(1982 – )

Katherine Spindler
Contemporary
Overview

Katherine Spindler, born in 1982 in South Africa, finished her Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2004 and her Masters in Fine Arts in 2011—both passed with distinction- at the Michaelis School of Fine Arts, University of Cape Town. Spindler received several awards during her studies, including the MacIver Scholarship. Between 2012 and 2016, she lectured part-time in drawing and printmaking at the Michaelis School of Art. Between 2014 and 2020, she taught in the Art Department of Bishops Diocesan College. Currently, Spindler lectures in contemporary art & design programs at the Cape Town Creative Academy. 

Looking at her creative works, Spindler unites the kinetic with the calm; she evokes both a sense of commotion and stillness. When viewing her paintings, there is a feeling of movement beneath the surface, inspiring a vast ambiguity. Light and shadow are perceived in a flicker; it dwindles and regresses, flashes, and swirls. The surface of the canvas mimics the instability and unpredictability of water, all while maintaining a captivating and introspective stillness. Importantly, Spindler intends to suggest, rather than explain, to arouse more than to impose.

Spindler has presented various solo exhibitions of her paintings, including a landmark show titled Still at the 2018 FNB Joburg Art Fair. Spindler’s work has been selected for inclusion in numerous curated group exhibitions, her most notable being Air at the Standard Bank Gallery in Johannesburg in 2016. In 2018 To Hold Time, the first book on the artist’s work was published and was subsequently added to the Thomas J. Watson Library Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Education

2000                  
Matric Exemption from St Mary’s School for Girls, Waverly, Gauteng

2001 – 2004        
BA Fine Art with distinction in Studio Work, Michaelis School of Fine Art, UCT 

2005                  
PGCE (Post Graduate Certificate in Education), UCT

2009 – 2011        
MFA with distinction, Michaelis School of Fine Art, UCT

2013                  
Business Acumen for Artists, Graduate School of Business, UCT

2010- 2017       
Part-time lecturer (drawing and printmaking) at Michaelis School of Fine Art, UCT, Cape Town

2021 – present   
Part-time lecturer in contemporary art and design programmes, Cape Town
Creative Academy, V&A Waterfront, Cape Town

Exhibitions

Solo Exhibitions
2021
Paintings for Disappearing. Barnard Gallery, Cape Town

2019
From Matter to Matter, Barnard Gallery, Cape Town

2018
Solo booth at Johannesburg Art Fair, Gauteng

2017
TO HOLD TIME, Barnard Gallery, Cape Town

2015
Selah. Barnard Gallery, Cape Town

2011
At Sea. Commune.1 Gallery, Cape Town

Group Exhibitions
2023
Optimal Vibration, Group Exhibition, Graham Contemporary, Johannesburg

Sunny Side Up, Group exhibition, Graham Contemporary, Johannesburg, South Africa

2022
New Day Spring Group Exhibition, Graham Contemporary, Johannesburg

Abstract_ed. Barnard Gallery, Cape Town
PAINTER PAINTER! Barnard Gallery, Cape Town

2020
Hopes and Dreams, Barnard Gallery, Cape Town (online)

Homework Barnard Gallery, Cape Town (online)

Barnard Collective, Barnard Gallery, Cape Town

2019
Monochrome, Barnard Gallery, Cape Town

Barnard Collective, Barnard Gallery, Cape Town

2018
New Romantics, Barnard Gallery, Cape Town

-Nano 1.2, Barnard Gallery, Cape Town
Barnard Collective, Barnard Gallery, Cape Town

2017
Fluid: Perspectives in Paint, Barnard Gallery, Cape Town

Nano 1.1, Barnard Gallery, Cape Town

Barnard Collective, Barnard Gallery, Cape Town

2016
Air. Standard Bank Gallery, Gauteng
Future/Present, Barnard Gallery, Cape Town

Nano-, Barnard Gallery, Cape Town

2015
Picture and Paper, Barnard Gallery, Cape Town

Dinner Collection, Barnard Gallery, Cape Town

Then and Now: Conversations in Time, Barnard Gallery, Cape Town

Surface: Emerging Painters, Barnard Gallery, Cape Town

2014
Seeking Eden. Casa Labia Gallery, Cape Town

Dinner Collection, Barnard Gallery, Cape Town

Paint Matters, Barnard Gallery, Cape Town

2013
The [Common] Garden, Cape Town City Hall, Cape Town

Muse, Casa Labia Gallery, Cape Town

2012
Commune.1’s first birthday, Commune.1, Cape Town

Cross-Currents, David Krut Projects, Cape Town, South Africa

Masters Grad Show, Michaelis Gallery, Cape Town

Landscape Re-orientation, David Krut Projects, Cape Town

2011
In Bloom 2, Africa Nova Gallery, Cape Town

This is not final, Michaelis Gallery, University of Cape Town, Cape Town

2010
In Bloom, Africa Nova Gallery, Cape Town,
This is not final, Substation Gallery at WITS, Gauteng,

Art Fairs
2022
Investec Cape Town Art Fair, Cape Town Convention Centre, Cape Town

2020
Investec Cape Town Art Fair, Cape Town Convention Centre, Cape Town

2019
Investec Cape Town Art Fair, Cape Town Convention Centre, Cape Town

2018
Investec Cape Town Art Fair, Cape Town Convention Centre, Cape Town
AKAA, Carreau du Temple, Paris

2017
Cape Town Art Fair, Cape Town Convention Centre, Cape Town

2016
Solo presentation at Cape Town Art Fair, Cape Town Convention Centre, Cape Town

2015
Cape Town Art Fair, The Avenue, Waterfront, Cape Town

Awards

2011       
Recipient of MacIver Scholarship and NRF funding

2010       
Recipient of the Jules Kramer Fine Art Materials Award and Masters Research Scholarship 

2009       
Recipient of the Katrine Harries Memorial Bursary, MacIver Scholarship, and Jules Kramer Fine Art Travel Scholarship

2004       
Member of Golden Key International Honour Society

2004       
Recipient of the Katrine Harries Print Cabinet Purchase Award for excellence in the area of printmaking

2004       
Michaelis School of Fine Art Staff Award for printmaking awarded for excellence in the final year of practical work

Residencies

2016       
Artist-in-residence, Sylt Foundation, Sylt, Germany
Visiting artist at Künstlerhaus Meinersen, Lower Saxony, Germany

Publications

2022       
A chapter on Spindler’s painting is featured in Ashraf Jamal’s new book Strange Cargo, published by Skira

Featured Artwork
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    Katherine Spindler
    Lean In, Let Go II

    Oil on Canvas
    164 x 127cm

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