DALE LAWRENCE
Dale Lawrence’s (b. 1988) practice is motivated by a view of art as a tool of collective human communication and as such, inseparable from other facets of life and industry. Lawrence seeks moments of novelty in repetitive behaviours: in the mechanical actions of craftsmanship; in the daily rituals of domestic life; in familiar national histories; in the habits of industry of art itself. In this, he investigates the complexities surrounding notions of value, finality, intent, labour, productivity, and authenticity.
Lawrence’s practice combines various media such as text, printmaking, installation and performance, frequently blurring lines between them. In creating new works by tearing up others that have gone unsold or recreating Kounellis’ Tragedia Civile (1975) from chip packets, Lawrence’s interventions seek to locate the value—and origin—of both an artwork and its maker.
Lawrence initially trained as a designer before, in 2010, completing his post-graduate studies at the prestigious Michaelis School of Fine Art at the University of Cape Town. He won the 2010 Katrine Harries Print Cabinet Award, an important early-career accolade. Lawrence has held solo exhibitions including Look Busy (2016), Another Helping (2017) and Further Prototypes (2019) at SMITH (Cape Town, ZA), Amateur Hour (Joburg Art Fair, Johannesburg, ZA, 2018) and Broken Tools (Nuweland Gallery, The Netherlands, 2021), as well as collective exhibitions with the collective Hoick including On Second Thought (SMITH, 2015) and Shall We Move On? (Joburg Art Fair, 2017). His work has been presented at, among other venues, AKAA Art Fair Paris, Cape Town Art Fair, Joburg Art Fair, ABSA Gallery, and the Oliewenhuis Art Museum, with work in collections including the Art Bank SA, the ABSA collection and the University of Cape Town.
Lawrence is part of the creative studio Hoick. He lives in Cape Town.
Lawrence’s practice combines various media such as text, printmaking, installation and performance, frequently blurring lines between them. In creating new works by tearing up others that have gone unsold or recreating Kounellis’ Tragedia Civile (1975) from chip packets, Lawrence’s interventions seek to locate the value—and origin—of both an artwork and its maker.
Lawrence initially trained as a designer before, in 2010, completing his post-graduate studies at the prestigious Michaelis School of Fine Art at the University of Cape Town. He won the 2010 Katrine Harries Print Cabinet Award, an important early-career accolade. Lawrence has held solo exhibitions including Look Busy (2016), Another Helping (2017) and Further Prototypes (2019) at SMITH (Cape Town, ZA), Amateur Hour (Joburg Art Fair, Johannesburg, ZA, 2018) and Broken Tools (Nuweland Gallery, The Netherlands, 2021), as well as collective exhibitions with the collective Hoick including On Second Thought (SMITH, 2015) and Shall We Move On? (Joburg Art Fair, 2017). His work has been presented at, among other venues, AKAA Art Fair Paris, Cape Town Art Fair, Joburg Art Fair, ABSA Gallery, and the Oliewenhuis Art Museum, with work in collections including the Art Bank SA, the ABSA collection and the University of Cape Town.
Lawrence is part of the creative studio Hoick. He lives in Cape Town.