CAMERON PLATTER
b. 1979 - Johannesburg, RSA
Cameron Platter is renowned for the diversity of his artistic practice and for the wide range of different styles in which he works. Originally trained as a painter, but primarily known for his large pencil drawings, Platter also makes sculptures, tapestries, ceramics, videos, books, websites, charcoal drawings and is a skilled draftsman. His art is deeply subjective and, by questioning contemporary tastes and standards, often exuberantly and loudly counter-cultural.
Characteristically working in series, and appropriating the vocabulary and nuances of modern life, Platter's works are expressionistic, gestural and acid day-glo bright; while at the same time being meticulous, precise, and exacting. He works prolifically, but also deliberately and systematically. For all their apparent spontaneity, his works are ultimately the product of an intense psychological process, with some pieces taking months or years to complete. Platter thinks in images and, in this way, his work can be seen as his way of testing of ideas, be they about the creative process itself, what it means to be an artist and a human being, or the philosophies of everyday life. His work filters the enormous amount of information available today. Blurring the distinction between high and low, his eclectic and multi-disciplinary approach can draw from sources as different as fast food, art history, ecology, psychedelics, landscape, advertising, therapy, collage, and consumerism.
Platter’s work has featured in exhibitions at MoMA, New York, SF MoMA, The 55th Venice Biennale, and Le Biennale de Dakar. His work has been featured in publications such as Artforum, The Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, Vice Magazine, NKA Journal of Contemporary African Art, L’Officiel, ArtReview, The Bangkok Post and Art Africa. His work is part of the permanent collections of institutions such as MoMA, New York, The Zietz MOCAA Collection, The Bass Museum of Art, The Margulies Collection, and the Iziko South African National Gallery. He lives and works in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2021 I Wasn’t Made I Was Made, Galerie Hussenot, Paris, FRA
2021 The Message is the Message, Warin Lab, Bangkok, THA
2020 7- ELEVEN, Open 24hrs, Cape Town, South Africa
2020 Solid Waste - WHATIFTHEWORLD, Cape Town, RSA
2019 FR1000ID, Herman Mbamba & Cameron Platter - Blank Projects, Cape Town, RSA
2018 Teen_Non Fiction - 1301PE, Los Angeles, USA
2018 GALAXY AS0-730223NMJ-ZSDSSS - KZNSA, Durban, RSA
2018 13 Works - Ever Gold Projects, San Francisco, USA
2018 You Look Like Your Face, Éric Hussenot, Paris, FRA
2018 Salami - GNYP Gallery, Berlin, GER
2017 Screaming Hallelujah - Ever Gold Projects, San Francisco, USA
2016 U-SAVED-ME, Depart Foundation, Los Angeles, USA
2016 😱😱😱 - WHATIFTHEWORLD, Cape Town, RSA
2014 I Saw This - WHATIFTHEWORLD, Cape Town, RSA
2014 Monster - Galerie Hussenot, Paris, France, FRA
2013 Everyday Apocalypse - Jack Bell Gallery, London, GBR
2012 YOU - Galerie Hussenot, Paris, France, FRA
2012 Empty Promises - Hilger Contemporary, Vienna, AUT
2011 Fucking Hell - WHATIFTHEWORLD, Cape Town, RSA
2010 Hard Times, Great Expectations - WHATIFTHEWORLD, Cape Town, RSA
2010 The Old Fashion - Volta NY, New York, USA
2010 I Am Lonelyness -Hilger Contemporary, Vienna, AUT
2009 Black Up That White Ass II - YOUNGBLACKMAN, Cape Town, RSA
2008 Studio - KNSA Gallery, Durban, RSA
2008 3 Stories - KZNSA Gallery, Durban, RSA
2008 Too Much of Anything is Very Dangerous - Hilger Contemporary, Vienna, AU
2006 Party Time - Blank Projects, Cape Town, RSA
2006 Beware the Curves - Labia Cinema, Cape Town, RSA
Selected Group Exhibitions & Projects
2022 Memory, Playfulness, and Stream of Consciousness, Tang Contemporary, Hong Kong, CHN
2021 Not Angels or Algorithms, Only Human Error - WHATIFTHEWORLD, Cape Town, RSA
2021 RESTUDIO, Cunningham Contemporary, Johannesburg, RSA
2021 White Men Can’t Jump, P72 Projects, Johannesburg, RSA
2020 Arte contemporânea na Coleção Sindika Dokolo – You Love Me, You Love Not, Municipal Gallery Almeida Garrett, Porto, POR
2019 Gold Standard: Ten Year Anniversary Exhibition, Ever Gold Projects, San Francisco, USA
2019 A Higher State of Consciousness, Éric Hussenot, Paris, FRA
2018 Defying the Narrative: Contemporary Art from West and Southern Africa, Ever Gold Projects, San Francisco, USA
2017 Dans Un Ciel Ensoleille, UTA Artist Space, Los Angeles, USA
2017 Atsala Tsala (A Selection of Contemporary African Art), Patricia Low Contemporary, Gstaad, CHE
2016 Screening Series – Satterwhite, Platter, Richmond, and Da Corte, Lundgren Gallery, Palma de Mallorca
2015 Brave New World…20 Years of Democracy, Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town, RSA
2015 Imago Mundi, Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Venice, ITA
2015 Artist in Residence, Zeitz MOCAA, Cape Town, RSA
2014 Uncertain Terms - WHATIFTHEWORLD, Cape Town, RSA
2014 Public Intimacy, Art and Other Ordinary Acts in South Africa, SFMOMA, San Francisco, USA
2014 Brave New World… 20 Years of Democracy - Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town, RSA
2014 Burned By The Sun / Quemados Por El Sol - Mallorca Landings, Palma de Mallorca
2013 Imaginary Fact: South African Art and the Archive, South African Pavillion, 55th Venice Biennale, ITA
2013 Die Nächste Generation VI, Galerie im Traklhaus, Salzburg, AUT
2012 Beyond Apartheid: Sex, Race, and Politics in Contemporary Africa, Galeria Lunara, Porto Alegre, BRA
2012 A Perfect Day, Westergasfabriek, Amsterdam, NLD
2011 New Positions, Art Cologne, GER
2011 Africa!, Galerie Hussenot, Paris, FRA
2011 Coca- Colonized, Marte Museum, SLV
2011 Rencontres Internationales, Haus Der Kultur, Berlin, GER
2011 Absent Heroes, Iziko South African National Gallery, RSA
2011 Impressions from South Africa, 1965 to Now, Museum of Modern Art, MoMA New York, USA
2010 Twenty, 20 Years of South African Sculpture, Nirox Foundation, Gauteng, RSA
2010 Spier Contemporary, Travelling, Cape Town, RSA
2010 1910 - 2010: From Pierneef to Gugulective, South African National Gallery, RSA
2010 The Spirit is Not the Idea, Says the Penguin, CO-OP, Johannesburg, RSA
2010 Dak’Art 2010, Biennial of Contemporary African Art, Dakar, SEN
2010 Contemporary Artists from South Africa, BEK, NOR
2010 Africa Assume Art Position, Primo Marella Gallery, Milan, ITA
2010 Coca- Colonized, Brot Kunsthalle, Vienna, AUT
2010 Rencontres Internationales, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, FRA
2009 Clair/ Obscur Film Festival, Basel, CHE
2009 Manifesto, CO-OP, Johannesburg, RSA
2009 Word Up!, AVA Gallery, Cape Town, RSA
2009 Sing Into My Mouth, WHATIFTHEWORLD, Cape Town, RSA
2008 On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, Hilger Contemporary, Vienna, AUT
2008 Art 39 Basel, Hilger Contemporary, Vienna, AUT
2007 Love, South Beach Emporium, Miami, USA
2006 Tour, a slice of life, Hilger Contemporary, Vienna, AUT
2006 Rotterdam International Film Festival, Rotterdam, Holland, NLD
Art Fairs
Investec Cape Town Art Fair, Cape Town, RSA: 2017 / 2018 / 2019 / 2022
WOPART Lugano, Canton Ticino, CHE: 2021
Art Paris, Paris, FRA: 2021
1-54 London Contemporary African Art Fair, London, GBR: 2017 / 2019 / 2020
1-54 New York Contemporary African Art Fair, New York, USA: 2019
Art Brussles, Brussles, BEL: 2019
Art Cologne, Cologne, GER: 2019
VOLTA Art Fair, Basel, CHE: 2018
FNB Art Joburg Fair, Johannesburg, RSA: 2018 / 2020
viennacontemporary, Viena, AUT: 2015 / 2016
Design Miami, Miami, USA: 2015
PULSE New York, New York, USA: 2015
Art Stage Singapore, SGP: 2015
Permanent Collections
MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) New York, USA
Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town, RSA
FRAC Centre, Pays de la Loire, FRA
Margulies Collection, Miami, USA
Zeitz Collection, RSA
The New Church Collection, RSA