Claudette Schreuders is a South African sculptor whose carved and painted wooden diminutive figures reflect the ambiguities of the search for an 'African' identity in the post-apartheid era. Her sculpture is rooted in both Africa and Europe and she derives her inspiration for a number of sources including medieval church figures, West African carving and Spanish portraiture. Narratives are essential to Schreuders. Through the origins of her stories, Screuders often makes public that which is private. In Autobiography of Complexity by Rory Bester, Schreuders reveals, “The human figure is quite easy to identify with and become sentimental about. So I avoid images that are too comfortable or familiar.”
Schreuders is somewhat of a perfectionist, working slowly and indulging in her process, in which she comes to understand her subjects. In an interview with The Artist's Press, she stated, "I start off by making thumbnail sketches, very loose simple drawings of what I want to make. And I usually draw my sculptures in groups. Or on small pieces of paper, or in my books. The drawings I do for my sculptures are very informal. And the prints I do are much more finished products. My first series of etchings was a record of some of my favourite existing sculpture. And after that I decided what I would like to do is to keep a record of my own work seeing as it's something that leaves me.”
Born in 1973 in Pretoria, South Africa, Claudette Schreuders lives and works in Cape Town, where she graduated with an MFA from the Michaelis School of Fine Art in 1998. She was part of the Liberated Voices exhibition at the Museum for African Art in New York in 1999. From 2004-2005 her first solo museum exhibition toured the United States. In 2011 she had a solo exhibition at the LUX Art Institute in California. She has shown extensively in group exhibitions, including Impressions from South Africa, 1965 to Now, at the Museum of Modern Art, New York (2011), Since 2000: Printmaking Now, at the Museum of Modern Art in New York (2006), and Personal Affects: Power and Poetics, in contemporary South African art at the Museum for African Art and the Cathedral of St John the Divine, New York (2004).
Education:
1997. M.F.A. degree with distinction, University of Cape Town
1994. B.A. Fine arts degree, University of Stellenbosch
Solo exhibitions:
2019. In the Bedroom, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York City, NY, USA
2017. Claudette Schreuders: The Bystanders, Stevenson Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
2016. Claudette Schreuders: Note To Self, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, USA
2013. Great Expectations, Michael Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
2011. Claudette Schreuders: Close, Close, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, USA
2011. Artist in Residence: Claudette Schreuders, Lux Art Institute, Encinitas, California, USA
2009. Claudette Schreuders: Recent Prints, Michael Stevenson Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
2007. The Fall, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, USA
2007. Claudette Schreuders: The Long Day, Michael Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
2005. Claudette Schreuders: Recent Works, Michael Stevenson Galley, Cape Town, South Africa
2004. The Long Day: Sculpture by Claudette Schreuders, Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe
2004. Traveled to: University Art Gallery, San Diego State University, California, USA
2004. Hand Art Center, Richmond, Virginia; Atlanta College of Art Gallery, Georgia
2004. Warren Siebrits Gallery, Johannesburg. Curated by Heather Sealy Lineberry and Tina Yapelli.
2002. The Critic, Project room, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, USA
2002. Crying in Public, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, USA
2001. Burnt By the Sun, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, USA
2001. Bank National Arts Festival, Johannesburg Civic Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
1998. Claudette Schreuders, Civic Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
Selected group exhibitions:
2019. King of the Hill, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, NY, USA
2018. Orientation: The Racial Imaginary Institute Biennial, Jack Shainman Gallery, 513 West 20th Street, New York, USA
2017. Home Room: A Multimedia Group Exhibition, The School│ Jack Shainman Gallery, Kinderhook, New York, USA
2015-2016. Winter in America, The School, Kinderhook, New York, USA
2014-2015. Disturbing Innocence, The FLAG Art Foundation, New York, NY, USA
2014. From Sitting to Selfie: 300 Years of South African Portraits, Standard Bank Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
2014. Mise En Scène, The School, Kinderhook, NY, USA
2013. A Sculptural Premise, Stevenson, Cape Town, South Africa
2013. The Loom of the Land, Stevenson, Johannesburg, South Africa
2012. The Rainbow Nation, The Museum Beelden aan Zee, The Hague, Netherlands
2012. Prose/Re-Prose: Figurative Works Then and Now, SCAD Museum of Art, Savannah
2011. Impressions from South Africa, 1965 to Now, The Paul J. Sachs Prints and Illustrated Books Galleries, Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA. Curated by Judith B. Hecker. (Catalogue)
2011. Beguiling: The Self and the Subject, Irma Stern Museum, The University of Cape Town, South Africa
2011. What we talk about when we talk about love, Stevenson, Cape Town, South Africa
2010–2011. Summer 2010/11: Anton Kannemeyer, Viviane Sassen, Claudette Schreuders, Serge Alain Nitegeka, Hylton Nel, Michael Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
2010. Peekaboo: Current South Africa, Tennis Palace, Helsinki Art Museum, Helsinki
2009. Strength and Convictions: The life and times of the South African Nobel Peace Prize Laureates, Iziko
2009. South African National Gallery, Cape Town, travelling to the Nobel Peace Center, Oslo
2008. Disguise: The art of attracting and deflecting attention, Michael Stevenson, Cape Town, South Africa
2008. Mami Wata: Arts for water spirits in Africa and its diasporas, Fowler Museum at UCLA, Los Angeles; travelled (through 2010) to Chazen Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin, Madison; National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington; Mariners' Museum, Newport News, Virginia; Cantor Center for Visual Arts, Stanford University, California
2008. The Other Mainstream II: Selections from the Mikki and Stanley Weithorn Collection, Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe, Arizona
2008. Inside Out, Galerie Mikael Andersen, Berlin, Germany
2007–2008. Summer 2007–2008, Michael Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
2007. Afterlife, Michael Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
2007. All the More Real: Portrayals of Intimacy and Empathy, Parrish Art Museum, Southampton, New York
2007. South African Art: Modern Art and Cultural Development in a Changing Society, Danubiana Meulensteen Art Museum, Bratislava, Slovakia
2007. Family Relation, Warren Siebrits Modern and Contemporary, Johannesburg, South Africa
2006. Personal Affects: Power and poetics in contemporary South African art, The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii
2006. Lasting Impressions: Selections from the print collection Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe, Arizona, USA
2006. Since 2000: Printmaking Now, Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA
2006. -poiesis, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, USA
2005. Lasting Impressions: Selections from the print collection 2003–2005, Arizona State University Art Museum, Phoenix, USA
2004–2005. Collectors Show and Sale, Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, USA
2004. African Art is..., The UBS Art Gallery, New York, July 1–September 10, 2004. Curated by Jerome Vogel and Laurie Farell.
2004. Innocence and Insight, Claire Oliver Fine Art, New York, USA
2004. Personal Affects: Power and poetics in contemporary South African art, Museum for African Art and Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, New York, NY, USA
2003. Coexistence, The Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts, USA
2003. Contact Zones: Colonial and Contemporary, Michael Stevenson Contemporary, Cape Town, South Africa
2003. Teken: An exhibition of drawings by 15 contemporary South African Artists, South African National Gallery, Cape Town, Johannesburg, South Africa
2002. Familie Verhalen uit Zuid Afrika, KIT Tropenmuseum, Amsterdam
2002. Six Stories, Karoo National Arts Festival, Outshoorn, South Africa
2002. Bitterkomix, Association for Visual Arts, Cape Town, South Africa
2002. DaimlerChrysler Award for South African Sculpture
2000. A.R.E.A. 2000: Art Region End of Africa, Reykjavik Art Museum, Iceland
2000. Unplugged V, Rembrandt van Rijn Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
2000. FNB Vita Awards 2000, Sandton Civic Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
2000. Voices of South Africa, The British Museum, London, UK
1999–2002. Liberated Voices: Contemporary Art from South Africa, The Museum for African Art, New York, 1999.
Traveled to: Austin Museum of Art, Texas, May 15–August 13, 2000; Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for
Visual Arts at Stanford University, Palo Alto, California, October 10, 2001–January 6, 2002; The
University of Arizona Museum of Art, Tucson, closed October 13, 2002. (Catalogue)
Traveled to: Austin Museum of Art, Texas, May 15–August 13, 2000; Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for
Visual Arts at Stanford University, Palo Alto, California, October 10, 2001–January 6, 2002; The
University of Arizona Museum of Art, Tucson, closed October 13, 2002. (Catalogue)
1999. Emergence, Standard Bank National Arts Festival; travelled to King George VI Art Gallery, Port Elizabeth;
Durban Art Gallery, Durban; Standard Bank Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
Durban Art Gallery, Durban; Standard Bank Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
1998. Bringing up Baby: Artists Survey the Reproductive Body,” Standard Bank National Arts Festival,
Grahamstown; The Castle, Cape Town; Standard Bank Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
Grahamstown; The Castle, Cape Town; Standard Bank Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
1998. Lake Naivasha International Artists, National Museum, Nairobi, Kenya
1997. The Art of Describing, The Open Window Art Gallery, Pretoria, South Africa
1997. Lifetime Art Exhibition of Southern African Art, Out of Africa Festival, Munich, Germany
1997. Michaelis Final Year Exhibition, Michaelis School of Fine Art, Cape Town, South Africa
1997. Unplugged II, Rembrandt van Rijn Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
1996–1997. Earth and Everything: Recent Art from South Africa, Arnolfini, Bristol, 1996. Traveled to: C.C.A., Glasgow;
Firstsite, Colchester, Essex; Wrexham Arts Center, Wales.
Firstsite, Colchester, Essex; Wrexham Arts Center, Wales.
1995. International Student Exhibition, Hiroshima, Japan
1995. Kaping, Newtown Artspace, Biennial Fringe, Johannesburg, South Africa
1994. Graduation Exhibition, University of Stellenbosch Gallery, Stellenbosch
1993. South African Environments, University of Stellenbosch Gallery, South Africa
Public collections:
Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona
Davis Museum, Massachusetts
Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
Pretoria Art Museum, Pretoria, South Africa
The Progressive Corporation, Mayfield Village, OH
Scheryn Art Collection, Cape Town, South Africa
Public commissions:
2005. “Nelson Mandela, FW de Klerk, Albert Luthuli, Desmund Tutu,” Nobel Square Waterfront, Cape Town
1998. “Thomas,” Aga Kahn Walk, Nairobi
Residencies:
2011. Lux Art Institute, Encinitas, California
2001. ARTOMI, Columbia County, New York
1998. Naivasha International Artists Residency, Kenya, funded by the Ford Foundation
1996. Gasworks Studios, London, funded by The African Art Trust
Workshop:
1999. Aftershave International Artists Workshop, Jos, Nigeria
Awards:
2002. Finalist for Daimler Chrysler Award For South African Sculpture
2000. Finalist for the FNB Vita Art Prize and Exhibition 2000
Teaching:
1999–2000. Sculpture Lecturer at the University of Pretoria
1997. Part time drawing lecturer at the University of Cape Town, South Africa