STUDIO WORK
I am a lacemaker and an artist. My penchant for arcane media and aesthetics has led to a diverse art practice that includes macramé, drawn thread embroidery, encaustic painting, pinhole photography as well as traditional painting, drawing, sculpture and printmaking. Thematically, my work focuses on portraiture and the gaze, photography and representation, appropriation, web-media cultures, as well as some forays into overt queer politics. Often informed by world art history, and personal biography, my desire to understand the machinery of contemporary visual cultures leans toward the Romantic. I value iconography and craftsmanship, with mastery and innovation as qualifiers for the latter.
BIOGRAPHY
I achieved my MA in Fine Arts from the University of Stellenbosch in 2006. Since then I've had 10 solo exhibitions. In 2021 I represented South Africa at the Indian Ocean Craft Triennial in Perth. In 2018 I was the featured artist of the Andorran city of Escaldes- Engordany’s 12th Textile and Glass Symposium. Notable group exhibitions include Lace/not lace at the Hunterdon Art Museum in Clinton, New Jersey; Crafted: Objects in flux at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts (2018), Women’s work at the Iziko South African National Gallery (2016), as well as the touring exhibition, Queer Threads: Crafting Identity and Community, first exhibited at the Leslie + Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art, New York (2015). My work is represented in the public collections of the Iziko South African National Gallery, The Norval Foundation, the A4 Art Foundation and the Artphilein Foundation, Switzerland.
CURRICULUM VITAE
B.1977, Pretoria, South Africa. I live and work in Muizenberg, Western Cape
EDUCATION
2006 University of Stellenbosch: MA in Fine Art.
1999 University of Stellenbosch: BA in Fine Art.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2020 The Burden of Excess: Whatiftheworld Gallery: Cape Town.
2019 The Little Binche Peacock and Other Utopian Dreams: Whatiftheworld Gallery: Cape Town.
2017 Vreesaanjaende Verligting, Whatiftheworld Gallery: Cape Town.
2015 The Fallen and the Drowned, Whatiftheworld Gallery: Cape Town.
2014 The lacemaker's studio, DOCK: Basel.
2012 These waves, Whatiftheworld Gallery: Cape Town.
2011 Fred, Denis & other Portraits, VOLTA7, Basel, Switzerland (Whatiftheworld).
2008 Convoluted involvement, Bell-Roberts: Cape Town, Absa Gallery: Johannesburg.
2006 The distance between us, Bell-Roberts: Cape Town.
2005 Excluded & Unsaid, Blank: Cape Town.
Catalogues
GROUP EXHIBITIONS / PROJECTS
2024
UNTIL THE RIPPLES DIE AWAY, World Lace Festival, Pieštany, Slovakia
2023
INTERLACED, THE FABRIC OF ART, Childs Gallery, Boston.
2022
FISKARS VILLAGE ART & DESIGN BIENNALE, Raasepori, Finland
INDECENT - A GROUP EXHIBITION OF LACE MINIATURES, Whatiftheworld Gallery, Cape Town.
2021
INDIAN OCEAN CRAFT TRIENNIAL, John Curtin Gallery, Perth.
A LINE BEYOND, curated by Olga Speakes, AVA Gallery, Cape Town.
BETWEEN STRANGERS, Nuweland, Oosterzee-Buren, The Netherlands
2020
MATERIALITY, Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town.
2019
FESTIVAL OF LIGHT - Spier Estate, Stellenbosch.
BOBBIN LACE DESIGN & BINCHE CLOTH STITCH MANIPULATION - Facilitator of a two-day workshop at the Hunterdon Art Museum, Clinton, NJ, USA.
2018
EBB 'N' FLOW-LACE, PLACE AND CLIMATE by Jane Atkinson, with showcases by International Lacemakers. Walford Mill Museum, Wimborne, UK.
LACE, NOT-LACE (Curated by Devon Thein), Hunterdon Art Museum, Clinton, NJ, USA.
THE 12TH TEXTILE AND LACE SYMPOSIUM, CAEE (Escaldes-Engordany Art Gallery), Escaldes-Engordany, Andorra.
SUNDAY SERVICE - A queer art exhibition curated by Brett Charles Seiler and Heinrich Groenewald. GUS, Stellenbosch. SA.
2017
YOU AND I (curated by Ziphozenkosi Dayile and Kemang Wa Lehulere), A4 Arts Foundation, Cape Town, SA.
2016
AFTER THE THRILL IS GONE - Fashion Politics and culture in Contemporary South African Art (Curated by Andrew Heinlich), Richmond Center for Visual Arts, Kalamazoo, USA.
DEAR EUROPA - Whatiftheworld Gallery, Cape Town, SA.
WOMEN’S WORK - Crafting stories, subverting narratives (curated by Ernestine White & Olga Speakes), Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town, SA.
2015
FOREIGN BODIES. Whatiftheworld, Cape Town, SA.
QUEER THREADS - Crafting Identity and Community (Curated by John Chaich). Decker Gallery, MICA, Baltimore, USA.
CRAFTED: OBJECTS IN FLUX (curated by Emily Zilber), Boston Museum of Fine Arts, USA.
30 years of the ABSA Atelier, KKNK Oudtshoorn / Absa Gallery, Johannesburg, SA.
’n KOERANT GEBORE UIT HOOP EN SMART (curated by Sandra Hanekom), Die Burger Suidoosterfees, Artscape, Cape Town, SA.
Monologues (curated by Meredith Randall), Aardklop, Potchefstroom, SA.
2014
Queer Threads (curated by John Chaich), Leslie + Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art, New York, USA.
Brave New World (curated by Andrea Lewis and Ernestine White) Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town.
What lies beneath, Equus Gallery, Cavalli Estate, SA.
2013
Suspicious Minds - Artist's exploration of mind and matter, Michaelis Gallery: Cape Town
2011
'Trading Freedoms' (part of the conference Love, Sex, Desire & the (Post)Colonial) curated by Bettina Malcomess, University of London
Ingrid Jonker: Rust & Vrede: Durbanville
2010
Manet's too tight to mention: What if the World: Cape Town
The Menippean Uprising, blank projects: Cape Town
Ways of seeing, Ore gallery: Cape Town.
Inverting the Pyramid, blank projects: Cape Town
1910-2010: From Pierneef to Gugulective, Iziko South African National Gallery: Cape Town
Swallow My Pride, blank projects: Cape Town
2009
The gift (collaboration with Liza Grobler), Irma Stern Museum: Cape Town.
Studio visit, AVA: Cape Town
Signs/Representation, 14-1 Gallerie: Stuttgart
Obsessie, KKNK- Oudshoorn
2008
The bijou burns again, UCA: Cape Town
2007
A Legacy of Men, Johannesburg Art Gallery: Johannesburg
Selected projects 2005-2007, blankprojects: Cape Town
Love & misery, BIJOU art studios: Cape Town (P)
Greenhouse, Bell-Roberts: Laurensford, Somerset West
Portrait/Landscape, Bell-Roberts: Laurensford, Somerset West
ABSA L’atelier regional finalists exhibitions, Art-B: Bellville & ABSA Gallery: Johannesburg
Fest, Rust & Vrede: Durbanville
2006
Take it like a man, blank projects: Cape Town
2005
Paper never lies, VEO: Cape Town
ABSA L’atelier regional finalists exhibitions, Art-B: Bellville & ABSA Gallery: Johannesburg
2004
Sex & Kultuur Queer Arts Festival, AMAC: Cape Town
LVJ+MJB XXX, Klein Karoo National Arts Festival: Oudtshoorn (as part of the D.I.E.N.S-collective) (P) ABSA L’atelier regional finalists exhibitions, Art-B: Bellville & ABSA Gallery: Johannesburg
2000
Softserve2: Art at play, National Gallery: Cape Town
1999
Softserve Multimedia art event, National Gallery: Cape Town
1997
District Six Public Sculpture Festival: Cape Town (as part of the Stellenbosch Paper Project)(P).
RESIDENCIES
2014 Atelier Mondial/Prohelvetia: Basel, Switzerland
2008 Cité Internationale des Arts: Paris, France
AWARDS
2007 Overall winner: ABSA L’Atelier
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Iziko South African National Gallery. Artphilein Foundation: Switzerland.
REPRESENTATION:
Whatiftheworld, South Africa. Nuweland, The Netherlands.
VIDEO & AUDIO MEDIA:
Country Road Group/Trenery (2018) Trenery Guild - Pierre Fouché. [video]. Available at: https://youtu.be/eTuReT31nHE
ARTICLES/REVIEWS:
RECENT:
Lambert, M. 2023. Informed Source - Obscuring for Clarity: The Laceworks of Pierre Fouché. in Surface Design Journal. Winter 2023. p44-47
Hart, S. 2021. 'Festival put Craft on the Horizon'. Art Guide Australia. Sep./Oct. (text file)
Huchet, M. 2021. 'La dentelle retrouve ses lettres de noblesse/Lace Regains its Noble Status' TL Magazine. Issue 35. Spring/Summer 2021. p.189
a.u. 2006. ‘Listings: International: South Africa: Pierre Fouché at Bell-Roberts’ Modern Painters. November.
Boshoff, L. 2015. The Bare Thread (online) available: http://www.louisboshoff.com/2015/03/11/the-bare-thread/
Burger, F. 2008. Review: Convoluted Involvement. Artsouthafrica. Vol.7, issue 2. summer. p.103
Chemaly, T.L. 2010. Affairs of the heart. Top Billing Magazine. February. p.12-13
De Swardt, A. 2011. Another aperture - craft towards and alternative photography (Catalogue essay in Pierre Fouché Selected Work 1999-2011), Cape Town: Whatiftheworld.
Fouché, P. 2006. The distance between us : strategizing a queer, personal and social politic. Thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree Master of Arts (Fine Arts) at the University of Stellenbosch. (Underlined title links to a PDF file of the manuscript)
Fouché, P. 2010. Kunskyk: Gonzales Torres bring sterk boodskap oor verlies. Die Burger. Sat. 30 Jan. p.10.
Fouché, P. 2011. The Alchemy of the Sculptress (Catalogue essay in the artist monograph Daniella Mooney - Maybe Your Magic is Working). Cape Town: Whatiftheworld: p10-13.
Grobler, L. 2006. Glippende Herinneringe. Die Burger. 23 Nov.
Gurney, K. 2007. Emotional Exorcism. Artsouthafrica. vol.5, issue 4, winter, p56-58.
Gurney, K. 2007. ‘Engendering debate: Situating a legacy of men’. In McInnes, J. (ed.) 2007. A legacy of men. Johannesburg: David Krut (Catalogue for an exhibition held at the Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg, 25 November to 14 February). p.11.
Hoffman, A. 2014. Fadenzeichnungen mit Farbschattierungen - Der Südafrikaner Pierre Fouché macht aus traditionellen Handwerkstechniken Gegenwartskunst. Basler Zeitung, 12 March 2014.
Hart, S. 2021. 'Festival put Craft on the Horizon'. Art Guide Australia. Sep./Oct.
Huchet, M. 2021. 'La dentelle retrouve ses lettres de noblesse/Lace Regains its Noble Status' TL Magazine. Issue 35. Spring/Summer 2021. p.189
Keylock, M. 2008. Review: Convoluted Involvement. Mail & Guardian. 31 October.
Keylock, M. 2010. Swallowing pride. Mail & Guardian. 26 Feb. p.10.
Kuijers, I. & Pollak, L. 2017. Movement Ensnared: Pierre Fouché’s ‘Vreesaanjaende Verligting’ (online) available: https://artthrob.co.za/2017/08/17/movement-ensnared-pierre-fouches-vreesaanjaende-verligting/
Lambert, M. 2023. Informed Source - Obscuring for Clarity: The Laceworks of Pierre Fouché. in Surface Design Journal. Winter 2023. p44-47
Leibbrandt, T. 2014. Brave New World - Various Artists at Iziko South African National Gallery (online) available: http://www.artthrob.co.za/Reviews/Tim_Leibbrandt_reviews_Brave_New_World_by_Various_Artists_at_Iziko_South_African_National_Gallery.aspx
McInnes, J. 2006. Six of the best. The big issue (South Africa). Issue 105, volume 10, April.
McInnes, J. (ed.) 2007. A legacy of men. Johannesburg: David Krut (Catalogue for an exhibition held at the Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg, 25 November to 14 February). p.13.
Minnaar, M. 2006. Fine essay on relationships. Cape Times. 22 November.
Minnaar, M. 2012. Fouché se konsepkuns verruim. Die Burger. 5 October
Minnaar, M. 2017. Bekoorlike Omgang met Estetika, Medium. Die Burger. 25 July
Morris, C. 2016. Artists we love: Pierre Fouché (online) available: https://www.visi.co.za/artists-we-love-pierre-fouche/
Myburg, J. 2008. Onthou, besweer die afwesige. Beeld, 22 September. P. 22 (underlined title provides a link to a translated version of this article)
Panchia, B. 2020. Abri de Swardt’s Ridder Thirst LP project (online) available: https://africanah.org/abri-de-swardts-ridder-thirst-lp-project/
Pollock, L. 2010. Ways of seeing - at the ORE Gallery. Arttimes: Businessart. July 2010. p.8
Pollock, L. 2010. The Menippean Uprising. South African Art Times. November 2010. p.29. (Underlined title provides a link to a 3MB PDF file)
Pople, L. 2007. L’Atelier wenner op die regte pad. Die Burger. 1 August. p.11.
Saptouw, F. 2006. Review: The distance between us [online] available: http://www.artthrob.co.za/06dec/reviews/bellroberts.html
Stephen, J. 2012. Young African Artists 2012 - Pierre Fouche. Business Day Wanted Magazine.
Stielau, A. 2015. Wound Thread: Pierre Fouché’s lacemaking (online) available: http://artthrob.co.za/2015/03/23/wound_thread/
Stupart, L. 2011. Double Negative - Performance, Performativity and the Queer Impostor
(Catalogue essay in Pierre Fouché Selected Work 1999-2011), Cape Town: Whatiftheworld. (The underlined title provides a link to an 112KB PDF version of this article)
Swinkels, D. 2014. 'Erotiek in katoen en kant - Pierre Fouché over thema en techniek' in Textiel Plus. No 229. Autumn. ISSN:0927-7560. p.36,37
Van der Vyfer, L. 2007. Vyf vrae aan Pierre Fouché. De Kat. October: Summer. p.27
Williamson, S. 2006. Pierre Fouché: Artbio. in Artthrob [online] available: http://www.artthrob.co.za/07sept/artbio.html
Zaaiman, C. 2004. Art at your service: D.I.E.N.S. at the KKNK [online] available: http://www.artthrob.co.za/04may/project.html
(linked texts are reproduced here for scholarship purposes , or to external websites when available online)