Artist

André Stead is one of South Africa’s most diverse artists, unconventional, prolific and understated, yet his work has reached the recesses of collector’s galleries worldwide. His work is empathetic with a reverence for the human experience.

He defies convention favouring freedom of expression over expected narratives and his work carries a powerful emotional undertone. Born in Evander in 1975, Stead attended art classes from the age of 6 as therapeutic relief from severe dyslexia. Here he discovered his love for art and a way to express himself without the language barrier, starting a life long journey to master the art of speaking without words. His talent afforded him a space at the prestigious Pro Arte School of Arts in Pretoria where he focused on painting and drawing. He graduating with honours and had work accepted in the Iscor permanent collection during his last year at art school.

Soon after art school Stead started focusing primarily on sculpture, after his wife famously surprised him one day with a log and an axe prompting him to start making sculptures. Over the following years Stead meticulously worked his way through each sculpture medium from wood to clay all the way through to iron and bronze. After a decade of acquiring practical knowledge on materials and sculpture mediums, Stead had teamed up with Otto Du Plessis to develop the Bronze Age Art Foundry. During this period he gained expert knowledge of moulding and the lost wax casting process, as well as unprecedented exposure to the greater art world.

In 2007 Stead went trough a devastating divorce that prompted him to dedicate all his time to the development of original artwork. Four year later his ex-wife passed away making him a single farther of three boys. With all the odds stacked up against him Stead worked and parented harder than ever and produced an impressive body of work over the course of a decade. In this period his focus shifted towards modern materials like resin and carbon fibre composites and plexiglass. In 2011 Stead created a large scale installation artwork for Laurence Graaf initiating a new branch of site specific sculptural installations that would quickly become a popular narrative.

Stead's graceful figures and vibrant installation artworks have earned him a reputation for delivering work of exceptional quality with creative ingenuity and skill. His work has an etherial quality due to the fact that he is not only representing the physical form but simultaneously the form of the mind and the heart.

"For him, human connection is not only possible by reaching outward into the world, it is all the more profoundly possible by turning inward and finding a universe of possibility within ourselves. It is for this reason that I regard Stead as a sculptor of the ethical heart and mind."

- Ashraf Jamal

Curriculum Vitae - André Stead

Born in Evander 1975, lives and works in Cape Town.

Qualifications and Awards

  • 2007 Eight years bronze casting and Foundry Course at Bronze Age Art Foundry, Simon's Town
  • 1997 Metal forging tuition, John Allesandri, Cape Town
  • 1995 Graphic design course, Gunther Komnick, Cape Town
  • 1994 Goldsmith apprenticeship, Pretoria
  • 1993 Pro Arte School of Arts, Distinction with colours for Art, Pretoria
  • 1991 Merit award, Iscor Art Competition, Iscor Permanent Art Collection, Pretoria

Selected Exhibitions and Commissions

2021

  • Paradise Perpetuated, Is Sculpture , Group exhibition, Tokara Wine Estate, Stellenbosch
  • POP, Group exhibition, Melrose Arch Gallery, Diamond Walk, Sandton City
  • Sculptx, Group exhibition, Melrose Arch Gallery, Johannesburg
  • Emergence, Group exhibition, Christopher Møller Art Gallery, Cape Town
  • Offering, Group exhibition, Everard Read Gallery, Franschhoek.
  • Exhibit one, Group exhibition, Knysna Fine Art, Val De Vie, Paarl

2020

  • Introspection, Group exhibition, Melrose Arch Gallery, Diamond Walk, Sandton City
  • International sculpture day, Group exhibition, Melrose Arch Gallery, Johannesburg
  • Zug Installation art project, Private commission, Zug, Switzerland
  • Meeth-Willkomm installation art project, Private commission, Germany

2019

  • Disrupting Patterns, Group exhibition, Melrose Arch Gallery, One and Only Hotel
  • Material Identities, Group Exhibition, Melrose Arch Gallery, Johannesburg
  • Selectors exhibition, Group exhibition, Knysna Fine Art, Knysna
  • Sculptx, Group exhibition, Melrose Arch Gallery, Johannesburg
  • Ravens in flight, Private commission, Santa Fe, New Mexico
  • Santa Fe Doves, Private commission, Santa Fe, New Mexico
  • Cape Town Art Fair 2019, Art Fair, Christopher Møller Art Gallery, Cape Town

2018

  • Sculptx, Group exhibition, Melrose Arch Gallery, Johannesburg
  • Celebration of Winter, Group exhibition, Grande Provence Gallery, Franschhoek
  • Charity Auction, Private Auction in aid of Groote Schuur Hospital, Stellenbosch
  • Sculpture on the Cliffs, Public art exhibition, Hermanus Fine Arts, Hermanus
  • Timeless, Group exhibition, Melrose Arch Gallery, Umhlanga, KwaZulu-Natal
  • Guest Artist, Stellenbosch Arts Association Members' Exhibition, Stellenbosch
  • Cape Town Art Fair 2018, Art Fair, Christopher Møller Art Gallery, Cape Town

2017

  • Stable 2017, Group exhibition, Melrose Arch Gallery, Johannesburg
  • Charity Auction, Private Auction in aid of The Rainbow Academy, Cape Town
  • 20-year celebration, Group exhibition, Knysna Fine art, Knysna
  • Art at the Clock Tower, Group exhibition, Cast - Cape Town, V&A Waterfront
  • Sculptx, Group exhibition, Melrose Arch Gallery, Johannesburg
  • Black and white, Group exhibition, Absolute Art Gallery, Stellenbosch
  • Summer Exhibition, Group exhibition, Art at Durban Ville Hills, Durban Ville
  • Public artwork, Rand Merchant Bank - Private Collection, Johannesburg
  • Cape Town Art Fair 2017, Art Fair, Christopher Møller Art Gallery, Cape Town
  • Mute Wisdom, Group exhibition, Art at Almenkerk, Algin Grabow

2016

  • Sublimation, Solo exhibition, Christopher Møller Art Gallery, Cape Town
  • A Sense of Place, Group exhibition, Imibala Gallery, Somerset West
  • Self-I, Group exhibition, Everard Read Gallery, Franschhoek.
  • Transmutation, Group exhibition, Knysna Fine Art Gallery, Knysna
  • Cape Town Art Fair 2016, Art Fair, Christopher Møller Art Gallery, Cape Town
  • A Certain Kind Of Madness, Group exhibition, Imibala Gallery, Somerset West

2015

  • Summer Exhibition, Group exhibition, Knysna Fine Art Gallery, Knysna
  • Signature, Group exhibition, Everard Read Gallery, Franschhoek.
  • US Woordfees, Group exhibition, P J Olivier Art Centre, Stellenbosch
  • Cape Town Art Fair 2015, Art Fair, Christopher Møller Art Gallery, Cape Town
  • Bring your own identity, Group exhibition, Knysna Fine Art Gallery, Knysna
  • Is Sculpture at Tokara, Group exhibition, Tokara Wine Estate, Stellenbosch

2014

  • Murmuration, Corporate commission, Delaire Graff Wine Estate, Stellenbosch
  • Woordfees 2014, Group exhibition, P J Olivier Art Centre, Stellenbosch
  • Cape Town Art Fair 2014, Art Fair, Christopher Møller Art Gallery, Cape Town
  • The Fountain of youth, Private commission, Oxford, United Kingdom
  • The Wall of Words, Corporate Commission, Oxford, United Kingdom

2013

  • Koi Fish Installation, Private commission, Singapore
  • Cape Town Art Fair 2013, Art Fair, Christopher Møller Art Gallery, Cape Town
  • National Heritage Project Company Commission
  • Elemental man, Solo exhibition, Knysna Fine Art Gallery, Knysna
  • Woordfees 2013, Group exhibition, P J Olivier Art Centre, Stellenbosch

2012

  • Summer, Group exhibition, Christopher Møller Art, Cape Town
  • Young Minds Charity Fund Raiser, st. Lorient, Pretoria
  • Illumination, Solo exhibition, Christopher Møller Art, Cape Town
  • Oxford Swallows, Private commission, Oxford, United Kingdom

2011

  • Flight of the Swallows, Corporate commission, Delaire Wine Estate, Stellenbosch
  • Evolution, Solo exhibition, Is Art Gallery, Franschhoek
  • Group exhibition, Christopher Møller Art, Cape Town
  • Group exhibition, Dawid's Choice Gallery, Johannesburg
  • Roodt Inc, group exhibition, Dawid's Choice Gallery, Johannesburg

2010

  • Group exhibition, Dimitrov Art Gallery, Dullstroom
  • Rooftop exhibition, group show, St. Loriant, Pretoria
  • Group exhibition, The Upper Deck Gallery, Plettenberg Bay
  • Group exhibition, Christopher Møller Art Gallery, Cape Town

2009

  • Group exhibition, Everard Read Gallery, Johannesburg
  • Identity, group exhibition, Platform on 18th Gallery, Pretoria
  • Figures, solo exhibition, Northcliff, Johannesburg
  • Female series launch, Grande Provence Heritage Wine Estate, CTICC

2008

  • Angels, group exhibition, Grande Provence Gallery, Franschhoek
  • Group exhibition, Everard Read Gallery, Cape Town
  • Medallions, Corporate Commission, Burj Khalifa Development, Dubai

2006

  • Corporate commission, Graham Beck Wine Estate, Franschhoek
  • Group exhibition, Bronze Age Sculpture House, Cape Town

2000 – 2005

  • Group exhibition, Seidelberg Wine Estate, Paarl
  • Miniatures, group exhibition, Bronze Age Sculpture House, Cape Town
  • Board of Executors, Corporate Commission, Cape Town
  • Group exhibition, Vineyard Gallery, Cape Town

1999

  • Group exhibition, The Christie Gallery, Cape Town
  • Group exhibition, Everard Read Gallery, Cape Town

1998

  • Wooden figures, Solo exhibition, Novalis Institute, Cape Town
  • Sanlam Restoration - Award, Corporate commission, Sanlam, Cape Town
  • Group exhibition, Association for visual arts, Cape Town

1997

  • Sanlam Literary Award, Corporate commission, Sanlam, Grahamstown
  • Group exhibition, Primart Gallery, Cape Town

Collections

  • Laurence Graff
  • Bernard Fontannaz
  • Board of Executives
  • Rand Merchant Bank Collection
  • National Heritage Project Company
  • Graham Beck Estates
  • Johnny Walker
  • Tom Nickloff
  • Willy Woestyn
  • Sanlam Collection
  • Iscor Collection