WILLIAM KENTRIDGE (b. 1955, Johannesburg, South Africa) lives and works in Johannesburg.
William Kentridge is one of South Africa’s best-known artists. Working in a restricted technique of charcoal drawings with limited touches of pastel color, Kentridge has created an oeuvre of astounding depth. The drawings have been used as the basis for a series of animated films by the very simple process of drawing a few frames, filming them, erasing them, and then drawing some more. His work has also evolved into other mediums, such as puppet-theatre, bronze sculpture, and tapestries. Both poetic and political, Kentridge sees his work as rooted in Johannesburg, the city in which he was born and continues to work today.
Kentridge's work has been exhibited widely throughout the world. His recent solo retrospective, originated at Castello di Rivoli, Italy, and traveled to Miami Art Central, FL; K-21 Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Dusseldorf; Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney; Musee d'Art Contemporain, Montreal; and the Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg. The artist's work has also been included in numerous group exhibitions including The Experience of Art, at the Venice Biennale (2005); Documenta 11 (2002); the Carnegie International (1999); Documenta 10 (1997); the Sydney Biennale (1996); among others. In April 2007 he presented his production of The Magic Flute at BAM Brooklyn Academy of Music, NY. Currently his tapestries are on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, PA.
Kentridge is represented by Marian Goodman Gallery in New York, and The Goodman Gallery in Johannesburg.