of international collectors from Sweden, the USA, Tasmania, and the UK. Local collectors include the South African Foundation for Contemporary Art (SAACA), Nandos and AFDA.
PUBLICATIONS
2019 “Accentuated fluidity” print series catalogue by Berman Contemporary.
2018 Article in Habitat Magazine, by Candice Berman Gallery, highlighting the Transition print series.
2015 Article in Future Cape Town, an online magazine featuring a photo essay highlighting the Transition series and travels in African cities.
2012 Publication of his first photographic book Plakkerskamp, Bonnievale South Africa 2003-2012. The book documents a marginalized community living on a municipal refuse dump in the Western Cape, over a nine-year period.
2011 Article in Elle Decor magazine (March/April edition), about his abstract paintings, created using textured industrial paints.
2010 Spier Contemporary 2010 awards book.
2010 Bonani Africa documentary exhibition catalogue.
2003 Hand-painted photograph used as the cover image for Wayne State University press spring/summer catalogue.
2002 Article in July edition of Elle magazine, about his hand-painted photographs showing at Kim Sacks Gallery, Johannesburg.
1998 “Colour Spirit” exhibition print catalogue for ARTCO, Germany.
1999 “Collaboration”, exhibition catalogue, Bell-Roberts Gallery, Cape Town.
1996 Book of interviews and photographs of life on the streets of Luanda, Angola for Kandengues Unidos. Exhibition and book launch held in Paris, Angola, and Mozambique.
COMMISSIONS
1996 Commissioned by the Red Cross Society to create a calendar depicting life in South Africa.
1996 Commissioned by the European Union and CIES (Rome), to photograph life on the streets of Luanda, Angola, for a book project.
After winning a national award at Spier Contemporary 2010, for ‘Paper Trails’, a photographic project documenting urban recyclers in Johannesburg, he took a break from both photography and the film industry to focus on painting. His first solo exhibition of abstract paintings was with World Art Gallery, Cape Town in 2011.
Since then Robertson’s artworks have been acquired by a variety of international collectors from Sweden, the USA, Australia and the UK. Local collectors include the South African Foundation for Contemporary Art (SAACA), AFDA and Spier Arts Trust.
“My creative process is about manipulating information and impulses that present themselves to me, into some kind of order through which a narrative can be suggested. I have an intuitive approach to painting, relying on my ability to react to whatever marks, gestures or brush strokes I made previously. I paint, then react to what is in front of me, attempting to resolve the visual situation I have placed myself in.
Working in this way, often on several artworks simultaneously and operating with varying degrees of confidence and clumsiness, I attempt to discover what the painting is trying to say to me. Presence and energy are important aspects in this process – converting something inert into something that can be responded to emotionally. My intention is for the completed paintings to influence the viewer in the same way the artworks influenced me; so that the viewer becomes more aware of their own individuality, appreciating their own uniqueness.”
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GROUP EXHIBITIONS – PAINTINGS & PRINTS
2021 “Plane”, Deepest Darkest gallery, Cape Town.
2021 “Up to the mark”, AITY gallery, Franschoek.
2021 “Abstrakt”, Nel Gallery, Cape Town.
2021 “All you need is ” AITY gallery, Franschoek.
2021 “Summer Salon”, Nel Gallery, Cape Town.
2020 Artist Solidarity Assistance Project, Berman Contemporary, Johannesburg.
2020 “Edition 2020”, Alliance Francaise du Cap, Cape Town.
2019 “Today”, Aity Gallery, Franschhoek, Western Cape.
2019 “Turbine Art Fair”, represented by Candice Berman Gallery, Johannesburg.
2018 “Ancillary Axes”, Candice Berman Gallery, Johannesburg.
2018 Twentieth Anniversary show, Artvark gallery, Cape Town.
2018 “Vivid and Vibrant”, Gallery One11, Cape Town.
2017 Inaugural exhibition, Berman Contemporary, Johannesburg.
2017 “Michaelis Silent Auction”, Smith gallery, Cape Town.
2017 “Drought”, Artvark gallery, Kalk bay, Cape Town.
2017 “Cape Town Salon”, AVA Gallery, Cape Town.
2016 “Ephemeral Pleasures”, Moor Gallery, Franschoek.
2016 “Muse Montage”, Eclectica Modern Gallery, Cape Town.
2016 “Materialisation”, Art in the yard gallery, Franschoek.
2016 “A tribute to Rose Korber”, AVA Gallery, Cape Town.
2014 “Great Stock”, AVA Gallery, Cape Town.
2013 “Artreach“, AVA Gallery, Cape Town.
2013 “Proverbs”, Church St. Gallery, Cape Town.
Group Exhibitions Photography :
2019 “Turbine Art Fair”, represented by Candice Berman Gallery, Johannesburg.
2019 “Unspoken Unsaid”, Kalk Bay Modern, Cape Town.
2016 “Broken Chords”, Candice Berman Gallery, Johannesburg.
2016 “Muse Montage”, Eclectica Modern Gallery, Cape Town.
2015 “Twenty: Art in the time of democracy”, University of Johannesburg.
2015 “Twenty: Art in the time of democracy”, Pretoria Art Museum.
2014 Turbine Art Fair, represented by Res gallery, Johannesburg
2014 “20 Years of Democracy”, Appalachian State University, North Carolina, USA.
2014 “Urban Wonderland”, Kalk Bay Modern, Cape Town.
2010 ”Point of Focus”, pinhole photography, Kalk Bay Modern, Cape Town.
2010 ”Bonani Africa Festival”, Cape Castle, Cape Town.
2010 “Spier Contemporary Awards 2010”, Cape Town.
2009 “Spirit of Ubuntu”, Exposure Gallery, Cape Town.
2007 “CT 24”, Focus Contemporary Gallery,Cape Town.
2004 “PhotoLA 2004”, The Perfect Exposure Gallery, Los Angeles, USA.
2002 Exhibition of lithographs: Kim Sacks Gallery, Johannesburg.
2001 “Absolut Cape Town”, Pinnacle Building, Cape Town.
2001 “Collaborative Art”, The Upstairs Gallery, Cape Town.
2000 “Collaboration”, Bell-Roberts Gallery, Cape Town.
Solo Exhibitions Photography :
2015 “Partially Nomad”, THAT ART FAIR, Cape Town.
2014 “Partially Nomad”, Res Gallery, Johannesburg.
2012 “Plakkerskamp 2003 – 2012”, book launch at Chateau de Wiltz, Luxembourg.
2013 “Plakkerskamp 2003 – 2012″, Salle Culturelle Kaundorf, Luxembourg, Europe.
2008 “Rain”, Focus Contemporary Gallery, Cape Town.
2007 “Abstract Egypt”, Focus Contemporary Gallery, Cape Town.
2005 “Remember”, Irma Stern Museum, Cape Town.
2004 “De Dependance”, Smelik & Stokking, Den Haag, Netherlands.
2000 “Metaphysical Photography”, The Upstairs Gallery, Cape Town.
1999 “Colour Spirit”, hand-painted photographs, Jazz Radio, Berlin, Germany.
1998 “Colour Spirit”, hand-painted photographs, ARTCO, Leipzig, Germany.
1998 “Colour Spirit”, hand-painted photographs, Marzahn Library, Berlin, Germany.
1998 “Colour Spirit”, hand-painted photographs, Jojo Centre, Berlin, Germany.
1996 Exhibition of life on the streets of Luanda, Angola for Kandengues Unidos, held in Paris, Angola, Mozambique. Initiated by CIES and the E.U.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS AND PAINTINGS:
2011 “concrete tails and urban trails”, Worldart, Cape Town.
AWARDS
His photographic book entitled, Plakkerskamp, Bonnievale South Africa 2003-2012, won a prize at the Lëtzebuerger Buchpräis 2013, a national book award ceremony, in Luxembourg.
Shortlisted for the Rise Art Prize 2018, for his “Subtraction print series”.
Spier Contemporary 2010 award for “Paper Trails”, a documentary photographic project focusing on informal recyclers in Newtown, Johannesburg.
Robertson’s artworks have been acquired by a variety of international collectors from Sweden, the USA, Tasmania, and the UK. Local collectors include the South African Foundation for Contemporary Art (SAACA), Nandos and AFDA.
PUBLICATIONS
2019 “Accentuated fluidity” print series catalogue by Berman Contemporary.
2018 Article in Habitat Magazine, by Candice Berman Gallery, highlighting the Transition print series.
2015 Article in Future Cape Town, an online magazine featuring a photo essay highlighting the Transition series and travels in African cities.
2012 Publication of his first photographic book Plakkerskamp, Bonnievale South Africa 2003-2012. The book documents a marginalized community living on a municipal refuse dump in the Western Cape, over a nine-year period.
2011 Article in Elle Decor magazine (March/April edition), about his abstract paintings, created using textured industrial paints.
2010 Spier Contemporary 2010 awards book.
2010 Bonani Africa documentary exhibition catalogue.
2003 Hand-painted photograph used as the cover image for Wayne State University press spring/summer catalogue.
2002 Article in July edition of Elle magazine, about his hand-painted photographs showing at Kim Sacks Gallery, Johannesburg.
1998 “Colour Spirit” exhibition print catalogue for ARTCO, Germany.
1999 “Collaboration”, exhibition catalogue, Bell-Roberts Gallery, Cape Town.
1996 Book of interviews and photographs of life on the streets of Luanda, Angola for Kandengues Unidos. Exhibition and book launch held in Paris, Angola, and Mozambique.
COMMISSIONS
1996 Commissioned by the Red Cross Society to create a calendar depicting life in South Africa.
1996 Commissioned by the European Union and CIES (Rome), to photograph life on the streets of Luanda, Angola, for a book project.
After winning a national award at Spier Contemporary 2010, for ‘Paper Trails’, a photographic project documenting urban recyclers in Johannesburg, he took a break from both photography and the film industry to focus on painting. His first solo exhibition of abstract paintings was with World Art Gallery, Cape Town in 2011.
Since then Robertson’s artworks have been acquired by a variety of international collectors from Sweden, the USA, Australia and the UK. Local collectors include the South African Foundation for Contemporary Art (SAACA), AFDA and Spier Arts Trust.
“My creative process is about manipulating information and impulses that present themselves to me, into some kind of order through which a narrative can be suggested. I have an intuitive approach to painting, relying on my ability to react to whatever marks, gestures or brush strokes I made previously. I paint, then react to what is in front of me, attempting to resolve the visual situation I have placed myself in.
Working in this way, often on several artworks simultaneously and operating with varying degrees of confidence and clumsiness, I attempt to discover what the painting is trying to say to me. Presence and energy are important aspects in this process – converting something inert into something that can be responded to emotionally. My intention is for the completed paintings to influence the viewer in the same way the artworks influenced me; so that the viewer becomes more aware of their own individuality, appreciating their own uniqueness.”