Simon Gush Curriculum Vitae

Simon Gush is a South African artist born in 1981. He moved to Belgium in 2007 from Johannesburg, where he studied Fine Art at the University of the Witwatersrand, graduating in 2003. In South Africa, Gush has been an active member of the artistic community, frequently collaborating with other producers and also curating young artists’ projects alongside developing his own practice. He completed a 2 year residency at the HISK (Higher Institute for Fine Arts) in Ghent, Belgium, in 2008. Gush currently works and lives in Cape Town, South Africa.

Education:

2011 - Fellowship Gordon institute for performing and creative arts, University of Cape Town

2008 - Laureate Hoger Instituut van Schone Kunsten (HISK)

2003 - Bachelor of Arts, Fine Art, University of Witwatersrand

Solo Exhibitions:

2011 - Representation, Stevenson, Johannesburg, South Africa

2010 - 4 for Four, A speculative montage for David Oistrakh and Sergei Prokofiev, SMAK, Gent, Belgium, (cat) and Stevenson, Cape Town, South Africa

2010 - 1st and 3rd, Gallerie West, Den Haag, The Netherlands, (cat)

2009 - Sidestep, Stevenson, Cape Town and Stevenson, Johannesburg, (cat)

2007 - Salute, Stevenson, Cape Town, South Africa, (cat)

2006 - She Loves Me, She Love Me Not, Outlet; Pretoria, South Africa

2005 - Thank You Johannesburg, Outlet; Pretoria, South Africa

2003 - Déjà vu , Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

Selected Group Exhibitions :

2011 – Connections, Kunsthalle Luzern, Luzern, Switzerland

2011 – what we talk about when we talk about love, Stevenson, Cape Town, South Africa

2010 – This is Our Time, Stevenson, Cape Town, South Africa

2010 – Halakasha, Standard Bank Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

2010 – From Pierneef to Gugulective – A fresh look at a century of South African art, Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa

2010 - Culture Shock: video interventions at the Q.E.T., Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Vancouver, Canada (curator Stephanie Rebick)

2009 - If Only I Was More Like You, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

2009 - Ename Actueel: Hoofdstuk V, Ename, Belgium, (cat) (curator Thomas Caron)

2009 - Polyfonie: HISK in Watou 2009, Watou, Belgium, (cat) (curator Hans Martens)

2009 - Lab09, Lulea Art Biennial, Lulea, Sweden, (cat) (curator Jan-Erik Lundström)

2009 - Korte Meten, Vooruit, Gent, Belgium (curator Eva De Grote) 

2009 - De Keuze van Koen van den Broek, Indian Caps, Antwerpen, Belgium, (cat) (curator Koen van den Broek)

2009 - Self / Not-Self, Brodie/Stevenson, Johannesburg, South Africa (curator David Brodie)

2009 - Bad Moon Rising 3, Boots Contemporary Art Space, St Louis, USA, (curator: Jan Van Woensel)

2009 - Test Patterns: Recent Video Work From South Africa, SF Camerawork, San Fransisco, USA, (curator Leigh Illion)

2008 - PERCHE REALIZZARE UN'OPERA QUANDO E COSI BELLO SOGNARLA SOLTANTO?, Universiteit Gent, Faculteit Ingenieurswetenschappen, Gent, Belgium (curator Philippe Van Cauteren & Thomas Caron)

2008 - I Like Belgium and Belgium Likes Me, Conflict Room, Antwerpen, Belgium

2008 - Disguise, The Art of Attracting and Deflecting Attention, Michael Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa, (cat) (curator Joost Bosland)

2008 - .za giovane arte dal Sudafrica, Palazzo delle Papesse-Centro Arte Contemporanea, Siena, Itlay (cat)

2008 - Perfect Lovers, Art Extra, Johannesburg, South Africa

2008 - Bad Moon Rising, Silverman Gallery, San Francisco, USA, (curator Jan Van Woensel)

2007 - El Manifiesto De Santiago / Das-Santiago Manifest, Centro Cultural Matucana 100, Santiago, Chile

2007 - Out of Place, Open Archive # 1, Argos, Brussels, Belgium (curator Vincent Meesen) (cat)

2007 - Making Waves, The Castle, Cape Town, South Africa (cat)

2007 - Temporary Behaviour, Marker IV Devine In.Tent, Unternehmenspark, Kassel, Germany and
Chiostro di S. Giobbe, Venice, Italy, (curator Jan Van Woensel)

2007 - Pulse , Posi+ive Event, Sun City International, South Africa (cat)

2007 - 51% / 49%, Hoger Instituut voor Schone Kunsten, Gent, Belgium

2007 - There is a Man Going Around Taking Names, (in collaboration with Dorothee Kreutzfeldt), Joao Ferreira Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa

2007 - 3 Point Turn, in collaboration with Dorothee Kreutzfeldt, Point Blank Gallery / Twist Street, Drill Hall, Johannesburg, South Africa

2007 - Follow the Arrows, World Social Forum, Nairobi, Kenya

2006 - Kazoo, The Premises Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

2006 - Khoj Kolkata, Chaudhuri Bari, Kolkata, India

2006 - saartsemerging.org, The Bag Factory, Johannesburg, South Africa (cat)

2006 - Parking Gallery Cape Town 2006, Cape Platform Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa

2006 - Making Waves, Albany Museum, Grahamstown National Arts Festival, Grahamstown, South Africa (cat)

Selected Bibliography:

-Gavin, Francesca, 2011, 100 New Artists;, Lawrence King publishing, London, pg 98-99

- Bosland, Joost, 2010, "Refracting Surfaces: Simon Gush", NKA, Journal of contemporary African Art, Fall 2010, pg76 - 81

- Cornell, Lauren; Massimiliano Gioni; Laura Hoptman, 2009, Younger Than Jesus Artist Directory, New York, Phaidon Press Ltd, pg 205

- Haines, Liz, 2009, "Uneasy Encounters" Code Magazine Issue 9 (Spring), pg 4-7

- O'Toole, Sean, 2007. Cutting-Edge Humour, Business Day quarterly Art Supplement (Summer)

- Van Cauteren, Phileppe and Thomas Caron, 2007, Uncommon Ground, Art South Africa. Vol 6.2 (Summer), pg 36-37

Selected Curating / Projects:

2006 - Founder and Curator of the Parking Gallery

2006 - Co- Founder of SaArtsEmerging with Nathaniel Stern and Bronwyn Lace

2004 - Co- founder aThirdparty with Hanli Becker, Hannes Olivier, Rat Western and Lester Adams, in order to curate Negotiate, A series of four exhibitions in celebration of Ten years of Democracy , Johannesburg Art Gallery, South Africa

2003- Curator: 20:20 Mapping Trajectories, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, for the launch of the new School of the Arts.