I matriculated at Woodmead School in Johannesburg and completed a B.Arch degree (with Distinction for Thesis) at the University of Cape Town. This was followed by a M. Arch degree at the Graduate School of Fine Arts at the University of Pennsylavania in Philadelphia, where I lived for seven years to avoid conscription in South Africa. I attempt to integrate architecture, landscape and art and I have collaborated with artists in the USA and South Africa.
Selected Exhibitions & Collaborations:
2010
Group Exhibition 'Naked Ambition', Studio Tonic, Cape town
Group Exhibition , Gallery 88, Paarl
2007
Group Exhibition, 'Carrer d'Avinyo', Alliance Francaise, Cape Town
2003
Artist Architect Collaborative, House Lamprecht, Knysna
1999
Artist Architect Collaborative, House Raynham, Cape Town
CIFA Award 2000
1987
Artist Architect Collaborative, SDC 'Tokyo Fantasia', Tokyo
ANS Architects Philadelphia
1986
Artist Architect Collaborative, SDC Headquarters, Tokyo
ANS Architects Philadelphia
1977
Mural Design and Execution, B Britz Arch, Potchefstroom University.
What is your favourite film of all time?!
The 8mm cine-camera movie we made as children starring my mother as’ the villain’
What music are you currently listening to and why?
I’m listening to the birds to clear my head, .. also to J-H Hofmeyr’s recent work, and songs by Boerneef ..Alone in my car Carlos Gardel, Jelly Roll Morton, Auriol Hays,.. and Ildebrando D’Arcangelo. In fact my ears are raw..
Which living artists do you most admire and why?
I’m in awe of Liu Xiaodong for his contemporary observation, his fluency with colour and (male) bodies. Then there is also the special case of Ai Wei Wei ! In SA, David Koloane and David Goldblatt who transcended a repressive regime, and found their own voices on the Reef.
Which deceased artist do you most admire and why?
More than one anonymous African, Etruscan and Classical sculptor, also Demuth, Velasques, Avery, Beuys,..and many others besides. I value the variety in fixing context and time, and restating the primacy of the human figure and its peculiarities. And then I have a love-hate relationship with Charles-Edouard Jeanneret…
Which exhibition that you have visited made the greatest impact on you and why?
The simplicity of Cycladic figures at the Benaki Museum in Athens.
What is the question you get asked most frequently about your work and how do you answer it?
Why I don’t work ‘bigger’ more often, and I answer that the beauty of an idea is size- indifferent.
What/ who inspired you to be an artist?
The observations of my late colour-loving artist mother Ini Fidéle Kloppers, and the encouragement of many friends.
Can you tell us about where you make your art and what if any, the significance of this location is
In my mini-loft in Green Point, but best away observing, and being confronted.
What do you like most about being an artist?
I wonder...
What is your greatest achievement as an artist to date?
Realizing that it’s all snakes and ladders !
What are your plans for the coming year?
To figure out aspects of natural pottery glazes made from ash.