Biography

Alan Alborough was born in Durban, South Africa, in 1964. He has an MA Fine Art degree from Goldsmiths College, University of London (1997), and a BA Fine Art degree from the University of the Witwatersrand (1991). He has previously held the position of Associate Professor in the Department of Fine Arts, University of Stellenbosch (2000 - 2005), been a part-time lecturer at the Technikon Witwatersrand (1994-1996), and worked as the Exhibitions Officer at the Johannesburg Art Gallery (1991-1992).
He currently lives and works in Cape Town, South Africa.

Selected exhibitions and projects

2008: The Trickster, art extra, Johannesburg
2007: SIZE TEN, Joáo Ferreira Gallery, Cape Town
2006: Artissima 13, João Ferreira Gallery, Turin, Italy
2005: In the making: materials and process, Michael Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town
2004: A Decade of Democracy, South African National Gallery, Cape Town
2003/4: Invited artist - Sasol Art Museum (solo exhibition) Stellenbosch
2003: Staff and Student Print Exhibition, US Art Gallery, University of Stellenbosch (part of the Impact International Print Conference programme)
2003: Lexicons and Labyrinths: Iconography of the Genome, South African Museum, Cape Town.
2002: FNB Vita Art Prize 2002 - Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg.
2002: Photo/Art - Sasol Art Museum, Stellenbosch.
2001/02: Homeport Cape Town - V&A Waterfront, Cape Town.
2000/01: Standard Bank Young Artist 2000 - National touring exhibition.
2000: Solo Exhibition - US Art Gallery, Stellenbosch.
1999: Emergence: Looking at 25 years of South African practice, presentation and scholarship - National touring exhibition.
1998: Alborough; Alexander; Nel; Lipson; Van Der Merwe; Wilson - Gertrude Posel Gallery, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.
1997: Graft, 2nd Johannesburg Biennale - South African National Gallery, Cape Town.
1997: MA Graduate Exhibition, Goldsmiths College, University of London.
1995/96: ROOM 6 or RULES OF LEXICON or (RED HERRING) - Installation in domestic environment, Yeoville, Johannesburg.
1994: Vita Art Now 1993 - Johannesburg Art Gallery.
1994: Outdoor site-specific sculpture for architects Manfred Hermer Grosskopff & Lombart, Johannesburg. (destroyed late 2005)
1994: State of the Art - Everard Read Contemporary, Johannesburg.
1993: Installation (FULFIL; FORCE; FEAR; FAITH) - Everard Read Contemporary, Johannesburg.
1993: Vita Art Now 1992 - Johannesburg Art Gallery.
1992: First Solo exhibition - Everard Read Contemporary, Johannesburg.

Awards, Grants and Scholarships

2007: Ampersand Foundation Fellowship (New York residency)
2006/7: Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant
2002: Winner, FNB Vita Art Prize 2002
2000: Standard Bank Young Artist for Visual Art 2000
1996/97: Commonwealth Scholarship, United Kingdom
1993: Annual Merit Award Winner 1992, Vita Art Now
1992: Quarterly Award Winner, Vita Art Now
1990: Prize-winner, Martienssen Prize Exhibition, University of the Witwatersrand
1990: Giovanna Millner Scholarship, University of the Witwatersrand
1990: Certificate of Merit (Sculpture), University of the Witwatersrand
1986: Anya Millman Scholarship for Overseas Travel, University of the Witwatersrand
1986: Prize-winner, Martienssen Prize Exhibition, University of the Witwatersrand
1986: Certificate of Merit (Sculpture), University of the Witwatersrand

Public Collections

South African National Gallery
Gauteng Legislature
Johannesburg Art Gallery
University of the Witwatersrand
Sandton Civic Art Gallery

Corporate Collections

Billiton Collection of Contemporary Art
MTN Collection
Sanlam Collection

Selected texts

2007: "Alan Alborough" Hazel Friedman, Art South Africa vol6 issue01 spring
2007: "Alborough-tekenmasjien bied venster op tydsgees" Adrienne van Eeden,Die Burger, 17 May
2005: "In the making" - Hazel Friedman, Art South Africa vol4 issue02 summer
2005: "The magnet is always on" - Andrew Lambrecht, Artthrob issue97 September (http://www.artthrob.co.za/05sept/reviews/stevenson.html).
2005: "In the making: materials and process" - Michael Stevenson Fine Art, Cape Town, August 2005 (exhibition catalogue)
2005: "spit - volume 1" Department of Fine Arts, University of Stellenbosch
2004: "10 Years 100 Artists - Art in a Democratic South Africa" - ed. Sophie Perryer, Bell-Roberts, South Africa, October 2004
2003: "TASCHENS's 1000 Favorite Websites" ed. Julius Wiedermann, Taschen, Germany October.
2003: "Kunswerk in Sasol het tonge los" - Kampusnuus, University of Stellenbosch 23 Oktober
2003: "Alan Alborough at the Sasol Art Museum" - Paul Edmunds, Artthrob, October (http://www.artthrob.co.za/03oct/reviews/sasol.html).
2003: "Alan Alborough, Sasol Art Museum" - Hazel Friedman, Art South Africa vol 02 issue 01 Spring.
2003: "Allowance for imagination" - Karen Breytenbach, Die Matie, 30 Julie.
2003: "Konsep-gedagte neig na uiterste" - Melvyn Minnaar, Die Burger July 19.
2003: "Celebrate with Alan Alborough" - Eikestad Nuus, June 13.
2003: "Art pick of the week" - Chris Roper, Mail & Guardian, June 13 to 19.
2003: "Alan Alborough at the Sasol Art Museum" - Paul Edmunds, Artthrob, July (http://www.artthrob.co.za/03july/reviews/sasol.html).
2003: "Tolletjie-brei" - Stellenbosch Gazette, May 20.
2003: "Prints and Multiples", Warren Siebrits Modern and Contemporary Art, catalogue 3, February, Johannesburg (exhibition catalogue)
2003: "Lexicons&Labyrinths - Iconography of the Genome", HSRC Cape Town (exhibition catalogue).
2003: "The Lexicons and Labyrinths of the Human Genome" - Sue Nepgen, Artthrob, June (http://www.artthrob.co.za/03june/reviews/sam.html)
2002: "Tough choices" - Kathryn Smith, Mail & Guardian, July 26 to August 1.
2002: "In/Substantiality in the Work of Alan Alborough" - Sandra Klopper, FNB Vita Art Prize Catalogue, July.
2001: "Alan Alborough at the Standard Bank Gallery" - Kathryn Smith, Artthrob, May 22.
2001: "Watching the grass grow" - Kathryn Smith, Mail & Guardian, May 18 to 24.
2001: "Eindelik tuis ... die einde van 'n kunsreis en Alan swyg" - Lucia Burger, Beeld, May 9.
2001: "Essence of show is to live and change" - Robyn Elliot, Business Day, May 4.
2001: "Seven haikus for an exhibition with no name" - Brenda Atkinson, Standard Bank Young Artist catalogue essay for Johannesburg, www.alanalborough.co.za, May.
2001: "'Kunsmasjien' boei met talle vraagstukke" - Cobus van Bosch, Die Burger, March 21.
2001: "Lego for the creative psyche" - Lucinda Jolly, Cape Argus Tonight, March 19.
2001: "Alan Alborough at the SANG" - Michelle Matthews, Artthrob, March.
2001: "An open letter to Alan Alborough" - Sue Williamson, Standard Bank Young Artist catalogue essay for Cape Town, www.alanalborough.co.za, March.
2001: "Invisible Cities and Primed Spectators" - Dirk van den Berg, Standard Bank Young Artist catalogue essay for Bloemfontein, www.alanalborough.co.za, January.
2000: "What you are, the world is" - Andrew Verster, Standard Bank Young Artist catalogue essay for Durban, www.alanalborough.co.za, November.
2000: "It's what you make of it" - Terence King, The Natal Witness, September 21.
2000: "Artist poses a challenge" - Margaret Von Klemperer, The Natal Witness, September 15.
2000: "Alborough: Conceptual and ethical dimensions" - Juliette Leeb-du Toit, Standard Bank Young Artist catalogue essay for Pietermaritzburg, www.alanalborough.co.za, September.
2000: "Alborough exhibition offers viewers another world" - Kin Bentley, Eastern Province Herald, August 1.
2000: "The Usefulness of Uselessness" - Melanie Hillebrand, Standard Bank Young Artist catalogue essay for Port Elizabeth, www.alanalborough.co.za, August.
2000: "Review: Alan Alborough" - Chris Roper, Artthrob, July.
2000: "The aesthetics of exquisite ambiguity" - Wendy Lauritano-Gers, Cue, July 8.
2000: "Objects of strange beauty" - Chris Roper, World Online, July 13.
2000: "Other world air to young artist's work" - Gillian McAinsh, Eastern Province Herald, July 3.
2000: "A Corrosive Beauty" - Colin Richards, Standard Bank Young Artist catalogue essay for Grahamstown, www.alanalborough.co.za, July.
2000: "Deduction swathed in aesthetic seduction" - Brenda Atkinson, Mail & Guardian, June 9-14.
1999: "Alborough wins Standard Bank Award" - Paul Edmunds, Artthrob, November.
1998: "Six alumni at the Gertrude Posel Gallery" - Sue Williamson, Artthrob, August.
1998: "The Johannesburg Biennale" - John Peffer-Engels, World Art #17.
1997: "It's improved but the Biennale still beats an uneven path to the soul" - Julia Teale, The Sunday Independent, October 26.
1997: "Trade Routes: History and Geography" - exhibition catalogue, 2nd Johannesburg Biennale.
1997: "Goldsmiths MA Fine Art 1997" - exhibition catalogue, Goldsmiths College, University of London.
1996/7: "April Fool's Interview: Alan Alborough and Colin Richards in Conversation, April 1 1996" - NKA Journal of Contemporary African Art, Summer/Fall, and White Elephant (unpublished).
1996: "A Cow's Tail" - Julia Charlton in collaboration with Alan Alborough, White Elephant (unpublished).
1994: "Separate, and equal: The artists of South Africa" - Andrew Solomon, The New York Times Magazine, March 27.
1994: "State of the Art" - exhibition catalogue, Everard Read Contemporary, Johannesburg.
1993: "Vita Art Now 1993" - exhibition catalogue, Johannesburg Art Gallery.
1993: "Enter into an Orwellian nightmare" - Hazel Friedman, The Star, November 10.
1993: "Brilliant and beastly work" - Anthea Bristowe, Business Day, November 2.
1993: "South Africa, Art and Literature" - Revue Noire, December.
1992: "Vita Art Now 1992" - exhibition catalogue, Johannesburg Art Gallery.
1992: "Alan Alborough sê baie met min" - Lucia Burger, Die Beeld, November 25.
1992: "Art on games people play" - Hazel Friedman, The Star, November 25.
1992: "Nursery rhymes echoing amid the vision of killing" - Anthea Bristowe, Business Day, November 12.
1990: "Student sculpture sets a high standard" - Kendell Geers, The Star, August 9