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South African visual artist Jonathan van der Walt

Jonathan van der Walt

South Africa | 2 artworks for sale

  • The Warhol Effect (Gold) - Sculpture by Jonathan van der Walt The Warhol Effect (Gold)
    Sculpture / 8 x 36 cm
    R4 250
  • The Warhol Effect (Blue) - Sculpture by Jonathan van der Walt The Warhol Effect (Blue)
    Sculpture / 8 x 36 cm
    R4 250
  • The Warhol Effect (Orange) - Sculpture by Jonathan van der Walt
    The Warhol Effect (Orange)
    Sculpture / 8 x 36 cm
  • The Warhol Effect (Gold) Ed. 35/100 - Sculpture by Jonathan van der Walt
    The Warhol Effect (Gold) Ed. 35/100
    Sculpture / 8 x 36 cm
  • The Warhol Effect (Orange) Ed. 34/100 - Sculpture by Jonathan van der Walt
    The Warhol Effect (Orange) Ed. 34/100
    Sculpture / 8 x 36 cm
  • The Warhol Affect (Pink) - Sculpture by Jonathan van der Walt
    The Warhol Affect (Pink)
    Sculpture / 8 x 36 cm
  • The Warhol Affect (Yellow) - Sculpture by Jonathan van der Walt
    The Warhol Affect (Yellow)
    Sculpture / 8 x 36 cm
  • The Warhol Affect (Black) - Sculpture by Jonathan van der Walt
    The Warhol Affect (Black)
    Sculpture / 8 x 36 cm
This body of work primarily examines craftsmanship in contemporary art production. An exploration into the artistic production processes of selected contemporary artists’ work, revealed a tendency of physical non-involvement on the part of the artist, who takes up the role of art director.

Contemporary art, for the most part, and specifically with regard to the selected artists, is a collaborative process. All parties involved in a collaboration benefit in their own specific ways, and the artist’s primary role within the collaborative process is to provide the artistic idea. It is ultimately the artist’s technical abilities, workload and artist-identity or brand that will determine the extent to which he or she will contribute to the collaboration, whether that be a simple idea, a sketch, a maquette or a large-scale sculpture ready for installation. I examined the artist’s role in collaborative art production, and how it has changed from the classical to the contemporary. The idea is what distinguishes the artist from the craftsman, and an artist’s idea to leave the making to the craftsman has great financial benefits to both parties. However, in a rapidly advancing technological society, where the artist can easily get machines or other people to produce his/her work, it is the idea of the artist as craftsman, both thinker and maker, that demands more respect.
Masters degree Fine Art Sculpture 2017
Bachelors degree (cum laude) Fine Art Sculpture 2013

Jonathan van der Walt was born in Kimberley, Northern Cape in 1991 and moved to Port Elizabeth in 2000. In 2013 he received his Bachelor’s degree in Fine Art Sculpture (cum laude) from Nelson Mandela University. In 2017 he was awarded his Masters in Fine Art (Sculpture). He has exhibited in over 30 group exhibitions around the country and has been selected for the national top 100 in the L’Atelier art competition in 2014 and 2015, and national top 100 in the Sasol New Signatures art competition in 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2017. He was also part of the Luciano Benneton Small Canvas project, exhibiting in Venice, Rome and New York, as part of the ‘South Africa: 10x12 @ SA’ Collection. And more recently had his first solo exhibition at 99 Loop Gallery, Cape Town in September 2017, entitled ‘The Art of Making it’.

Jonathan works mainly in the mediums of resin and bronze casting. His sculptures are naturalistically rendered and conceptually tongue-in-cheek. He mainly sculpts figurative subjects, but animals as well, depending on the theme and concept of the artwork. He has worked in a variety of sizes, ranging from small-scale ornamental sculptures for home and work desks to large-scale public sculpture, boardroom focal pieces and life-size commissions. He also offers his clients 3D printed miniatures of his sculptures for smaller and cheaper alternatives.His inspiration comes from his tactile love of form, the object in space, the presence it holds and power in its contours. His passion lies in embodying these objects with a sense of wonder and intrigue whilst situating them in a contemporary space through parody, appropriation and irony. Graduating from a technical based visual art department, the traditional processes of sculpting are very important to van der Walt. In his practice he hopes to inspire artists to push their craft and not opt out for a role as director, leaving the craftspeople that produce the work in the shadows.


Selected Exhibitions:

2019
SculptX group exhibition at the Melrose Gallery, Johannesburg
Configuration group exhibition at GFI Art Gallery, Port Elizabeth
‘PPC Imaginarium’ National Finalists exhibition at UJ Gallery, Johannesburg
‘Palate, Plate, Palette’ group exhibition at the Rust-en-Vrede Gallery, Cape Town
‘The African Art Collective – Autumn Edition’ at The Julie Miller Investment Art Institute, Johannesburg
‘The Blushful Hippocrene’ at Knysna Fine Art, Knysna
‘Stargarden’ group exhibition at Platform 13 Gallery, Fish Hoek, Cape Town

2018
Absa L’Atelier 2018 Finalists exhibition at the Absa Gallery, Johannesburg
SculptX group exhibition at the Melrose Gallery, Johannesburg
Sasol New Signatures 2018 Finalists exhibition at the Pretoria Art Museum
99th Annual Exhibition at ArtEC, Port Elizabeth
NMU Postgraduate Sculpture exhibition 2-man show with Sarah Walmsley at the Makhanda National Arts Festival
Artbox.Projects New York 1.0 at Stricoff Fine Art Gallery, New York, USA

2017  
Untitled 5.99 group show at 99 Loop Gallery, Cape Town, Western Cape
Summer group show at the Boutique Gallery, Franschhoek and Camps Bay, Western Cape
Paradisiac summer exhibition at The Daniel Kok Galery, Hemel-en-Aarde, Hermanus
The Umthombo Experience Charity Art Auction, Nelson Mandela University Bird Street Art Gallery
Guest speaker and exhibitor at the Creative Connect, Colours of You SA, Tramways Building, Port Elizabeth
SculptX sculpture fair at The Melrose Gallery, Johannesburg
“The Art of Making it” solo exhibition at 99 Loop Gallery, Cape Town
Sasol New Signatures 2017 Top 100 exhibition, Pretoria Art Museum
Modern Miniatures exhibition at GFI Gallery, Port Elizabeth
98th Annual Exhibition at ArtEC, Port Elizabeth
Laywers Against Abuse (LvA) Fundraising Art Auction at the Johannesburg Country Club
Emerge exhibition at Nelson Mandela University Bird Street Art Gallery, Port Elizabeth
Sculpture & Painting at the Carinus Art Centre, Grahamstown, National Arts Festival
Modern Miniatures exhibition at Trinity Hall, Grahamstown, National Arts Festival
Modern Miniatures exhibition at Art On Target, Port Elizabeth
Masters Graduate Exhibition at the Nelson Mandela University Bird Street Art Gallery, Port Elizabeth

2016
Invited artist to participate in the Art Meander 2016, at Art on Target, Port Elizabeth
Invited artist to participate in the Skate Create project at the Colours of You Creative Festival, Port Elizabeth
In The Making group exhibition at ArtEC Gallery, Port Elizabeth
Imago Mundi: The Art of Humanity at the Pratt Institute, Small Canvas Project – New York, USA
NMMU Bird Street Art Gallery Pop-Up Exhibition for the opening of the American Corner
 
2015
Imago Mundi: Map of the New Art, Small Canvas Project – Venice, Italy
Top 100 Finalist in Sasol New Signatures 2015 competition at the Pretoria Art Museum in Pretoria
Sasol New Signatures Regional Selection Exhibition at the Quad Gallery, NMMU, Port Elizabeth
Top 100 Finalist in Barclay’s L’Atelier 2015 competition at the Absa Gallery in Johannesburg
NMMU 3D exhibition at the National Art’s Festival 2015, Grahamstown
Wish You Were Here satellite exhibition at the National Art’s Festival 2015, Grahamstown
Wish You Were Here satellite exhibition at William Humphrey’s Art Gallery, Kimberley
Barclay’s L’Atelier Regional Selection Exhibition at the Quad Gallery, NMMU, Port Elizabeth
NEWNOWNEXT group exhibition at Galerie NOKO

2014
Invited artist for the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Museum Biennial
Wish You Were Here exhibition 4 satellite shows around Port Elizabeth
Imago Mundi: The Art of Humanity, Small Canvas Project South Africa – Rome, Italy
Selector’s Choice for Wish You Were Here exhibition & NMMU and Business Chamber’s chosen artist award
Top 100 Finalist in Absa l’Atelier 2014 competition at the Absa Gallery in Johannesburg
Top 100 Finalist in the Sasol New Signatures 2014 competition at the Pretoria Art Museum
Imago Mundi: The Art of Humanity, Small Canvas Project South Africa – Treviso, Italy
Parergons of the Divine Virgule group exhibition at the ArtEC Gallery

2013
For Play ii group exhibition at Underculture Contemporary
Featured artist in Luciano Benetton Collection Small Canvas Project South Africa Catalogue
Top 100 Finalist in the Sasol New Signatures 2013 competition at the Pretoria Art Museum
The 3rd Year / Graduate Exhibition at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University Quad Gallery

2012
The 3rd Year / Graduate Exhibition at Nelson Mandela University Quad Gallery
New Signatures Exhibition at the ArtEC Gallery
The Intrinsic exhibition at the ArtEC Gallery

Which new trends or South African artists do you find inspiring at the moment?
Angus Taylor is a great inspiration. He conveys such power and presence in his work.

Which South African deceased artist do you most admire and why?
Growing up, I remember seeing an Anton van Wouw catalogue which really made a huge impression on me, not because of his subject matter, but his skill and craftsmanship. It definitely became instrumental in generating a love for sculpture and more specifically, bronze figurative sculpture.

If you could only have one piece of art in your life, what would it be?
If I had Carl Andre’s ‘pile of bricks’ or Marcel Duchamp’s “Fountain”, I could begin the process of adding another bathroom onto my flat :)

Pick three artists who you would be honored to exhibit with – and why
Angus Taylor - a great sculptor,
Nandipha Mntambo - her successful manipulation of her mediums
Willem Boshoff - an incredible conceptual artist

How did you get started? Did you always want to be an artist?
I always enjoyed doing creative things and I had a family who supported me. I don’t think I always knew that it was what I wanted to be but looking back it is definitely the right decision because it has led to who I am today.  

?What are some of the key themes you explore in your work?
My work has transitioned through various themes over the years from pop culture and the commodification of art to highlighting the unseen craftsman in the art industry but recently I am delving more into themes of personal identity.  

What should people know about your art that they can’t tell from looking at it?
It’s more often than not tongue-in-cheek, I like to incorporate a play on words, humour or a reference to another artist/artwork.

Tell us more about your creative process.
I am currently doing a lot more digital sculpting and 3D printing and experimenting with ways of incorporating that into traditional sculpture. I am very excited with the possibilities of my new body of work.

Do you believe an artist should use their platform to influence society? Why?
I do not believe an artist has an obligation to use their art to make social/political statements or to influence social change. Art is an expression of the artist, and if a person is not inclined to make statements of great social and political importance, they should not feel pressured to do so through their art.

Do you have a favourite or most meaningful work?
It is hard to pick a favourite because as you look back you hold on to favourite elements of artworks, either in their concept, process or execution. As a sculptural presence, my favourite, especially in bronze, is “The Craftsman”. But my favourites considering all elements would be “The Red Carpet” and “In the Pipeline”

What is your greatest achievement as an artist to date?
In traditional sculpture, having a solo show at 99 Loop Gallery in Cape Town in 2017, and with digital sculpture I did the 3D character modeling for the animation “Reset Earth” by the United Nations Environmental Programme and Rooftop Productions.

What are your aspirations for the future??
 To continue making sculpture, both digitally and traditionally. I would like to have another solo exhibition in the next 2 years incorporating both techniques. And I would like to be involved in more 3D modeling for animations, games etc

 

Read the Studio Feature here>>>