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About The Artist

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Artist Biography

Born in Johannesburg in 1949, Greg Kerr spent much of his working life as a teacher and academic while pursuing a career as an artist.

He has held 21 solo exhibitions since his first in 1981 and his work is held in numerous public and private collections in South Africa and abroad.

He holds a doctoral degree in Aesthetics and Criticism and was last formally employed as Professor in Fine Arts at the University of Stellenbosch.

He has published papers in a wide range of subjects, including poetry, comic strips, ceramics, art teaching methodology, art history, hermeneutics and language theory.

Since 2000 he has lived in Schoenmakerskop, near Port Elizabeth and conducts workshop programs for private students in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth and occasional week-long workshops in Plettenberg Bay, Franschhoek, White River and Hamburg.

Artist CV

Education

  • 1967: Matriculated in the First Class, King Edward VII School, Johannesburg.
  • 1972: B.A. (English and Fine Art) University of the Witwatersrand.
  • 1972: H.E.D. Johannesburg College of Education.
  • 1976: B.A. (Hons.) (English Language and Literature) UNISA
  • 1977: B.A. (Fine Arts) UNISA
  • 1985: PhD University of Georgia, U.S.A.

EMPLOYMENT

  • 1973 - 1975: Teacher, Jeppe High School for Boys, Johannesburg.
  • 1976 - 1978: Lecturer (Art Education) Johannesburg College of Education (J.C.E.)
  • 1978 - 1984: Senior Lecturer (Art Education) J. C. E.
  • 1985 - 1988: Associate Head of Department (Art) J. C. E.
  • 1989: Full-time artist, part-time lecturer in fine arts, Technikon Witwatersrand.
  • 1990: Senior Lecturer (Drawing) Technikon Witwatersrand.
  • 1991: Associate Director (Drawing) Technikon Witwatersrand
  • 1992 - 1994: Director (Fine Arts) Technikon Witwatersrand
  • 1994 (Third Term): Acting Dean, Faculty of Art and Design Technology, Technikon Witwatersrand

  • Freelance Presenter for the SABCTV Cultural Program, Collage.
  • 1995 – 2000: Professor, Head of Department of Fine Arts, University of Stellenbosch.
  • 2001: Full-time artist (occasional part-time teaching in Art History, Port Elizabeth Technikon.
  • 2002 - present: Founded Greg Kerr Fine Art late 2001 and commenced workshops and classes in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Port Elizabeth in 2002. Expanded to Plettenberg Bay in 2008. Full-time artist, private teaching and workshops.
  • 2008 (Fourth Term): Part-time lecturer in South African Art History, Department of Art and Design, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth.
  • 2010 - present: Research Associate in the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University.
  • 2015: Opened the Greg Kerr Gallery in Prince Albert as a primary showcase for drawings and paintings.

PUBLICATIONS

  • "Digby Hoets, Potter," Lantern, XXXIII, 2 April 1984, pp.22-9.
  • "The Death of Marat," Apelles - the Georgia Arts Journal, III,i, 1984, pp.42-5.
  • "Hermeneutics and Art Discourse: Implications for Teachers," PhD Dissertation, University of Georgia, University Microfilms, Ann Arbor, Michegan, 1985.
  • "The Strong, Silent Myth: Artists and Language," Lengwitch, I,ii, pp.5-9.
  • "Digby Hoets, Larger than Life," National Ceramics Quarterly, Spring, 1987, pp.25-7
  • "Wilma Cruise: Tying up Threads," Ceramics, October 1987, pp. 12-15.
  • "Three Poets, A Review of Recent Work by Francis Faller, Jeremy Gordin and Graham Walker," English Academy Review, V February 1988, pp. 175-188.
  • Philippa Hobbs, Monograph published privately on the occasion of the artist’s residency at the National Festival of the Arts, Grahamstown, June 1993.
  • Poems published in Carapace, 1996 and 1997.
  • "Die Kind Lig Sy Hand Teen sy Moeder: Young Afrikaners and the Art of Outrage," conference paper revised for The Big, Bad Bitterkomix Handbook, eds. Anton Kannemeyer and Conrad Botes, Jacana Books, 2006. pp. 130-139.
  • "Grayson Perry's The Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman". Review for the South African Ceramics Quarterly, August 2015.
  • Judith Mason's The Mind’s Eye. Review for the South African Ceramics Quarterly, August, 2016.

POEMS PUBLISHED IN CAPAPACE

  • No. 10. False Assumptions
  • No. 12 Brown
  • No. 99 Pilates
  • No. 101 Naval Gazing and Painter's Block

ARTWORK FOR PUBLICATIONS

  • Freelance Cartoonist under the pseudonym n.tharg for various publications but especially Nose and later Noseweek.
  • Cover and other illustrations for Dances in the Street by Graham Walker, Johannesburg, Hippogriff Press, 1988.
  • Cover illustration for Die Nes by Eleanor Baker: Human en Rousseau, Cape Town, 1994.
  • Illustrations for New Contrasts 24:4 December 1995.
  • Cover illustration for Verbeeldende Werklikheid by Eleanor Baker: Human en Rousseau, Cape Town, 1996.
  • Illustrations for The False Bay Cycle by Sue Clark: Firfield Press, Cape Town, 1996.
  • Illustration for Carapace July, 1997
  • Represented in A Directory of South African Artists and work illustrated on the cover of this publication. 1997.
  • Illustrations for Carapace, No’s 10, 12, 15, 44,
  • Cover Carapace 44
  • Cover Carapace 83 January 2011
  • Cover Carapace 84 March 2011
  • Cover Carapace

PAPERS PRESENTED

  • "Metaphor and Meaning," Graduate Seminar, University of Stellenbosch, August 1997.
  • "Making Form, Making Meaning," Annual Conference of the South African Association of Art Historians, Stellenbosch, September, 1997.
  • "Die Kind Lig sy Hand teen sy Moeder" – Young Afrikaners and the Art of Outrage". Global Arts Beyond 2000 – International Conference for Higher Education in the Arts, October, 1999, Auckland, New Zealand.
  • "Hedgehogs in their barefoot way" With Liesel Hibbert. South African Journal of Art History Annual Conference, NMMU, June 2013

RESEARCH FUNDING

  • Dean's Fund and National Research Council funding for the conference, Global Arts Beyond 2000 – International Conference for Higher Education in the Arts, October, 1999,
  • Awarded National Research Council seed funding for the establishment of a research unit in the Department of Fine Arts, Stellenbosch, concerned with the development of a clearing-house for data on contemporary South African artists. November 1999. Cancelled on resignation from the University of Stellenbosch.

EXTERNAL EXAMINER’S REVIEWER'S AND MODERATOR'S DUTIES 1992-2007

  • External Examiner: Art History, University of Natal, 1992-94
  • Referee: Disputed Masters degree in Philosophy, University of Stellenbosch, 1995.
  • External Examiner, H.Dip. Ed. University of the Witwatersrand, 1994.
  • External Examiner, B.A. (Fine Arts) History of Art, Years 2 – 4, University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1993 – 1996.
  • External Examiner, B.A. (Fine Arts) Practical, Final Year, UNISA, 1995 – 1997.
  • External Examiner, M. Phil. Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town, 1995.
  • External Examiner, M.A. (Fine Arts) University of the Witwatersrand, 1995.
  • External Examiner, M.F.A. Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town, 1997
  • External Examiner, M A (Fine Arts) University of Natal, 1998
  • External Examiner, MFA University of Cape Town, 1998
  • External Examiner, MFA University of Cape Town, 1999
  • Referee, MFA Dispute, University of Cape Town, 1999.
  • External examiner for undergraduate re-submissions, University of Cape Town, February 2000
  • Appointed External Moderator to the Department of Industrial Design and Fine Arts, Makarere University, Kampala, Uganda, July 1998 – July 2000
  • External Examiner, MFA University of Cape Town, November 2000
  • External Examiner for N. Dip. and B. Tech. Port Elizabeth Technikon, November 2000.
  • Member with Prof. P. Skotnes (UCT) of two-person review committee for Department of Fine Arts, Rhodes University, November 2000.
  • External Examiner, MFA University of Cape Town, May, 2001.
  • External Moderator, University of Makarere, Kampala, Uganda, July, 2001 and July 2002.
  • External Examiner, M. Tech. Fine Arts, Technikon Port Elizabeth 2003
  • Member of Departmental Review Board, Michaelis School of Fine Art 2003
  • External Examiner undergraduate programmes, Port Elizabeth Technikon 2004
  • External Examiner, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2005
  • External Examiner, MFA University of Cape Town, November 2006
  • External Examiner, MFA University of Cape Town, April 2007
  • External Examiner, ND Final Year Art History, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, November 2007
  • External Examiner, B. Tech. Theory of Art Research Papers, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Mniversity, November, 2007
  • External Examiner, MFA University of Cape Town November 2008
  • Appointed Research Associate, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, October 2008
  • External Examiner, MA (FA) University of Johannesburg January 2010
  • External Examiner, MA (FA) Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University 2011
  • External Examiner, MA (FA) Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University 2013
  • External Examiner, MA (FA) Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University 2013
  • External Examiner, MA (FA) Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University 2014
  • External Examiner, MA (FA) Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University 2014
  • External Examiner, MA (FA) Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University 2015

JURY MEMBERSHIP

  • 2009: Eastern Cape Institute of Architects Regional Awards
  • 2011: NMMU Biennial Award
  • 2011: Friends of the NMMM Skin exhibition
  • 2013: Selection for "Modern Miniatures" ART Gallery, P.E.

  • Selection for Eastern Cape "New Signatures" June
    Selection for ArtEc Juried Exhibition, June
  • 2014: NMMU Biennial June

  • New Signatures, Pretoria AVA August
    Wish You Were Here, Port Elizabeth September
  • 2015: New Signatures, Port Elizabeth Regional Selection, July

EXHIBITIONS (SOLO AND SELECTED GROUP SHOWS)

1967: New Signatures Exhibition SAAA Gallery Church Square, Pretoria.

1982: Solo exhibition, Beuster-Skolimowski Gallery, Pretoria.

1983:

  • Solo exhibition, Beuster-Skolimowski Gallery, Pretoria
  • Solo exhibition (drawings) Carriagehouse Gallery, Johannesburg

1984: Solo exhibition, Beuster-Skolimowski Gallery, Pretoria.

1985: Solo exhibition, Karen McKerron Gallery, Johannesburg.

1987: Group exhibition, Vita Art Now, Johannesburg Art Gallery.

1988: Group exhibition, with Geoffrey Armstrong and Claire Gavronsky, Karen McKerron Gallery, Johannesburg.

1989: Group exhibition, Women, Everard Read Gallery, Johannesburg.

1992: Solo exhibition, Everard Read Gallery, Johannesburg.

1994: Group exhibition, Habitations, Newtown Gallery, Johannesburg.

1996:

  • Group exhibition, Stellenbosch University Staff and Masters Students, Johannes Stegmann Gallery, University of the Orange Free State, Bloemfontein, July-August.
  • One day show of paintings, Natale Labia Museum, Muizenberg, Cape Town, 21 July.
  • Group exhibition, Gregory Kerr and Friends, U.S. Museumgalery, Dorpstraat, Stellenbosch, August - September.
  • Group exhibition, Stellenbosch University Staff, Association of Arts Gallery, Church Street, Cape Town, September.
  • Group exhibition, Participants in the Annual Conference of the South African Association of Art Historians, Dorp Street Gallery, Stellenbosch, September.
  • Knysna Fine Art, Knysna: Group exhibition; Strydom Gallery, George : Group exhibition; Visual Arts Gallery, Church St., Cape Town: Exhibition of work by members of the Department of Fine Arts, University of Stellenbosch.
  • Solo exhibition, Chelsea Gallery, Cape Town, November.
  • Solo exhibition Dorp Street Gallery: 27October to 27 November.
  • Bellville Art Gallery: Canvas, November, Informal Forms.
  • Group exhibition, U.S. Gallery, Stellenbosch. (Till January 20, 2000)

2000:

  • Group exhibition: Lights Dorp Street Gallery, Stellenbosch, October.
  • Group exhibition, Summer Show, Strydom Gallery, George, November – January 2001.
  • Group Exhibition, 2000, Chelsea Gallery, Wynberg, Cape Town, December – January 2001.

2001:

  • Group exhibition, Easter Exhibition, Dorp Street Gallery, Stellenbosch, March-April.
  • Group exhibition, Winter Show, Strydom Gallery, George, June-July.
  • Group exhibition, PE Technikon Staff and Students, National Festival of the Arts, Grahamstown, Carinus Art Centre, Grahamstown, 28 June – 8 July.
  • Group exhibition, Equus, Dorp Street Gallery, Stellenbosch, August.
  • Solo exhibition, Cuyler Street Gallery, Port Elizabeth, November.
  • Group exhibition, Summer Show, Strydom Gallery, George, November – January.
  • Group Exhibition, Under the Southern Cross, Chelsea Gallery, Wynberg, Cape Town, December – January.
  • Group Exhibition, Auction for St George’s School, Ron Belling Gallery, Port Elizabeth, November.

2002:

  • Group Exhibition The Vuselela Project: National Arts Festival, Grahamstown, Albany Museum
  • Group Exhibition, Cuyler Street Gallery Port Elizabeth: March and August
  • Solo exhibition, EPSAC Gallery, Port Elizabeth, August
  • Solo exhibition, Dorp Street Gallery, Stellenbosch, October 19 till November 13
  • Group Exhibitoin. Chelsea Gallery, Wynberg, Cape Town.
  • Group Exhibition. Strydom Gallery Summer Exhibition, George, Western Cape.

2003:

  • Group Exhibition Cuyler St Gallery
  • Solo Exhibition, Chelsea at 34 Gallery, Darling, W. Cape. July
  • Group Exhibition, Strydom Gallery Summer Exhibtion, George, Western Cape
  • Group Exhibition, Changes, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Museum August – February.

2004:

  • Solo Exhibition Zuva Gallery, Melrose Arch, Johannesburg, February
  • Group Exhibition, Cuyler St Gallery, Port Elizabeth, March
  • Group Exhibition, Gallery Sharon, Somerset West, Decemher.

2005:

  • Group Exhibitions at Textures Gallery and Cuyler Street Gallery, Port Elizabeth.
  • Solo Exhibition Dorp Street Gallery August – September. This exhibition travelled to Johannesburg (More Gallery) in October.
  • Bellville Municipal Gallery, Art of the Portrait Group Exhibition. December

2006:

  • Bellville Municipal Gallery Art of the Portrait December – January 2007
  • Group exhibition, Cuyler St Gallery, Port Elizabeth, July
  • Solo Exhibition, Gordart Gallery, Johannesburg October
  • Group Exhibitions at Cuyler Street Gallery and Textures Gallery, Port Elizabeth
  • Self Portraits exhibition, Chelsea Gallery, Darling

2007:

  • Group exhibition, No Names Cuyler Street Gallery
  • Group exhibition at I-Art Gallery, Cape Town
  • Group exhibition, 1x1 at Cuyler Street Gallery
  • Solo exhibition, "Five Decades", Ron Belling Gallery, Port Elizabeth, 20 September till 30 October

2008:

  • Solo exhibition "Five Decades" I-Art Gallery, Cape Town, 21 February till 9 March
  • Solo exhibition "Five Decades" David Brown Gallery, Johannesburg, April - May
  • Group Exhibition "No Signatures" Cuyler St Gallery, P.E., May 27
  • Group exhibition, "Positive", Sun City, June
  • Group Exhibition, Summer I-Art Gallery, Cape Town November – December
  • Group Exhibition, Summer Strydom Gallery, George, November – January 2009

2009: Group Exhibition, Summer Strydom Gallery, George, November

2010:

  • Solo Exhibition "Strange Acquaintances" White River Gallery, Casterbridge, December
  • Group Exhibition "Expressions" Ron Belling Gallery, PE July
  • Group Exhibition "Four Artists" Bamboo Gallery, Johannesburg, November
  • Group Exhibition, Summer Strydom Gallery, George, November – January 2010

2011:

  • Group Exhibition, "Responses" Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Museum, January
  • Solo Exhibition "Strange Acquaintances" David Brown Gallery, Sandton Square, May
  • Group Exhibition "Skin" Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Museum June
  • Group Exhibition "200 Eastern Cape Artists" Athenaeum Gallery, P.E. June
  • Staff and Alumni Juried Exhibition Nelson Manela Metropolitan Museum, June
  • Dual Exhibition with Jacques Dhont IS Gallery, Quartier Francaise, Franschhoek, October

2012:

  • Group Exhibition "Xpressions" Anthony Harris Gallery and then National Festival of the Arts, Grahamstown. June - July
  • Group Exhibition, Summer Strydom Gallery, George, November – January 2013

2013:

  • Solo Exhibition "Double Agendas", William Humphreys Art Gallery, March – May
  • Group Exhibition "Klip en Klei", Breytenbach Gallery, Wellington, April - June
  • Group Exhibition: "Dialogues 2013. Orangerie Exhibition Center of French Senate, Paris 5 - 16 June.
  • Group Exhibition "Modern Miniatures", ART Gallery, Port Elizabeth. June then on to National Festival of the Arts, Grahamstown, July.
  • Solo Exhibition, "Portraits" Boomtown Gallery, Port Elizabeth (National Arts Festival Fringe), June - July

2014:

  • Group Exhibition Bamboo Gallery, Johannesburg July
  • Solo Exhibition ("Survivors") Art Gallery, Port Elizabeth, August - September
  • Group Exhibition IS Gallery, Franschhoek August – September

2015:

  • "Wish you were here" Touring Exhibition. May – July
  • "Karoo" Touring Exhibition May till end of 2015
  • MARCH 2015 Opened Greg Kerr Art Gallery in Prince Albert, W. Cape. Gallery is currently dedicated to own work.
  • 3 separate Solo exhibitions in March, May and August, 2015
  • Group exhibitions Kimberley, Nieu Bethesda, Graaff Reinet

2016:

  • Solo Exhibition (‘Remote Associates’) Rust en Vrede Gallery, Durbanville. 2 - 26 February.
  • Group exhibitions at Grande Provence Gallery, Knysna Fine Art and GFI Gallery, Port Elizabeth.
  • Five works waiting exhibition in Holland via IS Gallery, Franschhoek (details not yet available)

COLLECTIONS

  • Johannesburg College of Education
  • Anglo American Corporation
  • Sandton Art Foundation
  • University of Johannesburg
  • University of the Free State
  • Telkom
  • University of Stellenbosch
  • Nelson Mandela Foundation
  • William Humphreys Gallery, Kimberley
  • University of the Witwatersrand

AWARDS

  • 1987: Witwatersrand Council of Education Major Overseas Scholarship (The Whitmore Richards Scholarship)
  • 1983: Olivetti-Rugantino Award (Painting and Drawing)

PROFESSIONAL BODIES

  • Member of the South African Association of Art Historians 1994-2000
  • Member of the Watch Committee, South African Monuments Council. (Now the Heritage Objects Committee)
  • 1997-2000: Member of the Matriculation Board and Chairman of the Committee for the Arts.

REFEREE FOR PUBLICATIONS AND APPOINTMENTS

Articles

  • Author withheld: "The Johannesburg Biennales, 1975 and 1907: A reflection of Contemporary South African Art?" De Arte.
  • Sandra Klopper: "I respect custom, but I am not a tribalist: the ANC/CONTRALESA alliance and 'Designer Tradition' in 1990's South Africa." South African Historical Journal.
  • Michael Godby: "Dismantling the symbolic structure of Afrikaner nationalism: Gideon Mendel's Beloofde Land photographs (1989). South African Historical Journal.

Promotions/tenure

  • Prof. Gavin Younge, Univesity of Cape Town, Professor, 1999
  • Mr Ian Calder, University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, Associate Professor, 1999
  • Ms Juliette Armstrong, University of Natal, Associate Professor, 1998
  • Ms Juliette Armstrong, University of Natal, Senior Lecturer, 1996
  • Adjudicator: Senior Researcher, Ms Juliette Armstrong, University of Natal.
  • Prof. Terrence King, Senior professorship, University of Natal, 1998
  • Mr Karel Nel, University of the Witwatersrand, Senior Lecturer, 1993.



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