WILLEM BOSHOFF
b. 1951 Johannesburg, South Africa

As a conceptual artist Willem Boshoff primarily engages with text and language. For the past four decades his visual artworks have commented on established language systems and how these function in society to empower or to exclude. One might say his arts practice has involved the roles of activist, anarchist and druid.

Willem Boshoff is well-known for his remarkable skill as a sculptor in wood, though his monumental works in black granite have a distinct elegance to them. His artistic practice involves extensive interdisciplinary interests in the fields of lexicography, botany, philosophy, as well as music, with a special interest in contemporary New Music composers.

In essence, of course, Willem Boshoff is always working with words. He has remarked that most of his works may be interpreted as books. He absorbs and writes dictionaries continuously. The writing of dictionaries forms an integral part of Boshoff’s artmaking, whether published in book form or presented as large sculptural installations. The most celebrated of these, the ongoing Blind Alphabet (1995- ) is a three-dimensional morphological dictionary of abstruse words, which makes the sighted dependant on the reading of a blind guide’s more refined sense of touch. Consistently over the past four decades, Boshoff has brought value and critical perspective to arts education in South Africa by teaching, formally evaluating MA and PhD candidates in Fine Arts and in being called on to review South Africa’s foremost Fine Arts faculties. In 2021 he was awarded an A2 rating by South Africa’s National Research Foundation (NRF), the first time this academic honour has been awarded to a visual artist.

Boshoff’s work has been exhibited extensively in South Africa and abroad, including the São Paulo and Venice Biennales, at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, France, and the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid, Spain. His work is included in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art in Washington DC and the Yorkshire Sculpture Park in Yorkshire, United Kingdom. He was the 1998 winner of the Ludwig Giess Preis für Kleinplastik by the LETTER Stiftung of Cologne, Germany.

A prolific and dedicated educator, Boshoff is currently a Professor of Fine Arts at the University of the Free State. For many years he headed up the legendary Bok Street (Witwatersrand Technikon) Art School, now part of the University of Johannesburg (UJ), which ultimately awarded him an honorary PhD in Philosophy in 2008.

 

EDUCATION

1974

National Art Teacher’s Diploma, Johannesburg College of Art (now University of Johannesburg, FADA)

1980

National Higher Diploma in Fine Art – Printmaking, Technikon Witwatersrand (now University of Johannesburg, FADA)

1984

Masters Diploma in Technology in Fine Art – Sculpture, Technikon Witwatersrand

2008

Honorary Doctorate, University of Johannesburg

2012

Research fellowship at Smithsonian Institution (jointly sponsored by National Museum of Natural History and National Museum of African Art)

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS/PROJECTS

2022

Launch of OH NO! DICTIONARY, published by the Ampersand Foundation

THE BIG DRUID: A COLLOCUTION IN THE FLORILEGIUM, documentary fi lm produced by Helène Smuts, directed by Guy Spiller

2021

WILLEM BOSHOFF: WORD WOES, solo, curated by Helène Smuts, Javett Art Centre, University of Pretoria, SA

 
THE BIG DRUID: MAN OF TREES and THE BIG DRUID: LAND ART, documentary fi lms produced by Helène Smuts, directed by Guy Spiller

YOU DON’T SAY, group exhibition, curated by Teboho Lebakeng, University of Pretoria, SA THE BLIND ALPHABET PROJECT (1993) Letter B, from Babery to Bigeminate, solo, University of Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg, SA

Invisible Heritage conference (online), The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Poland

2020

THE BLIND ALPHABET PROJECT (1993) Letter L, solo, commissioned by the Leridon Collection, Paris, France

The Lockdown Collection (TLC): Unlocking 21 days of impact, online auction, SA New World Order, Turbine Art Fair, curated by Dr Johan Thom, Johannesburg, SA

Lerner und lehren von sprachen in der Kunst (Meeting in language), group exhibition, curated by Dr Anette Reckert, the Städtische Municipal Gallerie, Delmenhorst, Germany

THE BLIND ALPHABET PROJECT (1993) Letter B, from Babery to Bigeminate, including an interdisciplinary interpretation of the work through the New Music compositions of South

African composer Dr Jaco Meyer, curated by Annali Cabano-Dempsey, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, SA

2019

WILLEM BOSHOFF: WORD WOES, solo, Yorkshire Sculpture Park Yorkshire, England, UK

SEED 1 (SAFFCA Collection), group exhibition, Villa Arcadia, Johannesburg, SA

GROW BOX, group exhibition, Zeitz MOCAA, Cape Town, SA

2018

THE BLIND ALPHABET PROJECT (2015) Letter F, solo, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France

Aardklop Arts Festival, group exhibition, Potchefstroom, SA

BIG DRUID IN HIS CUBICLE, Free State Arts Festival, Bloemfontein, SA

2017

Tempting Fate, solo, Free State Arts Festival, Johannes Stegman Gallery, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, SA

Solo, Fried Contemporary Gallery, Pretoria, SA

WORDS – WHY IN THE WORLD, group exhibition, Nirox Sculpture Park, Cradle of Humankind, SA

2016

REAP THE WHIRLWIND, solo, SMAC Gallery, Cape Town, SA

2015

Innibos Arts Festival, group exhibition, curated by John-Anthony Boerma, Mbombela, South Africa

WINTER 2015, group exhibition, curated by Mary-Jane Darroll, Nirox Sculpture Park, Cradle of Human Kind, SA

2014

EXACT IMAGINATION – 300 YEARS OF BOTANICALLY INSPIRED ART IN SOUTH AFRICA, group exhibition, curated by Cyril Coetzee, Standard Bank Gallery, Johannesburg, SA

OH MY WORD, solo, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, SA

THE INQUISITIVE MIND: SCIENCE AND IMAGINATION, group exhibition, Oliewenhuis Art Museum, Bloemfontein, SA

BIG DRUID IN HIS CUBICLE, solo, Klein Karoo National Arts Festival featured artist, Oudtshoorn, SA

WINTER 2014, group exhibition, curated by Mary-Jane Darroll, Nirox Sculpture Park, Cradle of Human Kind, SA

2013

Something More Than a Succession of Note, group exhibition, curated by Mélanie Bouteloup, Bétonsalon, Paris, France.

BIG DRUID IN HIS CUBICLE, solo, SMAC Gallery, Cape Town, SA

AFTER THE RAINBOW NATION, group exhibition, curated by Mary-Jane Darroll, Nirox Sculpture Park, Cradle of Human Kind, SA

Hearing Landscape Critically: Music, Place, and the Spaces of Sound, music conference, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, SA

2012

AFRICAN COSMOS – STELLAR ARTS, group exhibition, curated by Christine Mullen Kreamer, Smithsonian National Museum for African Art, Washington DC, USA

TEXT WORKS, joint exhibition with Richard Long, SMAC Gallery, Stellenbosch, SA

AFTER THE RAINBOW NATION, group exhibition, Museum Beelden aan Zee, Den Haag, Netherlands

2011

BLIND FISH, solo, Everard Read, Johannesburg, SA

SWAT, solo, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, SA

SETUPS AND UPSETS, solo, Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture, Johannesburg University, Johannesburg, SA

2010

Guest Artist, Johannesburg Art Fair, Johannesburg, SA

BIG DRUID IN HIS CUBICLE, solo, Arts On Main, Johannesburg, SA

HAPPY END, group exhibition, curated by Annett Reckert, Kunsthalle, Göppingen, Germany, Ampersand: A Dialogue between Contemporary Art from South Africa and the Daimler Art Collection, curated by Christian Ganzenberg, Daimler Contemporary, Berlin, Germany

Space: Currencies in Contemporary African Art, group exhibition, curated by Thembinkosi Goniwe, MuseumAfrica, Johannesburg, SA

Dada South?, group exhibition, Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town, SA

2009

CHILDREN OF THE STARS, group exhibition, Nirox Sculpture Park, Cradle of Humankind, SA

BIG DRUID IN HIS CUBICLE, solo, Art Unlimited, Art Basel, Switzerland

PENELOPE AND THE COSMOS, with Karel Nel, Everard Read, Johannesburg, SA

2008

Grandeur, group exhibition, curated by Anna Tilroe, Stichting Sonsbeek, Arnhem, Netherlands

2007

Three-person exhibition, Fried Contemporary, Pretoria, SA

Aardklop arts festival, Potchefstroom, SA

Willem Boshoff: Word Forms and Language Shapes, solo retrospective, curated by Warren Siebrits, Standard Bank Gallery, Johannesburg, SA curated by Warren Siebrits
Épat, solo, Stevenson, Cape Town, SA

2005

TEXTures exhibition, Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, Washington DC, USA

Group exhibition, Fried Contemporary, Pretoria, SA

2004

Nonplussed, solo, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, SA

Sted/Place, the Denmark/South Africa collaboration, Oliewenhuis Art Museum, Bloemfontein; Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg, SA

God Save The Queen, solo, South African Constitutional Court, Johannesburg, SA

2003

GARDEN OF WORDS II, Camoufl age, Observatorio, Brussels, Belgium

Co-existence: Contemporary Cultural Production in S.A, group exhibition, Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Boston, USA; later at the IZIKO South African National Gallery, Cape Town, SA

Sted/Place I, the Denmark/South Africa collaboration, curated by Doris Bloom, Galerie Asbæk, Copenhagen, Denmark

Sted/Place II, the Denmark/South Africa collaboration, curated by Doris Bloom, Kastrupgard-Samlingen Museum, Copenhagen, Denmark

Licked, solo, Stevenson, Cape Town, SA

Déchirures de l’histoire, group exhibition, Musée départemental de la Haute-Saône Albert Demard, Champlitte, France

2002

GARDEN OF WORDS II, Vandskel Kunstcentret, Silkeborg Bad, Denmark

MAZE, a 40 x 15m, walk-through installation of scrap materials for Mission Antarctica at the World Summit on sustainable development, Johannesburg, SA

THE BLIND ALPHABET PROJECT, Letter C78-C154, solo, IZIKO South African National Gallery, Cape Town, SA

2001

WRITING IN THE SAND, with the Decembristerne, at Den Frie Udstillings, Copenhagen, Denmark

Short Century: Independence and Liberation Movements in Africa, group exhibition, Munich, Germany; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, USA

Authentic/Ex-centric: Africa In and Out Africa, curated by Olu Oguibe and Okwui Enwezor, Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy

Seeing Blind, group exhibition, Pretoria Art Museum, Pretoria, SA

Cracked-up to be, joint exhibition with Andrew Munnik, Millennium II, Johannesburg, SA

WRITING IN THE SAND, solo, Rand Afrikaans University, Johannesburg, SA

Unpacking Europe, group exhibition, Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam, Netherlands

2000

Group exhibition, Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst, Antwerp, Belgium

Translation/Seduction/Displacement, group exhibition, White Box Gallery, Chelsea, New York, USA

After New York, group exhibition, Ampersand Foundation, Foundation at the Johannesburg Civic Gallery, Johannesburg, SA

Mnemosyne, group exhibition, curated by Leanne Engelberg, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, SA

Urban Futures, group exhibition, Museum Africa, Johannesburg, SA

Aardklop arts festival, Potchefstroom, SA

WRITING IN THE SAND, Havana Biennale, Cuba

THE BLIND ALPHABET PROJECT, Letter C, Umea, Sweden

Johannesburg, Johannesburg, group exhibition, Via Cesare Correnti, Milan, Italy

Visiones del Sur: No es sólo lo que ves: pervirtiendo minimalismo, group exhibition, curated by Gerardo Mosquera, Museo Nacional, Centro deArte, Reina Sofi a, Madrid, Spain

1999

Conceptualist Art: Points of Origin 1950s-1980s, group exhibition, Queens Museum of Art, New York; Walker Art Centre, Minneapolis, USA

8th Floralies Internationales, Nantes, France

Group exhibition, Johannesburg Art Foundation, Johannesburg, SA

Manuscript Exhibition, Carfax Gallery, Johannesburg, SA

Emergence, group exhibition, touring major centres in South Africa

1998

Dark Continent, group exhibition, curated by Clive Kellner

THE BLIND ALPHABET PROJECT, Letter C, placed on permanent exhibition, National Library for the Blind, Birmingham, England, UK

Group exhibition, Museu da Cidade, Pavilhao Branco, Lisbon, Portugal; Brussels, Belgium

Group exhibition, Kulturhuset, Stockholm; Göteborg, Sweden

Triennale der Kleinplastik, group exhibition, Stuttgart, Germany

AWARDS/RESIDENCIES/GRANTS

2020

Awarded A2 rating by the National Research Foundation of South Africa

2017

Winner of the Villa Trust Award

2015

Racist in South Africa at the South African Pavilion, Venice Biennale

2008

Honorary Doctorate, University of Johannesburg

2007

NIROX Sculpture Park artist residency

2005

With Ogilvy SA, winner of the Golden Loerie Award as well as the D&AD Global Award

2001

Winner of the Helgard Steyn Award for Sculpture

2001

PANIFICE as part of Authentic/Ex-centric: Africa In and Out Africa), Venice Biennale

2001

Honorary medal for Visual Arts, Sculpture, SA Academy for Science and Art

2000

Aardvark prize, Aardklop arts festival, Potchefstroom, for the installation INDEX OF (B)REACHINGS

2000

South African representative at the Havana Biennale, Cuba

1999

Winner of Gauteng Arts Culture and Heritage Award for Visual Art

1998

Winner of the Ludwig Giess Preis fur Kleinplastik by the LETTER Stiftung, Cologne, Germany

1997

Winner of the FNB Vita Award for Art

1996

South African representative at the Sao Paulo Biennale

1995

Anglo American Chairman’s Fund grant

Foundation for the Creative Arts research grant

Nominated for the Alumnus of the Year Award by Technikon Witwatersrand

1974

Prize winner, Graphic Art and Drawing, New Signatures

1974

Best Student Teacher Award in art graduate course

1971

Prize winner, Sculpture, New Signatures

COLLECTIONS

Unisa Art Gallery, Pretoria, SA

BHP Billiton Art Collection, Johannesburg, SA

University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, SA

IZIKO SA National Gallery, Cape Town, SA

Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg, SA

University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, SA

King George VI Gallery, Port Elizabeth, SA

Durban Art Gallery, Durban, South Africa

Sandton Municipal Collection, Johannesburg, SA

Pretoria Art Museum, Pretoria, SA

Jack Ginsberg Collection of Book Arts, Johannesburg, SA

Pierre Lombard Collection of Contemporary South African Art, SA

David Krut Collection of Fine Art, Johannesburg, SA

Gordon Schachat Collection, Johannesburg, SA

Sackner Archives of Concrete and Visual Poetry, Miami, USA

Robert Loder Collection of International Art, London, UK

ARTSENSE, Birmingham, UK

Sammlung der Städtische Galerie, Göppingen, Germany

MTN Art Collection, Johannesburg, SA

Sanlam Corporate Collection, Cape Town, SA

Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam, Netherlands

Dimension Data, Johannesburg, SA

Constitutional Court Art Collection, Johannesburg, SA

Reserve Bank of South Africa

Ferguson Collection, Boston, USA

Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, Washington, DC, USA

Yorkshire Sculpture Park, West Bretton,