Kendell Geers

European by descent, African by birth, Kendell Geers defines himself as both animist and mystic, shaman and alchemist, punk and poet. Committed to the fight against apartheid from a very young age, Geers used his experience as a revolutionary to develop a psycho-socio-political approach in which ethics and aesthetics are viewed as two sides of the same coin spinning on the giant table of history. In his hands, the vast narrative of art is brought into question, the languages of power and ideological codes are disrupted, expectations dashed, and systems of belief are transformed into aesthetic canons. The contradictions that are intrinsic to the artist’s identity are embodied in his work. His pieces combine personal with political, poetry with misery, violence with erotic tension. Geers works in various media and techniques, ranging from everyday objects to large-scale installations, and comprising the use of neon, performance and video.

Recent solo and group exhibitions were held at The State Hermitage Museum in partnership with Fondazione Berengo, Saint Petersburg; Le Centre de la Gravure et de l’Image imprimée, La Louvière, Belgium; The Triennial of Kortrijk, Kortrijk, Belgium; Bruges Triennial, Bruges, Belgium; BOZAR/Centre for Fine Arts, Brussels, Belgium; Fondazione Berengo Art Space, Venice, Italy; MAXXI Museum Zeitz MOCA, Cape Town, South Africa, Rome, Italy; MOCA Toronto, Toronto, Canada; Galleria nazionale d’arte moderna e contemporanea, Rome, Italy; Institut Supérieur Des Beaux Arts, Besançon, France; Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa; Stephen Friedman Gallery, London, UK; Yvon Lambert, Paris, France; Inlaks Shivdasani Foundation, New Delhi, India; Haus der Kunst, Munich, Germany; Today Art Museum, Beijing, China; The 11th edition of the Shanghai Biennale, Shanghai, China; Musée d’Aquitaine, Bordeaux, France; MACBA, Barcelona, Spain; Dordrechts Museum, Dordrecht, The Netherlands; Frac Haute-Normandie, France; Internationale Kunstmanifestatie, Utrecht, The Netherlands; Museo de Arte Moderna, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil; BPS22, Charleroi, Belgium; Museo de Arte Contemporaneo, Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, La Habana, Cuba.

Kendell Geers is included in numerous museum and public collections such as Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, USA; Zeitz MOCA, South Africa, BPS22, Charleroi, Belgium; Centre Pompidou, Paris, France; Chicago Art Institute, IL USA; Johannesburg Art Gallery, South Africa; Marta Herford Museum, Germany; Magasin 3 Konsthall, Stockholm, Sweden; SMAK Ghent, Belgium; South African National Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa; UNISA Gallery, Pretoria, South Africa, and Wits University Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa.