# Wim Botha

Wim Botha (born 1974) is a South African contemporary artist.

## Biography

Botha was born in Pretoria in 1974 and currently lives in Cape Town, South Africa. He grew up in a suburban town on the eastern side of Pretoria. In 1996, Botha graduated from the University of Pretoria with a Bachelors in Visual Art. He has received the Helgaard Steyn Prize for sculpture in 2013, Standard Bank Young Artist Award 2005, and the Tollman Award 2003.

## Works

Botha has found inspiration for his work in government texts and religious icons, objects that show belief, faith, observation, transgression and forgiveness. Among the mediums he uses are treated wood, books, acrylic enamel paint, oil paint, steel, Indian ink, bronze, paper, and marble.
The artist explains; “My works are a process of distillations...They attempt to reduce all-encompassing ideas and universal factors down to their core idea.” Exploring along the way “intercepting variables” and “patterns”

## Exhibitions

2014 Linear Perspectives - Stevenson, Cape Town
2013 PREDICATES - Galerie Jette Rudolph, Berlin
2012 Wim Botha - Stevenson, Johannesburg
2011 All Around - Galerie Jette Rudolph, Berlin Wim Botha - Stevenson, Cape Town
2009 Wim Botha: Joburg Altarpiece & Amazing Things from Other Places - Stevenson, Cape Town
2008 Wim Botha - Galerie Jette Rudolph, Berlin Wim Botha - Stevenson, Johannesburg
2007 Wim Botha: Apocalagnosia - Stevenson, Cape Town
2006 Wim Botha: Standard Bank Young Artist for Visual Art 2005 - Standard Bank Gallery, Johannesburg
2005
* A Premonition of War - Durban Art Gallery, Durban
* A Premonition of War. Standard Bank Young - The Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Museum, Port Elizabeth
* Cold Fusion. Gods, Heroes and Martyrs - Stevenson, Cape Town
* Standard Bank Young Artist for Visual Art 2005 - South African National Art Gallery, Cape Town
2003 Speculum - Stevenson, Cape Town
Group shows
2014
* Artists Engaged? Maybe - Gulbenkian. Próximo Futuro, Lisbon
* Alptraum - Maribor Art Gallery, Maribor
* Alptraum - Maribor Art Gallery, Maribor
* The Divine Comedy. Heaven, hell, purgatory from the perspective of African contemporary artists - -Museum für Moderne Kunst (MMK), Frankfurt/Main
2013 A Sculptural Premise - Stevenson, Cape Town Pophits & Alptraum - Artspace RheinMain, Offenbach The Loom of the Land - Stevenson, Johannesburg
2012
* Alptraum - The Nightmare Never Ends - X project space, Berlin
* Alptraum - Green Papaya Art Project - - Metropolitan Museum of Manila, Manila
* Alptraum - Green Papaya Art Projects, Quezon City
* Alptraum - Goethe-Institut Johannesburg, Johannesburg
2011
* Conrad Botes With Berni Searle, Wim Botha, Nandipha Mntambo, Penny Siopis, Serge Alain Nitegeka + Sabelo Mlangeni - Turner Gallery, Perth, WA
* mémoires du futur - la collection Olbricht - La Maison Rouge, Paris
* Göteborg International Biennial for Contemporary Art 2011 - Göteborg International Biennial for Contemporary Art, Gothenburg
* iALPTRAUM! - Blank Projects, Cape Town
* New Acquisitions - The Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Museum, Port Elizabeth
* Alptraum! - Anat Egbi, Los Angeles, CA
* ¡ALPTRAUM! - Washington D.C., London, Berlin, Los Angeles, Kapstadt - Projektraum Deutscher Künstlerbund, Berlin
2010
* Index 40: Leading Works from the Sanlam Art Collection - Smac Art Gallery, Stellenbosch
* PEEKABOO - Current South Africa - Helsinki Art Museum, Helsinki
* Triennale Kleinplastik - Larger Than Life - Stranger Than Fiction - Triennale Kleinplastik Fellbach, Fellbach
2009 Self/Not-self - Stevenson, Johannesburg
2008 Disguise: The art of attracting and deflecting attention - Stevenson, Cape Town
2007
2006
* South African Art Now - Stevenson, Cape Town
* Africa Remix - Moderna Museet, Stockholm
* What lies beneath - New Art from South Africa - Galerie Mikael Andersen, Copenhagen
* Africa Remix - Contemporary Art of a Continent - Mori Art Museum, Tokyo
* 7ème Biennale de l´Art Africain contemporain - Dak'Art Biennale de l’art africain contemporain, Dakar
* Personal Affects - Power and Poetics in Contemporary South African Art - Honolulu Museum of Art, Honolulu, HI
* Olvida quien soy - Centro Atlántico de Arte Moderno (CAAM), Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
2005
* South African art 1848 - now - Stevenson, Cape Town
* African Remix - l'art contemporain d'un continent - Centre Pompidou - Musée National d´Art Moderne, Paris
* Africa Remix – Contemporary Art of a Continent - Hayward Gallery, London
2004
* Personal Affects - Power and Poetics in Contemporary - Museum for African Art, New York City, NY
* Afrika Remix - Zeitgenössische Kunst eines Kontinents - Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf
2003
* The Ampersand Foundation - Warren Siebrits Gallery, Johannesburg
* Contact Zones - Colonial & Contemporary - Stevenson, Cape Town

## Exhibition catalogues

* Wim Botha: Rooms 2001-2014 (2014)
* Wim Botha: Solipsis I-V (2013)
* Wim Botha: Busts 2003-2012 (2012)
* Wim Botha: Joburg Altarpiece & Amazing Things from Other Places (PDF only, 2009)
* Wim Botha: Apocalagnosia (2007)
* Wim Botha: Standard Bank Young Artist (2005)
* Wim Botha: Cold Fusion: Gods, heroes and martyrs (2005)
* Wim Botha: Speculum (2003)