For 25 years, David Krut has been collaborating with artists in Johannesburg and introducing them to an audience in New York. To celebrate this legacy, we’re excited to showcase several extraordinary South African artists who have worked in the same workshop in Johannesburg as William Kentridge.
Over the years, we’ve nurtured strong relationships with renowned artists like Kentridge, as well as Diane Victor and Deborah Bell. While we continue to work with these established names, we’re equally committed to nurturing emerging South African talent. Amé Bell, Director at David Krut Projects in Johannesburg, is dedicated to discovering new artists with fresh visions and ideas, who often need even stronger support to gain recognition beyond the African continent.
To that aim, we’re excited to introduce a number of new names in New York as part of what we hope will be an ongoing initiative: “SOUTH AFRICAN ARTISTS IN NEW YORK.” We will be showcasing several extraordinary artists and artworks this fall, with more to come to our gallery and the Brooklyn Fine Art Print Fair in Spring 2025.
A selection of works by each artist will be available to view in NYC in late September 2024. For more information or to schedule a viewing, please email info@davidkrut.com. David Krut Projects, New York is located at 526 West 26th Street, Suite 816, New York, NY 10001. Hours: Tuesday – Saturday between 11am – 6pm.
Boemo Diale
Diale’s art explores liminal spaces, drawing from her upbringing between rural and urban South Africa. Her work is enriched by African symbolism and ritualistic practices, which she interprets through a contemporary lens.
Mental health and spirituality play significant roles in Diale’s art, inspired by her family history and her mother’s role as a spiritual healer. These themes manifest in bold colors and playful interpretations of traditional objects, particularly the recurring motif of clay pots or vessels. Diale often features naked figures rendered in oil pastel or crayon, bringing a childlike playfulness to complex themes of identity and self-discovery.
Recent developments in Diale’s work explore the concept of “home” as both a physical and emotional state, delving into the interplay of race, culture, and identity in post-apartheid South Africa. Her collaboration with David Krut Workshop in 2022 led to her first exhibition with David Krut Projects, Johannesburg, titled “Can I Play?” in February 2023. Diale’s recent accolades include winning the prestigious Tomorrows/Today prize at the Investec Cape Town Art Fair 2024.
“I think that my story is not particularly unique. It’s quite nuanced and I think there’s a lot of artists and creatives speaking on similar things, so I really want to connect with people.”
Deborah Bell
Bell (born 1957) is a leading painter, sculptor and printmaker in South Africa. While her early work was more political, her work across different media she is more recently concerned with worlds in between: the realm between “mortality and immortality, matter and spirit, presence and absence, the quotidian and the mythic, the grounded and transcendent.”
Bell has noted, of her practice: “The idea of an artist as a magician delights me. It is about alchemy and the turning of base material into gold.” Bell’s work is fundamentally informed by a personal search for the ‘Self’ and she often draws on spiritual imagery from a wide range of sources. Multi-layered references and connection to ancient sources and memories is linked to her spiritual beliefs and how she defines herself as an artist in Africa. This continuity of form and content within Bell’s oeuvre allows the possible meanings within her work to reach beyond the personal search of the artist herself.
She is the winner of multiple awards and her works lie in numerous collections, including the Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg; Museum of Modern Art, New York; National Gallery of Art and Smithsonian Institute, both Washington, D.C..
Heidi Fourie
Grasp, 2024
Oil on board
60 x 70 cm
$ 2 000 Excl. VAT
Heidi Fourie’s preferred medium is painting, through which she studies what happens when figurative representation and the intrinsic qualities of paint are pursued simultaneously. Her subject matter is simple – everyday scenes of figures and familiar objects – the simplicity of which frees her to practice and constantly refine her balancing act between restraint and excess, between gestural and polished mark-making.
Heidi Fourie was born in Pretoria, where she currently lives and works. She completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts, specialising in painting, in 2012 at the University of Pretoria, for which she received the Bettie Cilliers Barnard Bursary for Fine Arts.
Her first solo exhibition, Islands, was produced under the mentorship of Frikkie Eksteen and presented in 2015 at Lizamore & Associates Gallery in Johannesburg. Since then she has had two other large solo exhibitions in Cape Town and Pretoria, and participated in various group exhibitions countrywide.
Maaike Bakker
Nothing is independent of its circumstances, 2023
Oil monotype and handwork
100 x 75 cm
$ 1 000 Excl. VAT
Maaike Bakker (b. 1986, Pretoria) is a visual artist and illustrator working with various drawing, sculpture and installation-based mediums as well as digitally with regards to her illustration-based work. She obtained a degree in Visual Arts (2009) and her MA in Fine Art (2013) from the University of Johannesburg. She currently lives and works in Johannesburg.
Bakker’s work can be described as light and eclectic, and can be both concept-driven or light-hearted and rough. Bakker’s work predominantly explores themes of notation and ephemerality. Her practice also investigates limitations imposed by systems or structures and aims to determine at what point such may become excess and irrelevant, ultimately exploring futility. Bakker’s unique style is formed through the creation of line-based patterns, combined with soft, muted, pleasant colours, which together create a sense of richness.
Maja Maljević
Maljević’s work is a visual exploration of memory and taste, influenced by early German Expressionists and contemporary artists like Philip Guston and Jean-Michel Basquiat. Her art combines strong formal elements with deep investigations into color, form, and movement.
Maljević’s latest body of work, created in collaboration with DKW printers, showcases her signature bold palette, intricate patterns, and innovative use of collage. Drawing inspiration from diverse sources, including David Hockney’s stage set drawings and Hendrick Gerritsz’s 1632 Dutch Master painting, her new monoprints demonstrate a masterful blend of printmaking techniques and vibrant creativity.
“A portrait can rise out of a still life, a still life can descend into a landscape, a finger is a toe and two legs, slightly parted, might be a whisper. To capture and describe my creative process is like putting music into words – something essential gets lost in translation. How can you record the emotional volume present in the art of listening?”
The artist has held solo exhibitions at David Krut Projects in both Johannesburg and New York, featuring works on paper and paintings in shows such as “Based on a True Story” (2022) and “Winter Files” (2019).
Mary Sibande
Leisurely reading: Sophie with her newspaper, 2024
Woodcut & Monotype
Edition of 20
105 x 76.5 cm
$ 4 000 Excl. VAT
Mary Sibande, born in 1982 in Johannesburg, has gained worldwide recognition for her striking sculptural installations, photographs, and more recently, prints. Her practice primarily revolves around the creation of elaborate visual narratives that explore themes of identity, race, gender, and labor in post-apartheid South Africa. As an artist who draws inspiration from her country’s rich history, it was clear why she was chosen to represent South Africa at the Venice Biennale in 2011.
Sibande’s work is characterized by her use of large-scale figurative sculptures and installations, often featuring her alter-ego, Sophie. These powerful pieces have been exhibited in prestigious venues worldwide, including the Venice Biennale and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art.
In a fascinating evolution of her practice, Sibande has been investigating the medium of printmaking. Her collaboration with David Krut Projects has been instrumental in this exploration, allowing her to translate her complex visual language into the realm of prints. Our gallery is honored to join this journey, presenting a unique woodcut print that captures the essence of Sibande’s artistry.
“We’d been brought up with the attitude that things were the way they were and we should just deal with it. If our mothers questioned things, they were thrown in jail. But suddenly we were able to question things. Part of what I’m doing is celebrating questioning.”
At the center of Sibande’s artistic universe is Sophie, a striking alter-ego that embodies the complex narratives of generations of Black women. Sophie is deeply rooted in Sibande’s family history, inspired by the experiences of her mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. Through Sophie, Sibande explores the dreams, aspirations, and resilience of Black women who have long been marginalized.
Sibande’s Sophie is a powerful embodiment of what W.E.B. Du Bois described in his seminal work “The Souls of Black Folk” as the “domesticated body” – a figure that serves as both a warning and a context for personal and political battles. Sophie, adorned in a hybrid uniform that melds workers’ overalls with Victorian-era dresses, transcends the limitations imposed by colonial and apartheid ideologies.
Our collaborative print captures Sophie in her iconic blue dress, engrossed in a newspaper featuring a Chanel perfume advertisement. This powerful image encapsulates the tension between imposed societal roles and personal aspirations, inviting viewers to contemplate the complexities of identity and representation.
Sophie’s desires, as Sibande describes, are located in an “elsewhere space” or “dream space,” with her aspirations not aimed at becoming something other than what she is – a Black woman and a mother. Instead, Sophie’s closed eyes symbolize her attempt to concretize dreams that remain elusive in the material world.
This limited-edition woodcut print not only showcases Sibande’s masterful artistry but also offers collectors a unique opportunity to engage with one of contemporary art’s most compelling voices. Don’t miss this chance to own a piece that challenges perceptions, celebrates the power of reimagining oneself, and contributes to the ongoing dialogue about identity and representation in post-apartheid South Africa.
Nina Torr
Doldrum Drolleries 5, 2023
Hardground softground and liftground etching with top roll
Varied edition of 15
28.4 x 20.2 cm
$ 350 Excl. VAT
Time to Wait I, 2023
Hardground Softground and Liftground Etching with Handpainting and Digitally Printed Collage Framed in an Openable Display Case Frame
52.8 x 38 cm
$ 1 000 Excl. VAT
Time to Wait II, 2023
Hardground Softground and Liftground Etching with Handpainting and Digitally Printed Collage Framed in an Openable Display Case Frame
52.8 x 38 cm
$ 1 000 Excl. VAT
Nina Torr, born 1987, is an artist/illustrator based in Pretoria. After obtaining her BFA from Parsons School of Design, New York, in 2010, Torr returned to South Africa to further expand on her artistic practice. Torr completed a MFA at the University of Johannesburg in 2019. Torr frequently participates in various exhibitions and is a lecturer in illustration at the Open Window. Torr has to date had eight solo exhibitions, Wayfinding was her Masters exhibition that took place at David Krut Projects Johannesburg in 2020.
Torr’s work explores mental landscapes inhabited by characters pursuing a journey of sorts. Her images imply open-ended narratives that invite the viewer to participate and engage with them on a personal level.
Torr’s illustrations have been featured in local publications such as Essie Letterpress’ Artist’s Almanac, the Bat Butt Zine and iJusi. Besides working with DKW, she has also produced prints in collaboration with Black River Studio as part of the 50ty/50ty Prints range and lithographs with The Artist’s Press. Torr frequently exhibits at In Toto Gallery (JHB), 99 Loop (CT) and NO END Contemporary (JHB).
Phumulani Ntuli
Ntuli was born in 1986 in White City. In his youth he enjoyed playing music and in high school his interest in the creative fields later expanded into literature and visual arts. Ntuli went on to complete a BTech degree in Visual Arts at the University of Johannesburg.
The artist then was awarded a Masters in the Fine Arts – Arts Public Sphere from Ecole Cantonale D’Art du Valais (ECAV) in Sierre, Switzerland. Achieving Prix-excellence for his ongoing research project “Permutations of an event” which centred around notions of archives and surveillance.
“…to collage is to process information, through cutting, slicing, displacing, joining and concealing. It is a performative model of practice to counterfeit, in this gesture creating alternative forms of looking and meaning.”
Ntuli’s practice revolves around working with mixed media collages, sculpture, video installation and artistic research. Working between documentary and fiction, Ntuli’s practice deals with omissions within archives. As he explains: “The continued themes I have explored in my practice have been notions of black futurity, the archive and its tensions. I consistently delve within notions of collective autobiographies and their surrounding social political conditions.”
Ntuli was one of three selected artists to represent South Africa at La Biennale Arte in Venice in 2022 and continues to exhibit David Krut Projects in South Africa as well as various museums and art festivals internationally.
Our collaboration with Ntuli began in 2023, where the artist spent several weeks collaborating with Kim-Lee Loggenberg at the David Krut Workshop (DKW) to produce large, complex unique works combining painting and collage while using an old-fashioned printing press. He returned in 2024 to produce a second body of work, focusing the arrangement of digital material and coding or hand-cutting and painting to reframe data in the creation of a “pseudo-reality.”
Describing Ntuli’s work, Lukanyo Mbanga writes: “The brilliance of Phumulani Ntuli’s opus is that time and space are both central and yet suspended. The past finds its way in the present, and the present seems occultic enough to suggest a distant future. The ability to find temporal and spatial connection across the broad spectrum of history is essential in our complex society. South Africa is still straddling the effects of the colonial system whilst also trying to establish a new narrative.
We don’t want the struggles of the past to be our continued story and Ntuli’s works demonstrate that it doesn’t have to be. We can simply use the past to reimagine new narratives, to celebrate traditional emblems and give them a place in our contemporary reality.
In support of this notion, the incongruous patterns of different wrapping paper is jolting for just a moment until the absurd blend of colour and image begins to settle into a strange coherence. It’s like eyes trying to adjust in the dark until the obscure shapes and shadows make themselves familiar to you.
It’s difficult to pinpoint how these art works do that exactly. Is it the domestic patterns of the wrapping paper that we’re all vaguely familiar with? Is it the pastel tones of the colour palettes that are somehow both arbitrary and emblematic of a ‘home’ landscape?
Whatever it is, there is a clear sense of unifying the fragmentary that allows anyone, no matter their race, ethnicity or culture, to find a relatable aspect. It just takes a willingness to be open to new possibilities of what reality can be.
Robyn Penn
Robyn Penn was born in Pretoria, South Africa, and currently lives and works in Johannesburg as a fine artist, an art teacher and a printmaker. Penn’s prolific printmaking career started in August 2011, when she began collaborating with David Krut Workshop (DKW) on a series of monotypes and gave a lecture to the DKW team on colour palettes. Penn had her first solo exhibition with David Krut Projects (DKP) in November 2011, titled Pretty World. Since then, she has had four solo shows with DKP, most recently Cloud of Unknowing in June 2016.
Penn’s enduring fascination with cloud imagery is evident from her early shows to the present day. Initially, this took the form of an exploration of the sublime, but her clouds have since shifted from romanticized sky-scapes to beautiful but politically charged meditations on climate change denial. Penn has an honours degree, with distinction, in Fine arts from Canterbury University, New Zealand, and did a year’s training in Fine Arts at The University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), South Africa. She also has a BA in Psychology from Wits. In 1998, Penn was awarded the Bickerton – Widdowson Trust Memorial scholarship.
That year, she completed her BAFA, majoring in painting. Since collaborating with DKW in 2011, Penn has produced numerous series’ of prints, ranging from mezzotints to sugarlifts, totalling twenty-two editioned works. In 2012 she had her first solo exhibition at David Krut Gallery in Johannesburg, as well as showing in group shows in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Italy, London and New York. In 2017 she had her first solo exhibition at Barnard Gallery in Cape Town. Her work is represented in private and corporate collections. Currently she works as an independent artist and teaches art classes privately.
Stephen Langa
Stephen Langa is a Johannesburg-based South African artist from the Limpopo province, growing up in the small town of Makopane. He specialises in a number of different media, including charcoal drawing, watercolour and oil painting. In 2018 he achieved his Diploma in Art & Design from Tshwane North College in Pretoria.
Langa’s intimate imagery explores stories of the people, experiences and environment around him. Harkening back to artists like George Pemba, Claude Monet, Gerard Sekoto, Jo Maseko and more, his work presents visions of new economic narratives and reality. Langa’s work seeks to galvanize and has intimacy of black cultural experiences, composition’s that have questions for the viewer and highlights of his own experiences of his hometown and the city as visually detailed in his journey, experiencing life in both worlds from moving to one place to another.