Hentie van der Merwe
SOUTH AFRICAN ARTIST
A South African artist whose work examines identity, queer histories, and the politics of representation through photography and mixed media. His work has been shown internationally for nearly three decades and is included in leading collections such as the South African National Gallery, the Iziko Museums of South Africa, the Johannesburg Art Gallery, and the University of the Witwatersrand Art Galleries.
Born in South Africa, van der Merwe has built a practice that traverses the personal and the political, using the body, archival imagery, and found materials to explore questions of belonging, visibility, and cultural identity. His work has garnered critical acclaim both locally and internationally, establishing him as one of the most significant voices in contemporary South African art.
Artist Statement
My work has always been concerned with the representation of those who exist on the margins — bodies, histories and desires that have been rendered invisible or illegible by dominant cultural narratives. Working primarily with photography and mixed media, I explore how images construct identity and how those constructions can be challenged, disrupted or reimagined.
Through appropriating archival photographs, combining personal imagery with historical documents, and employing collage and digital manipulation, I seek to create spaces where alternative histories can surface. The work is deeply engaged with South African history and its ongoing legacies, while also speaking to universal questions of desire, recognition, and belonging.
Selected Exhibitions
2025
New Works — Blank Projects, Cape Town
2024
Queer Futures / Queer Pasts — Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna
2023
The Politics of Representation — Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg
2022
Bodies of Evidence — South African National Gallery, Cape Town
2021
Invisible Histories — Gallery 1957, Accra
2020
Forms of Address — Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town & Johannesburg
2019
Archive Fever — Tate Modern, London (group exhibition)
2018
Desire Lines — Goodman Gallery, Cape Town
Public Collections
South African National Gallery, Cape Town
Iziko Museums of South Africa, Cape Town
Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg
University of the Witwatersrand Art Galleries, Johannesburg
Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA), Cape Town
Tate Modern, London
Education
1995
MFA, Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town
1992
BFA (Hons), Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town