Things Fall Apart 1, 2012
Found plastic mesh bag, custom-made Tartan fabric
69 x 105 cm

artist profile

Dan Halter

born

1977

lives and works

Cape Town, South Africa

education

B.F.A., Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa, 2001

about the artist

“Fabric” and “fabrication” are the central coordinates anchoring Dan Halter’s topography of art production that spans the arenas of assemblage, collage, video, sculpture and installation.  Shredding, incising, tearing then weaving, replacing, layering professed Zimbabwean materials such as national maps, cultural products or local curio with classical literature, statistical documents and custom-made miscellany, he makes clever, cutting commentary on the intimately entwined histories and politics of neighbors Zimbabwe and South Africa.  Addressing difficult cross-border dynamics as well as entrenched regional problems with a deeply humanist sensibility, his art achieves the fine balance between intellectual rigor, organic construction and conceptual play.  Originally from Harare, Zimbabwe, Halter now lives and works in Cape Town, South Africa.  The artist has completed several residencies in recent years: they include the Pro Helvetia residency at the Schule für Gestaltung in Zürich, Switzerland, the Capacete residency of VideoBrasil in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and the Glenfiddich residency in Dufftown, Scotland.  He has mounted one-man shows in Milan, Johannesburg, London, Weisbaden and Cape Town, etc.  He has participated in numerous exhibitions, fairs and biennials all over the world, such as several editions of the Cape Town Biennale; the 16th and 17th VideoBrasil in São Paulo, Brazil; the 3rd Guangzhou Triennial in China; the 10th Havana Biennial in Cuba; and 7th International Triennial of Contemporary Textile Arts in Tournai, Belgium.

  • Selected exhibition history
  • Permanent collections
  • Projects
  • Editions
  • Publications
  • Recent news

2012SOLO The Truth Lies Here, WHATIFTHEWORLD / GALLERY, Cape Town, South Africa

GROUP Beyond Apartheid: sex, race, and politics in contemporary Africa, Galeria Lunara, Porto Alegre, Brazil

2011GROUP Volta7, Basel, Switzerland

GROUP Propaganda by Monuments, CICCAIRO, Cairo, Egypt

GROUP 7th International Triennial of Contemporary Textile Arts, Tournai, Belgium

SOLO Dan Halter / Mappa Del Mondo, Nassauischer Kunstverein Weisbaden, Weisbaden, Germany

GROUP 17th VideoBrasil, São Paulo, Brazil

2010GROUP US, South African National Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa

GROUP Mooimarkshow III, Galerie Weisser Elefant, Berlin, Germany

GROUP Dak’art, Dakar, Senegal

GROUP Harare International Art Fair (HIFA), Zimbabwe National Gallery, Zimbabwe

GROUP LADUMA!, Rotterdam, Holland

SOLO Double Entry, WHATIFTHEWORLD / GALLERY, Cape Town, South Africa

SOLO shifting the goalposts, (in collaboration with Adam Davies) Son Gallery, London, UK; GoetheOnMain, Johannesburg, South Africa

2009GROUP Second Johannesburg Art Fair, Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa

GROUP 10th Havana Biennial, Havana, Cuba

GROUP Objects of a Revolution, Dominque Fiat Gallery, Paris, France

GROUP Holiday, WHATIFTHEWORLD / GALLERY, Cape Town, South Africa

GROUP Project 35, NADA, Miami Art Fair, USA

2008GROUP Monologs, Gallería Animal in Santiago, Chile

GROUP Power Play, Goodman Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa

GROUP First Johannesburg Art Fair, Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa

GROUP 3rd Guangzhou Triennial, Guangzhou, China

GROUP Big Wednesday, WHATIFTHEWORLD / GALLERY, Cape Town, South Africa

SOLO never say never, Derbylius Gallery, Milan, Italy

2006SOLO take me to your leader, João Ferreira Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa

South African National Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa

UNISA, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa