We are delighted to announce the first solo exhibition by Georgina Gratrix at Monica De Cardenas Gallery in Milan, who is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year.

One of the most innovative and appreciated artists of the contemporary South African art scene, Gratrix is internationally known for her vibrant use of colour together with her signature impasto technique where layers of oil paint are applied by brush, palette knife or straight from the tube.

Charting the expanse of her oeuvre, the exhibition includes portraiture, landscape, and still-life painting. Gratrix departs from these art historical genres by subverting the seriousness of her subject matter, instead choosing to pursue a “state of perpetual incandescence”. Her studies of flowers are theatrically composed, overflowing from their shimmering surfaces with bold lines that create balance and harmony. In her life-size landscape, Friends and Friends of Friends, bustling birds can be spotted in the verdant foliage that teems with life, constantly providing the viewers eye with something new to see.

Not restricted to representations of people, Gratrix’s portraits include a rendition of Manet’s famous painting of his beloved dog Bob as well as exotic birds found in the lush forests of her native country. Combining abstract and figurative elements, Gratrix’s studies of people are subjective responses to her characters, exploring the spectacle of mediated images.

Georgina Gratrix was born in 1982 in Mexico City and soon relocated to Durban – a city on the east coast of South Africa, in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. She has had solo exhibitions in major museums and galleries throughout South Africa as well as in Berlin and Amsterdam. Her works have been acquired by well-known private collections such as the Norval Foundation, the Missoni Collection and the Peres Art Museum, Miami. She recently participated in international group shows (Seoul, Istanbul, Los Angeles).

In 2021 in Cape Town, where she lives and works, the Norval Foundation dedicated a survey exhibition to her presenting work from the past decade. Her solo exhibition The Cult of Ugliness at the Irma Stern Museum lasted until 25 February 2023. On display was a broad range of works from Gratrix’s archive, as well as new paintings produced during her residency at the museum and research space. Opened 50 years ago in memory of Irma Stern (1894-1966): an artist much loved by Gratrix and world-renowned avant-garde painter, sculptor, ceramist, as well as a feminist who influenced contemporary South African art.