| Artist | Andrea du Plessis | Resides | South Africa |
| Website | andreadp.co.za | Medium | Oil |
| Press | andreadp.co.za/press | [email protected] | |
| Follow the Artist | Instagram | Facebook | Themes | Nature The sublime experience Romanticism Spiritual alchemy Esotericism Pantheism Hybridity Interconnectivity with the natural world Jungian psychology Surrealism Metamorphosis |
About the artist
Andrea du Plessis (born 1980) is a multi-disciplinary artist based in Cape Town, specializing primarily in the fields of traditional painting. She has studied Fine Arts at the University of Pretoria, completed a postgraduate diploma in Art Therapy in the UK, as well as a degree in Multimedia Digital Visual Arts through UNISA (Cum Laude). As the overall winner of the prestigious Sasol New Signatures award in 2021, Andrea showcased her first solo exhibition at the Pretoria Art Museum in 2022.
Andrea revisits antiquity through her use of traditional oil painting techniques used by the old masters while experimenting with ways of bringing her work to life with the use of modern technologies such as augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR). Known for her detailed landscapes and organic hybridity, she aims to create immersive experiences that momentarily transport the viewer to a familiar yet alien world, while offering an opportunity to reflect on their connection with nature.
Artwork Themes & Subject Matter
Describing herself as a pantheist, Andrea du Plessis uses her practice as a means of exploring nature as a catalyst for the sublime experience. Inspired by eighteenth century Romanticism and painters such as Caspar David Friedrich she aims to portray nature as a sacred source of healing, using hybrid organic forms and psychedelia to emphasise interconnectivity amongst species in the natural world. Du Plessis also draws inspiration from the cryptic, pictorial world of alchemical illustrations and the complex symbolism of the horse, exploring themes of inner alchemy, esotericism and Jungian psychology in surreal and otherworldly contexts.
Press
Andrea du Plessis has been featured and interviewed for a number of local and international publications, such as Art Times, JAAMZIN Creative International Arts Magazine, SABC News, News24, ARTGO and City Life Arts, to name a few.
CV
Education
2021 (BA) Multimedia Digital Visual Arts (Cum Laude), University of South Africa, South Africa
2010 Therapeutic Arts (Post Grad Diploma), Tobias School of Art & Therapy, West Sussex, United Kingdom
2000 (BA) Fine Arts, University of Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2024
Fever of a Dream, DAOR Contemporary, Cape Town, South Africa
2022
Supernature: Simulacra, Pretoria Art Museum, Pretoria, South Africa
Selected Group Exhibitions
2024
Fever of a Dream (Duo show), Daor Contemporary, Cape Town, South Africa
2023
Autumn 2023, DAOR Contemporary, Cape Town, South Africa
To Embrace The Shadow Is The Journey Of The Sun And The Soul, The Melrose Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
Spring, Tina Skukan Gallery, Pretoria, South Africa
Being and Becoming: A celebration of 150 Years of Unisa, UNISA Art Gallery, Pretoria, South Africa
2022
75th Birthday Exhibition, Association of Arts, Pretoria, South Africa
2021
Sasol New Signatures Finalist Group exhibition – Pretoria Art Museum, Pretoria, South Africa
10th International Triennial of Graphic Art Bitola 2021 (virtual exhibition)
2019
Weapons of Mass Seduction, Art@Africa Clocktower Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
2018
Art B 20 x 20, Art Bellville, Cape Town, South Africa
2017
Opening Launch, Ahem Art Collective, Cape Town, South Africa
Homage to Tretchikoff, Ahem Art Collective, Cape Town, South Africa
Sanlam Portrait Award Top 100, Michealis Gallery (UCT), Cape Town, South Africa
2016
Cabinets of Curiosities, Untitled Studios, Cape Town, South Africa
Bestiary – Group exhibition, Cape Town, South Africa
The Persistence of Memory, Untitled Studios, Cape Town, South Africa
Nuances in a Narrow Spectrum version 2.5 – with Peter Mammes, Luvey ‘N Rose Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
