Biography
Born in Durban, South Africa in 1953. Lives and works in Johannesburg, South Africa
Jeremy Wafer was born in Durban in 1953, grew up in Nkwalini, Zululand, and studied at the University of
Natal, Pietermaritzburg (B.A.F.A.1979) and at the University of the Witwatersrand (B.A. Hons. in Art History
1980 and M.A. Fine Art 1987). He has taught since 1982 in the Fine Art Departments of the Technikon Natal
and the Technikon Witwatersrand before being appointed Associate Professor in the School of Arts of the
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg from 2004 where he is currently Head of the Department of
Fine Art and History of Art. He has exhibited regularly in South Africa and abroad. His work is represented in
the National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institute, Washington DC, the South African National
Gallery, the Johannesburg Art Gallery and in many other museum, private and corporate collections.
Artist Statement
“While my work has come from a deep involvement in a South African context I am continually interested in
exploring issues that extend outwards from this personal and geographic centre. My work could be seen as
traversing a South-North axis in which the global languages of contemporary art are intersected with the
particularities of a local geography and history. I have been particularly interested in exploring, in the
context of the South and its relation to the North, common issues of colonial legacies, the tensions between
centres and margins, the layering of indigenous and settler cultures, and the effects of a shifting world
economy on cultural practice. My work has since 1994 engaged with a practice which integrates and
responds to aspects of African sculpture in the context of a broadly post minimalist sculptural idiom.”
Solo Exhibitions
2014
Strata, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
2013
Survey , Wits Art Museum, Johannesburg, South Africa
2009
Structure, KZNSA and Durban Art Gallery, Durban, South Africa
Paradise, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
2007
Jeremy Wafer – Recent Work, Goodman Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
2006
Geography, Sasol Art Awards Winner, Sasol Gallery Johannesburg and Aardklop Festival,
Potchefstroom, South Africa
2005
Tropic, Square Space Gallery, RMIT, Melbourne, Australia
2004
Measure, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
2003
Artfirst Gallery, London, UK
2002
FNB Vita Art Awards, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
Survey, Sasol Museum, University of Stellenbosch, Cape Town, South Africa
Survey, Durban Art Museum, Durban, South Africa
2001
Jeremy Wafer Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
2000
Jeremy Wafer Artfirst Gallery, London, UK
1999
Jeremy Wafer The Thami Mnyele Foundation, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
1998
Jeremy Wafer Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
1996
Cheltenham College of Art, Cheltenham, UK
1993
Jeremy Wafer Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
Group Exhibitions
2016
In Context: Where We Are, Goodman Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
New Revolutions: Goodman Gallery at 50, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
2015
Edge of Silence, Goodman Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
South African Pavilion at 56th Venice Biennale, What remains is tomorrow, Venice, Italy
2009
Sources: Contemporary Sculpture in the Landscape, NIROX Foundation, Johannesburg, South Africa
2nd Joburg Art Fair, Johannesburg, South Africa (Goodman Gallery booth)
2008
1st Joburg Art Fair, Johannesburg, South Africa (Goodman Gallery booth)
Spier Contemporary, Cape Town, South Africa
Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
2007
Spier Contemporary, Spier, Cape Town, South Africa,
Bank Gallery, Durban, South Africa
2006
Body of Evidence, The National Museum of African Art, Washington DC, USA
Group exhibition: Brande International Artists Workshop, Brande, Denmark
Sasol Art Awards (1st prize winner), Sasol Gallery Johannesburg and Aardklop Festival, Potchefstroom,
South Africa
2005
In the Making: Material and Process, Michael Stevenson Contemporary, Cape Town, South Africa
2004
Tangentia, international site specific art project in Cato Manor, Durban, South Africa
The Brett Kebble Art Awards (Merit Award), Cape Town, South Africa
Insights, National Museum of African Art, Washington DC, USA
2003
Topographies, joint exhibition with Sandile Zulu, Michael Stevenson Contemporary, Cape Town, South
Africa
2002
FNB Vita Art Awards (Finalist) Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
2001
Open Circuit, NSA gallery, Durban, South Africa
2000
Xoe 2 site specific, Nieu Bethesda and Grahamstown Festival, South Africa
Suitcase, NSA Gallery, Durban, South Africa
2000
A.R.E.A, Reykjavik Art Museum, Iceland
Outpost, Association of Arts Gallery, Pretoria, South Africa
Unplugged 5, Market Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
1999
blank – architecture, apartheid and after, Netherlands Institute of Architecture, Rotterdam,
Netherlands (travelling in Europe and South Africa)
1998
30 S 30 E, Lipschitz Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
1997
Unplugged 2, Market Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
Jeremy Wafer, Bronwen Findlay NSA Gallery, Durban, South Africa
Printmaking in a Transforming South Africa, Grahamstown Festival, Grahamstown, South Africa
Photosynthesis: Contemporary South African Photography, Grahamstown Festival,Grahamstown, South
Africa
The Johannesburg Biennale, Newtown Cultural Precinct, Johannesburg, South Africa
The New Delhi Triennale, New Delhi, India
1996
Earth and Everything, Arnolfini, Bristol, UK (travelling UK)
Ground Swell, Mermaid Theatre, London, UK
Hitchhiker, Generator Art Space, Johannesburg, South Africa
1995
Edwards, Munyai, Wafer, Newtown Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
Barry, Allen, Wafer, Market Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
Natal Artists, Thompson Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
Vita Awards, Johannesburg Art Gallery, South Africa
Panoramas of Passage, (travelling) Meridian Foundation, Washington, USA
1994
Contemporary Art from South Africa, Galarie d’Esplanade, Paris, France
Places of Power, Newtown Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
Images of Metal, Grahamstown Festival (touring), South Africa
Vita Awards, Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
1993
Critics Choice, ICA Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
1991
Il Sud del Mondo, Galleria Civica del Arte, Masala, Italy
The Cape Triennale, South African National Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
1989
Volkskas Awards Exhibition (Merit Award), South African Association of Arts Gallery, Pretoria, South
Africa
1987 The Standard Bank National Drawing Competition, Grahamstown Festival, South Africa
Teaching, Lectureships and Workshop
2004 – present
Associate Professor, Wits School of Arts, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg,
South Africa
2002-2003
Department of Fine Art, Technikon Witwatersrand, Johannesburg South Africa
1983-2002
Department of Fine Art, Technikon Natal, Durban, South Africa
1996
Department of Fine Art, Cheltenham and Gloucester College of Higher Education,Cheltenham, UK
Conference and Workshop Participation
2008
Invitation to International Artists Workshop, Manaus and Sao Paulo, Brazil
1997
South African representative on the New Delhi Triennale, New Delhi, India
International Artists’ Workshop, Garhi Studios, New Delhi, India
Awards and Merits
2007
The Sasol Wax Art Award, Johannesburg, South Africa
1989
The Volkskas Bank Merit Award, South Africa
1987
The Standard Bank National Drawing Prize, South Africa
Academic Record and Residencies
Residencies:
2008
Fellowship at the Ampersand Foundation, New York, USA
2006
Brande International Artist’s Workshop, Denmark
2005
RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia as part of the South Project
2001
Fellowship at the Civitella Ranieri Centre, Umbria, Italy
1999
Thami Mnyeli Foundation, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
1990
Cité des Arts, Paris, France
Postgraduate:
1987
M.A. Fine Art, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
Undergraduate:
1980
B.A. (Honours) History of Art, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg,
South Africa
1979
B.A. Fine Art , University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
Collections
The Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institute, Washington, America
The Library of Congress, Washington, USA
Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
Durban Art Gallery, Durban, South Africa
Pretoria Art Museum, Pretoria, South Africa
Tatham Art Gallery, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
University of the Witwatersrand Collection, Johannesburg, South Africa
Natal Technikon Collection, Durban, South Africa
MTN Collection, Johannesburg, South Africa
BHP-Billiton Collection, Johannesburg, South Africa
Didata Collection, Johannesburg, South Africa
BoE Collection, Cape Town, South Africa
Commissions
2009
Sculpture for the One and Only Hotel, Cape Town, South Africa
Sculpture for the International Convention Centre, Durban, South Africa
Sculpture for the new football stadium, Durban, South Africa
2004
Sculpture for the Arrabella Estate, Knysna, South Africa
2003
Sculpture for the Arrabella Sheraton Hotel, Cape Town, South Africa
2001
Design of a memorial wall for the Gugu Dlamini Park, Durban, South Africa
2000
Sculpture, Metal and Glass for the Dorothy Nyembe Community Centre, Cato Crest, Durban, South
Africa
1999 – 2001
Metal gates and Glass for the Diakonia Centre, Durban, South Africa
1997
Sculpture and Glass for the Poynton Chapel, Koinonia, Botha’s Hill, South Africa in collaboration with
Sarkin and Jain Architects
Selected Articles and Reviews
2003
Edmonds, P. Jeremy Wafer and Sandile Zulu, www.artthrob.co.za, August
2002
Edmonds, P. Jeremy Wafer at the Sasol Art Museum, www.artthrob.co.za, November
2000
Smith, K, Life Sciences: Jeremy Wafer, www.artthrob.co.za, November
1996
Enwezor, O, FNB Vita Art Now, Frieze, Issue 30, September, p. 84
Publications
Books
2004
Perryer, S (ed) 10 years, 100 Artists: Art in a Democratic South Africa. Bell-Roberts Publishing in
association with Stuik Publishers, Cape Town, South Africa.
2003
Stevenson, M and Rosholt, A, Moving in Time and Space: Shifts between abstraction and
representation in post war South African Art, Michael Stevenson, Cape Town, South Africa.
2001
Frost, L, Jeremy Wafer, Taxi-003, David Krut Publishing, Johannesburg, South Africa.
1997
Geers, K (ed). Contemporary South Africa Art. The Gencor Collection, Johannesburg, South Africa.
1997
Hobbs, P. and Rankin, E, Printmaking in a transforming South Africa. David Phillip, Cape Town, South
Africa.
1996
Williamson, S.and Jamal, A, the future present in Phillip, D. Art in South Africa: the future present Cape
Town, South Africa.
1994
Rankin, E, Images of Metal Johannesburg, Wits University Press, Johannesburg South Africa.
1994
Jounnais, J-Y, Un Art Contemporain d’Afrique du Sud Paris, Editions Plume, Paris, France.
1991
Strano, C, Il Sud del Mondo: l’altra atre contemporanea Milan, Mazzota, Italy.
1990
Williamson, S, Resistance Art in South Africa, David Phillip Publishers and Catholic Institute for
International Relations, Cape Town, South Africa.
Catalogues
2004
The Brett Kebble Art Awards, Barret L, Marulelo, Cape Town, South Africa
2002
Tumuli: Conversations with Jeremy Wafer, Jeremy Wafer: Survey, Sasol Art Museum, University of
Stellenbsch, Stellenbosch, South afrcia
2002
The Scheme of Things, FNB Vita Art Prize, Goodman Gallery Editions, Johannesburg, South Africa
1997
Trade Routes: History and Geography, 2nd Johannesburg Biennale, 1997, Johannesburg, South Africa
